LOGINMONIQUE The rest of the day moved fast. Too fast. Phones kept ringing. Messages kept coming in. Names I didn’t recognise, numbers I didn’t trust, all trying to reach Marcus. Reporters, partners, people pretending to care, people waiting to see him fall.Henry barely left his side. Files started appearing on the table one after another. Old documents. Medical records. Legal reports. Things Marcus had buried years ago, things he had survived, things he had never spoken about out loud.And now… all of it was coming back. For the world to see.I stood by the window for a moment, watching the sky slowly dim, my arms wrapped around myself. It felt like we were standing at the edge of something big. Something that was going to change everything.“Monique.”I turned at the sound of his voice.Marcus was watching me. Not the businessman. Not the man preparing for war. Just… Marcus, My Husband.“You’re quiet,” he said.I walked back toward him slowly.“I’m thinking,” I admitted.His eyes staye
MONIQUE I stepped closer toward Marcus, placing my hand gently on his arm.“They’re using sympathy,” I said. “They’re using a newborn, a little girl, and a grieving family. People are going to believe them.”Marcus looked at me then, calm and steady, his eyes searching mine.“And what do you think I should do?” he asked. “Do you think I made the wrong choice to kick them out of here? Do you think I should have given them what they asked for? Do you think I’m a bad person?”I frowned, not hesitating for even a second.“Of course, I believe you,” I said firmly. “I know the Bennetts. I have lived with them. I know just how manipulative and how cunning they can be. How can you even ask me that?”Something shifted in his expression. Softened.Just then, Henry exhaled sharply.“Belief is great,” he said, “but public perception is something else entirely. We need a strategy. Damage control.”Marcus stood slowly. And just like that, the calm shifted. Not gone but sharpened. Focused.“They wa
MONIQUE But nothing came out of her mouth because there was nothing to say. Not anymore.“Please…” she tried one last time, her voice breaking now. “At least for the children.....”“Stop,” Marcus cut in. Sharp and Final.“If you say one more word trying to use those children to manipulate me,” he added, his voice dropping dangerously low, “I won’t just ask you to leave.”That was enough. Lydia finally looked up Just for a second. Her eyes met Marcus’s, uncertain, conflicted, maybe even ashamed. But she didn’t speak. Didn’t defend. Didn’t even apologise. She just… stood there And then looked away again.Mrs Bennett straightened slowly, whatever pride she had left pulling her back together.“Fine,” she said, her tone stiff, brittle. “If that’s how you want it.”Marcus didn’t respond. Didn’t even blink."But don't blame me for what I will do next." She added.Silence responded.Realising what was coming next, she grabbed Lydia’s arm. “Let’s go.”And just like that, they turned and walke
MONIQUE The moment Mrs Bennett saw me… her face twisted. Like she had seen something disgusting. Something beneath her. Lydia didn’t look at me at all.Mrs Bennett, on the other hand, moved straight toward Marcus.“Son,” she said quickly. “How have you been? I heard you are doing much better now.”Marcus didn’t answer. He just stared at them. And the silence that followed…was heavy, awkward, and Sharp.Mrs Bennett and Lydia remained standing since no one offered them a seat. We stayed seated, close, side by side. And yet, even in that distance, I could feel the tension rolling off them. The way they avoided looking at me… or looked at me only with quiet hatred.Mrs Bennett let out a small, awkward laugh.“I’m sorry to barge in like this, but you see… your father left us.”“And?” Marcus asked, his voice flat. Dry.She blinked, clearly thrown off, but recovered quickly.“He took everything,” she continued. “There was some money we had set aside… offshore. It was supposed to help us st
MONIQUE Maybe this… this would help. With everything going on between Marcus and Nadia, maybe having Aunt Jane here would soften things. Maybe she could help steady the house. Help him not spiral too deeply into everything that had just been thrown at him.We needed that.He needed that.“Do you mind if we join you?” Aunt Jane asked, her tone gentle.“Of course not,” I said quickly.I moved around the kitchen, plating more food, serving them breakfast, and making sure everything was set. It felt… normal. Almost too normal for everything we had just been through, but maybe that was exactly what we needed.We all sat down together at the table And slowly… the tension began to ease. Aunt Jane probably felt the tension and started talking, telling a story from my childhood. Something small, light and funny.And for the first time since everything had happened..... Marcus laughed. A real laugh. Not forced. Not empty. And it did something to me. It loosened something tight in my chest that
MONIQUE After Marcus had finished telling me everything that had happened at the house, I tried so hard not to show the shock on my face.Nadia…Nadia had always been so kind. So present. So constant. She had taken care of Marcus, stood by him, built a life around him and now, hearing all of this… all the mess that had been buried for years… it made my chest tighten.Because I knew what she had been to him. She wasn’t just staff. She wasn’t just someone who worked in his house.She was family. Or at least… that’s what he believed.And realising that the very person he trusted like a second mother had been part of the beginning of all his pain.., it did something to me. It made me ache for him in a way that felt almost physical.But at the same time… I understood her. Not what she did....no. That part was ugly and unforgivable in its own way, but I understood the guilt. The weight of carrying something like that for years. The way she tried to exist between two worlds, family and empl
MONIQUEWhen Marcus pulled back, his forehead rested against mine. “I’m proud of you.”Those words did something to me. Something deep. He kept saying but he didn't know how powerful those words were.“I’m proud of me too,” I admitted.A corner of his mouth lifted. “As you should be.”He glanced to
MONIQUEMarcus’s gaze moved to the papers on the desk, then to Mr Smith, lingering there a second longer than polite. “Finishing up?”I didn’t miss the way Mr Smith leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together, reclaiming space. “The retainer agreement,” he said. “Monique and I have gone th
MONIQUEI took Marcus’s hand under the table and pinched him, silently begging him not to say it. He looked down at me, smiled gently, and then spoke anyway.“I asked Monique to marry me,” he said with an adoring smile that threatened to weaken me. “And she said yes." He announced to the room."So
MONIQUEAs if Ryan could read my fear. As if he could feel the way my body had gone rigid, the way my breath had caught, the way my eyes had widened just enough to betray me.I couldn’t move.I couldn’t speak.I just stood there, frozen in place, staring at the man who had once controlled my entire







