~~~UNEXPLAINABLE QUADRUPLETS~~~

~~~Sloane’s POV~~~

Five years changes everything.

The country I return to barely recognizes the woman stepping out of the black car in front of the grand hotel.

Five years ago I left with swollen eyes, a broken heart, and a single suitcase full of documents.

Today I arrive in tailored heels and a fitted cream suit that hugs my body perfectly, my hair falling neatly over my shoulders, my posture straight and unshaken.

The woman who fled in humiliation is gone, replaced by someone colder, sharper, someone who has learned exactly how cruel the world can be and survived it anyway.

Upstairs in the hotel suite are the four reasons I ever came back.

My children.

Quadruplets.

Four identical little forces of nature who have turned the fashion industry upside down before even reaching their sixth birthday.

Their unusual features and perfect symmetry made them famous almost overnight once a photographer discovered them during a charity shoot abroad.

Agencies from several countries have been begging to sign them, offering contracts that make most adult models jealous.

Today I am here to finalize a deal with one of the biggest companies interested in representing them.

The children are still in the room with their nanny, arguing about which one of them should wear the blue jacket for the photos later.

I promised them I would only be gone for a short meeting. Signing the contract should take less than an hour, and then we will celebrate with dessert somewhere expensive that they will inevitably smear across their clothes.

I walk through the wide marble hallway toward the restaurant where the meeting is scheduled.

The hotel smells faintly of polished wood and expensive perfume, and the quiet elegance of the place reminds me of the kind of life I used to live before everything fell apart.

For a brief moment the memory of that night flickers in my mind, but I push it away immediately. That chapter of my life closed the moment I left this country.

I turn a corner and nearly walk straight into someone.

A hand steadies my arm before I lose my balance.

“Careful,” a deep voice says calmly.

I look up.

The man standing in front of me is tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a dark suit that fits him perfectly.

His face is striking in a way that makes people pause when they see him, and his dark eyes are watching me with a quiet intensity that makes me oddly aware of how close we are standing.

For a moment neither of us moves.

Something about him feels strangely familiar.

“I’m sorry,” I say quickly, stepping back and smoothing down my jacket. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“That much is obvious,” he replies, though there is a hint of amusement in his voice.

His gaze lingers on my face for a second longer than necessary, as if he is studying me.

I cannot tell whether he is simply curious or judging me for nearly knocking him over in the middle of the hallway.

“Well, thank you for preventing a very embarrassing fall,” I say lightly. “I would hate to start my day sprawled across the hotel floor.”

His lips curve slightly at the corners.

“That would certainly make an impression,” he says.

I glance down the hallway toward the restaurant entrance, suddenly remembering the meeting.

“Speaking of impressions, I should probably get going before I’m late,” I add. “I’m here to meet with a modeling company.”

“Are you?” he asks casually.

“Yes. They’re interested in signing my children.” I cannot help the small note of pride that slips into my voice. “Quadruplets. Apparently the industry finds them very interesting.”

His expression shifts slightly, something like curiosity flickering in his eyes.

“Quadruplets,” he repeats slowly.

“Yes. Four of them. Chaos in human form,” I say with a quiet laugh. “They’re upstairs right now, probably destroying the hotel suite while I’m gone.”

“That sounds… lively.”

“That’s one way to describe it.” I glance at my watch and sigh. “I really should go before the company thinks I’m unreliable. First impressions matter.”

“They do,” he agrees.

I nod politely and step around him, already walking toward the restaurant entrance. “Well, it was nice almost knocking you over,” I say over my shoulder.

He chuckles softly behind me.

I do not see the way his eyes follow me as I leave.

The restaurant inside the hotel is elegant and quiet, filled with the soft murmur of conversations and the clink of glasses.

I pause near the entrance, scanning the room for the table where the meeting is supposed to happen. My heels click lightly against the polished floor as I move further inside.

Then a voice cuts sharply through the air behind me.

“Sloane?”

My body goes completely still.

Another voice follows, dripping with mock amusement.

“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged back into the country.”

Slowly I turn around.

Jophiel and Selena are standing a few steps away, staring at me as if they have just spotted something unbelievable.

Five years have changed them too, though not nearly as much as they seem to think. Jophiel still carries that same arrogant confidence, and Selena still clings to his arm like she owns him.

Selena’s lips curl into a thin smile.

“I thought you ran away for good,” she says loudly enough for nearby tables to hear. “What happened? Did the world finally realize how useless you are and send you crawling back? After all, you're just a broke slut with nothing ti her name.”

A few people nearby glance over, sensing the tension.

For a second the old humiliation tries to rise inside my chest.

Then it disappears just as quickly.

I walk straight toward them without hesitation.

Before either of them can say another word, my hand swings.

The slap echoes across the restaurant.

Selena’s head snaps to the side, shock spreading across her face.

“You should be careful who you speak to like that,” I say calmly.

Then I turn around and walk away without another glance, leaving the stunned silence behind me.