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Chapter 26 - Emma's answer.
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2026-08-16 19:43:12
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His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 29 - Mediation.
Teresa stood in front of her closet and stared at the clothes hanging in neat rows. She had been standing there for nearly ten minutes, her hand resting on one blouse before pulling back and reaching for another. Everything felt wrong—too formal, too casual, too much like she was trying too hard or not trying hard enough. She knew every detail would be judged. Asher's team would analyze her appearance, her posture, her choice of words. Even what she wore would become part of their argument.Natalie's voice came from the doorway. "You're still not dressed."Teresa turned, holding up two blouses. "Which one?""The blue one. It makes you look calm, and you need to look calm more than you need to look anything else."Teresa pulled the blue blouse from its hanger and began buttoning it. "I feel sick.""That's normal. You should be nervous. But don't let it show." Natalie stepped closer, her voice softening. "The purpose of this mediation isn't to prove Asher is a terrible person. I know yo
His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 28 - His father's terms.
Luca was reviewing documents in his study when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and stopped reading mid-sentence.Victor Grimhollow.He let it ring twice before answering. "Father.""Lucas." Victor's voice carried the same measured calm it always did. "I need you to come to the estate now!"Luca leaned back in his chair. "Is something wrong?""Nothing that requires discussion over the phone. Today by four o'clock."It was not a request, it was never a request. Victor, his father did not ask for things, he announced them and expects compliance.Luca's instinct was to refuse. The last conversation with his father had ended with accusations and cold silence. Victor had made it clear he did not approve of Luca's involvement with Teresa, and Luca had made it equally clear he did not care about his father's approval but something about the timing made him pause. Victor rarely summoned him without an agenda, and Luca wanted to know what that agenda was."I'll be there," he said. He
His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 27 - The cost of being watched.
The following day, Teresa stared at the fabric samples spread across her desk and realized she had been looking at the same swatch for nearly five minutes.The texture was wrong. She could feel it under her fingertips, coarse where it should have been smooth, but she couldn't remember which project it belonged to. The labels blurred together. She blinked hard, trying to focus on it. "Teresa?"She looked up. Priya stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised, a stack of folders tucked under her arm. "You've been sitting there since you got in. Are you going to stare at that fabric until it confesses something?"Teresa forced a laugh. "Just tired. I had a long night."Priya walked closer, eyeing the samples. "You measured the west wall at 3.8 meters. It's 4.2."Teresa looked down at her notes. Her handwriting stared back at her, bold and clear, but completely wrong."I could have sworn I did the right thing..." She stopped, rubbed her forehead. "I'll redo it.""It's fine. I already fixed i
His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 26 - Emma's answer.
Teresa kept her eyes on Emma, watching for anything — a flicker of confusion, a shift in her shoulders, anything that might tell her this was becoming too much for her child to carry. Asher stood a few feet away, composed, smiling at a passing teacher like nothing unusual had just happened. But his eyes kept drifting back to Emma, and Teresa knew that look. It wasn't curiosity, it was calculation. He wasn't interested in what Emma actually felt. He wanted the answer that made him look good.Across the hall, Luca hadn't moved. He stood near the volunteer table, hands loose at his sides, watching from a careful distance he clearly had no intention of closing."Emma," one of the staff said, crouching slightly, voice syrupy with the kind of casual interest adults used when they thought they were being harmless. "What's it like spending time with your daddy and your uncle?"Asher's face softened instantly. He knelt beside Emma, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You like being with D
His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 25 - The man she misjudged.
The days before the exhibition blurred into a steady, welcome rhythm."Where do you want the activity tables?" Luca asked over the phone, background noise suggesting he was walking somewhere fast, as usual."Left wall for the younger kids, right side for the art stations." Teresa flipped through her floor plan, phone wedged against her shoulder. "And keep the sponsor banners away from the entrance this time. I mean it.""Already noted.""You said that last time and then the foundation logo ended up on the welcome table.""That was the committee's decision, not mine."A pause, something almost like amusement in his voice. "I'll fight for your table placement personally, if that helps.""It helps."They fell into it easily — him handling sponsorship logistics, her designing every inch of the activity spaces, neither one stepping into the other's territory unless asked."You've checked that schedule three times tonight," Mrs. Lim said, glancing over from the stove, wooden spoon still in
His Hidden Devotion. Chapter 24 - An impossible invitation.
"It's usually just for parents, sweetheart," Teresa said, tucking the blanket around Emma's shoulders. "Uncle Lucas isn't.""Oh, but I don't think that matters mum!" Emma's face scrunched up, the particular frown she wore when someone refused to listen to her. "When I tell him stories. He listens more than anyone does."Teresa didn't know what else to say. She smoothed the blanket instead, buying herself a few seconds she didn't really need."We'll see," she said finally, which wasn't a yes and wasn't quite a no either.Emma seemed to accept it, or at least she stopped pressing, already drifting toward sleep with one hand curled around her rabbit.Out in the kitchen, Mrs. Lim was elbow-deep in dishwater, back turned, shoulders shaking with something that was very clearly a laugh she was trying not to let Teresa see."What happened?" Teresa asked, setting the empty water glass on the counter."Nothing." Mrs. Lim didn't turn around. Teresa didn't press further. She had a feeling she al
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