تسجيل الدخولI was surprised when Noah arrived at the hospital earlier that morning.Surprised was an understatement, actually. I had been sitting beside Dillion’s bed, watching his chest rise and fall in that steady rhythm that only comes when a fever finally breaks, when I heard the door open softly. I thought it was a nurse. Maybe another routine check. I did not expect to look up and see Noah standing there, dressed neatly as always, his expression calm, respectful, almost gentle.“Good morning, Ms. Alice,” he said quietly.For a second, I just stared at him.“Noah?” I asked, my voice low so I would not wake the children. “What are you doing here?”“Mr. Vincent asked me to come,” he replied simply.That alone made my chest tighten.Vincent.Even after waking up and realizing he was gone, even after feeling that hollow space beside me, I had not expected this. I had not expected him to arrange things so quickly, so thoroughly, as if he had anticipated every need before I could even name it myse
I finally was discharged from the hospital, not like anything happened to me, but just long enough to keep the media in touch.That was the whole point.If I stayed too long, people would lose interest. If I left too quickly, rumors would start. So I stayed just long enough for the cameras, the whispers, the pity headlines. Paris netizens and paparazzi were a different breed entirely. Nosy, relentless, almost obsessive. They followed my movements like shadows, hiding behind cafes, pretending to browse stores while their phones were angled just right to capture my face.I knew the game. I had grown up in it.That afternoon, I was shopping with my new assistant. Luxury boutiques, quiet corridors, soft music playing overhead, sales attendants bowing slightly as I walked in. I let myself enjoy it, the illusion of control, the comfort of money and attention. I pointed at items casually, bags, clothes, accessories, telling them what should be brought and where they should be delivered.My p
That morning, I had already arrived at the airport with a few bodyguards behind me.The city air felt different the moment I stepped out, sharper, heavier, like it was reminding me that this was where everything began and where everything could still fall apart. I walked forward without hesitation. I already knew by now that Alice and the kids were already at the new house I had prepared for them.Last night, after leaving the hospital, after walking away while Alice slept beside our child’s bed, I had acted fast. I told Noah to prepare a new house with a good site, quiet, secure, far from unnecessary eyes. I called a trusted doctor, hired maids, people who would take care of Alice and the boys without asking questions, without reporting to anyone else. I made sure everything was arranged before sunrise.Because if there was one thing I had learned, it was that hesitation costs more than action.As I came out of the airport terminal, my other assistant rushed toward me, slightly out o
After Vincent ended the call with the old patriarch, he called Noah. I was standing there, close enough to hear but far enough that no one asked me to leave. My heart was still unsettled from the call with his grandfather, from the weight of unspoken things hanging in the air. “I need you to head back to the city,” Vincent said into the phone, his voice calm but edged with steel. “Watch the Brooklyn family movement.” I inhaled sharply. I said, “Vincent, you need to leave and solve things yourself.” He didn’t look at me at first. “I’m not leaving Alice,” he said. Those words hit me straight in the chest. My fingers curled into my palm. “Please,” I said, my voice quieter now, careful. “You don’t have to destroy what your grandfather has spent years building. Think about others too.” He finally turned to me. His eyes were dark, stubborn, unreadable. “What about the board directors who helped build it?” I said again, stepping closer. “Please, Vincent, don’t be selfish. Think abo
When I took the phone from Alice, I saw it immediately—the way her face changed.It was subtle. Anyone else might have missed it. But I didn’t.Her smile faded, not all at once, but slowly, like something retreating inward. Her shoulders stiffened, and for a split second, she looked like she was bracing herself for something she didn’t want to hear but already expected.That look tightened something in my chest.I turned away from her without a word and stepped toward the window, lowering the volume on the phone as I answered the call.“Speak,” I said quietly.My grandfather didn’t waste time.“What about the proposal between us and the Brooklyn family?” he asked.Straight to the point. As always.I didn’t answer immediately. I stared out the window instead, watching the night lights stretch across the city, sharp and distant, like a battlefield I’d already decided to walk back into.“There is no proposal,” I replied coldly.There was a pause on the other end.“You don’t get to say th
A few minutes later, I found myself standing in the boys’ room.The lights were dim, just the bedside lamp glowing softly, casting warm shadows on the walls. Their room smelled faintly of baby soap and clean sheets, that comforting scent that always settled my heart no matter how heavy it felt before.The old master was already on video call.He had insisted.“I want to see them,” he had said earlier, his voice firm in that familiar way that never accepted refusal. “Even if they’re asleep.”So here I was, holding the phone carefully, angling the camera toward the bed.The boys were fast asleep.One of them had his arm flung over the other, legs tangled, lips parted slightly as he breathed. The other had curled toward him, thumb tucked near his mouth, lashes resting softly against his cheeks.So peaceful.So innocent.“So handsome,” the old patriarch said softly through the phone.I smiled, my lips trembling just a little.“They look just like Vincent when he was little.”I couldn’t he







