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What If

Author: PenWrites
last update publish date: 2026-04-16 03:55:07

Lila's P.O.V

“No!” I countered.

“Well, yes!” I shot back, struggling to find an answer. “The Blackwood Estate is my dome and my doom. I can stay there and be safe. I have so many maids and servants that have sworn to serve and protect me and that will not betray my trust, but Ma Felicia will still be plotting tirelessly every day to kill me or make me crumble,” I narrated.

“Girl, you’re rich, but you can’t let all that property go away. You need to make your father and your other ancestors befo
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  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   The Clock She Can’t Stop

    Lila's P.O.VThe first child-support deposit hit my account on March 3, 2026—$1,700 exactly, no fanfare, no note, just a line item labeled “VOSS CHILD SUPPORT” that made my phone screen blur when I opened the banking app at 6:47 a.m. I sat on the edge of the mattress—still the pull-out couch Lucian had slept on the night before—and stared at the number until Aiden stirred in his crib and broke the spell.Three months.It had been three months since the marshals from the Blackwood estate arrived at my apartment door with Ma Felicia’s eviction order. Not marshals in the dramatic sense—no badges flashing, no battering ram—but two men in dark suits carrying a folder thick with legal documents stamped by the county sheriff. They’d waited politely while I read the notice: *Immediate termination of tenancy at Suite 4, Blackwood Estate Chambers, effective February 15, 2026. Occupant has been deemed in breach of familial residency agreement due to prolonged unauthorized absence and failure to

  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   The Price Of Acceptance

    Lila's P.O.VFriday arrived like a bruise that had been waiting to darken. The summons had gone out Wednesday afternoon; Ms. Rivera confirmed receipt Thursday morning. Damien had been ordered to appear at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 4B, same bench, same judge, same cold fluorescent light that made everyone look slightly unwell. I woke at 5:30 to the sound of Aiden coughing in his crib, changed him, fed him, dressed the older two, and tried to keep my hands from shaking while I poured cereal.Lucian had stayed the night again—on the pull-out, clothes folded neatly on the chair, phone charging on the coffee table. He didn’t crowd me. He made coffee while I got the kids ready, kissed my temple when I passed him in the hallway, told Shayla her ponytail looked “fierce” and Lucas his dinosaur shirt was “battle-ready.” When Diane arrived to take them to her place for the afternoon, he walked them downstairs with her, carried Aiden’s car seat, made sure the double stroller didn’t catch on the lobb

  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   Shadows At The Edges

    Lila's P.O.VThe courthouse air felt thicker when we stepped back into the hallway after the hearing. Ms. Rivera walked beside me, folder tucked under her arm, already scrolling through her phone to update the case notes. I kept my eyes forward, trying to ignore the way my pulse still hammered in my ears even though the judge’s gavel had fallen twenty minutes ago.Judge Nguyen had not been satisfied with simply entering the default judgment on the arrearages and the new monthly order. She’d leaned forward over the bench, glasses low on her nose, and fixed her gaze on the empty space where Damien should have been sitting.“Counsel,” she’d said to Ms. Rivera, “the court is troubled by the respondent’s continued non-appearance and the pattern of evasion documented in the file. While the petitioner’s request for enforcement is granted today, I am ordering the respondent to appear in person for a final contempt and sanction hearing. The clerk will issue a summons for Mr. Damien Voss to app

  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   The Rightful Claim

    Lila’s P.O.VThe courthouse hallway smelled the same as it had two weeks earlier—stale coffee, floor wax, and the faint metallic tang of anxiety that never quite left the air. I sat on the same bench outside Courtroom 4B, knees pressed together, hands clasped so tightly my knuckles showed white. The kids were with Diane again; she’d taken them to the children’s play area downstairs with strict instructions to keep their phones off and their minds on coloring books. I didn’t want them anywhere near this room today.Today wasn’t about Ethan.Today was about Damien.My lawyer, Ms. Rivera, sat beside me flipping through a thin folder of documents. She’d spent the last month gathering everything: birth certificates listing Damien Voss as father on all three, bank statements showing zero deposits since Aiden was six months old, text-message screenshots of his promises (“I’ll send it next week, swear”), court orders he’d ignored, and the emergency affidavit I’d sworn out detailing the financ

  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   The Final Signature

    Lila’s P.O.VThe email arrived at 7:14 a.m. on a Thursday in late February, subject line stark and official: Notice of Final Hearing – Harper v. Whitaker (Dissolution of Marriage)I was pouring cereal when my phone buzzed on the counter. Lucian had left only twenty minutes earlier—after dropping off coffee and helping Shayla with her ponytail—promising to text after his morning meeting. The apartment still held the echo of his low laugh when Lucas tried to “tune” a spoon like a guitar. Everything had felt almost safe. Almost settled.Then the subject line turned the room cold.I opened it with fingers that felt numb. The body was brief, legal boilerplate forwarded from my lawyer: Ethan’s team had filed an emergency motion to finalize the divorce papers I’d left unsigned for months. The hearing was scheduled for tomorrow—Friday—at 10 a.m. in the same family court where we’d first argued custody. No negotiation. No discussion. Just a demand to appear and sign, or face contempt.I read it

  • Betrothed To Six Lovers   I Know I’ve Always Kept Saying This

    Lila’s P.O.VThe door clicked shut behind Lucian with the soft finality of a period at the end of a long sentence. I stood there in the entryway for a full minute after he left, one hand still on the knob, listening to the echo of his footsteps fading down the stairwell. The apartment smelled like pancakes and bacon and the faint cedar that always seemed to cling to his jacket. Aiden was napping in his crib, the other two sprawled across the living-room rug with their block castle still standing—miraculously—beside them. For once the silence didn’t feel empty. It felt full. Too full.I walked to the couch on legs that felt borrowed and sank down. My coffee had gone cold on the table. I picked it up anyway, cradled the mug between my palms like it could anchor me. My heart was doing that stupid, fluttering thing again—half excitement, half terror—like a bird trapped in a too-small cage.Lucian had stayed three hours. Three ordinary, extraordinary hours. He hadn’t rushed out the second

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