Novels by Sweetbite

JAMES'S POV“When did Marcus talk to you about the rock?” I asked. Lily's fingers immediately closed tighter around it. The change in her face made me regret how serious my voice had sounded. Aria noticed too and quickly moved to sit beside her.“You're not in trouble, baby,” Aria said. “Nobody is angry with you. We just need to understand why Marcus knew about your brave rock.” Lily looked at me, then at her mother. “It was when I had to visit him. One of those times someone stayed in the room with us.”I remembered the supervised visits. Aria had hated every single one. “What happened?” I asked more gently. Lily looked down at the smooth grey stone in her palm. “He saw it in my backpack and asked where I got it.”“And what did you tell him?” Aria asked. “That you gave it to me after my bad school day.” Lily frowned. “The day I cried in the bathroom because everyone already had friends.”Aria's face softened. I remembered that story. Lily had come home convinced her entire school lif

ARIA'S POV“I'm sorry, can you say that name again?” I pressed my phone closer to my ear. James was watching me from the couch. “Natalia's son? You mean Caleb?”“Yes, Miss Laurent. Caleb is the third beneficiary we've identified.” I sat down slowly. The investigator explained that Caleb's code had been created shortly after his birth and followed the same structure as Lily's and Noah's.“Does Natalia know?” I asked. “Not yet. We're still verifying the trust records, and we don't want to contact every beneficiary until we understand what these codes control.” I frowned. “Her son's name is attached to disputed money. She deserves to know.”James shook his head slightly. I gave him a look. “What?” He waited until I ended the call before speaking. “If you tell Natalia now, you may also be telling Marcus something the investigators don't want him to know.”“You really think Marcus doesn't know?” I asked. James sighed. “No. His behaviour suggests he knows at least part of it. But we don't k

ARIA'S POV“You wanted to adopt Lily?” I stared at James. For a few seconds, that was all I could say. Out of everything I had learned this week, this was the one thing my mind couldn't seem to process. “You actually asked your attorney about adopting my daughter?”“I asked a question, Aria. That's all.” James spoke quickly. “I never started anything. I never filled out papers, and I would never speak to Lily about adoption without talking to you first.”“When?” I asked. “When did you ask?” James glanced at his attorney before looking back at me. “After Lily called me her father for the first time.”My chest tightened. “That was before Marcus came back with the parental claim.” James nodded. I looked away because suddenly I was remembering those horrible weeks. I had been terrified Marcus would force his way back into Lily's life, while James had quietly been wondering if there was a way to make himself legally responsible for her.Then the anger came. “You still didn't tell me.” Jame

JAMES'S POV“You're lying.” I looked at Marcus across the table. “Lily had no connection to my father. He died years before I met Aria, so don't sit there and tell me he created some file on her daughter.”Marcus didn't even blink. “That's exactly why Noah was disturbed by it.” He picked up his phone again. “Your father was already dead. You hadn't met Aria. Yet Lily's name is in a Cross family document.”“Show me.” I held out my hand. Marcus opened the photograph Noah had sent him three months earlier and placed the phone on the table. The image wasn't perfect, but I could read enough.Aria moved closer to me. Her full name appeared first. Beneath it was Lily's full name, followed by a beneficiary code and a percentage I didn't immediately understand. I read the page twice. “This could have been altered.”“That's what I thought,” Marcus said. “I've spent three months comparing it with old Valère records. Same trust number. Same formatting. Same administrator's signature.”I enlarged

ARIA'S POV“What the hell does Marcus mean Noah has been living as Richard Vale?” I read the message again, then passed my phone to James. I expected him to tell me I wasn't meeting Marcus. Instead, he read it twice and handed the phone back. “What do you want to do?”I stared at him. “That's it?” James frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?” I folded my arms. “No speech about Marcus being dangerous? No telling me I'm not allowed to go?” He sighed. “You made it very clear how you feel about me making decisions for you.”“Well, at least you're learning.” I looked at the message again. “I want answers. But I'm not sitting alone with Marcus.” James nodded. “Then we meet him somewhere public. Security stays close.” I agreed before either of us could turn it into another argument.James sat beside me. “Do you think Marcus actually tried to help Noah?” I gave him a look. “The Marcus I married wouldn't risk his shirt for a stranger's child.” But Daniel's words had been bothering me since th

ARIA'S POV“Do you understand what this could do to Evelyn if we're wrong?” I asked. James stood across from me with Noah's medical form still in his hand. “We can't walk up to her and suggest Julian isn't Noah's father because two blood types don't make sense.”“I know.” James placed the form on the table. “Blood type alone proves nothing. It raises a question. That's all.” I folded my arms. “Then why does the question matter to the financial investigation?”James hesitated. “Because we still don't know why my father and Marcus's father spent so much money keeping a child in Paris.” I stared at him until the meaning became clear. “You think Noah's real father was connected to the eighteen million.”“I think it's possible.” James sat down. “One of the private investors may have had a reason to hide him.” My eyes moved towards the Storm dress records. “Your father created the investment structure. He left instructions connected to the blue stitch.”James's face hardened. “That doesn't