As soon as the call with Max ended, I turned over and dropped the phone onto the bed. It felt like surfacing from another dimension. A world full of toy robots, Mischa’s voice that was way too mature for her age, and Igor’s voice that somehow always sounded like he was reading a Cold War warning.I let out a long sigh, pulled up the blanket, and almost managed to slip back into the warmth of the pillows before that low voice crept into my ear.“You should be excited, Bee. We’re going out again today,” Pascha said through that familiar chuckle of his. Always sounding like a dark secret dancing on his tongue.I groaned. Pure and lazy. Then covered my face with a pillow. “This honeymoon sucks. And it’s a mess,” I muttered, half-choked behind the pillow.“I prefer to call it... dynamic,” Pascha replied, his tone light but with a smirk I could almost feel brushing against my skin.I rolled over, still refusing to get up. But then there it was, that casual yet deliberate touch. His cold han
Five a.m. in an Austrian summer isn’t pitch dark.The sky was already pale blue, like an unfinished watercolor painting. A thin mist still hovered over the lake, wrapping Hallstatt in a softness that almost felt deceitful, as if the world could freeze in this calm.My steps were slow as I opened the bedroom door. I thought Belva was still asleep. But she was already awake. Or more accurately: awake, but lazy. Her body was still sprawled on the bed, the blanket half falling to the floor, one hand propping up her head, and her fingers busy dancing across her phone screen.Her face was blank, eyes slightly squinting from the screen’s light, her short hair messy but still looking like something out of a fashion editorial.My heart skipped a little. Reflex. Every time she’s quiet like that staring at her phone, my mind jumps to the worst possibilities.Threats, dark messages, or shadows from the past still trying to reach us.But a few seconds later I exhaled quietly. Stupid. I forgot… the
PresentBelva was sleeping peacefully, her face half-buried in the pillow, her hair spilling across her cheek, and her arms hugging another pillow.I kissed her forehead gently. “Sleep well, love.”The sky outside the window hadn’t changed. Still dark. Still cold. But my thoughts were far away. My eyes stared out into the distance, toward the silhouette of the forest and Rafael’s castle tower across the valley.Something was unfinished. And tonight, I couldn’t sleep until it was done.Before leaving, I activated all the security systems. Jonas and Sergio were on alert, the perimeter fully guarded. No one would lay a finger on Belva tonight. Not as long as I was standing.The vehicle rolled down the rocky road toward Rafael’s castle. Dim headlights lit up the old stone façade and the carved de Castro crest on the gate. I didn’t say a word as the guard opened the door. Rafael already knew I was coming.In the underground hallway, the air was much more humid. Red lights pulsed on the wa
Still a couple months agoWe finally sat at a ice cream café near the hospital, Max excitedly swinging his legs that still dangled from the chair, while I sat across from him, watching him in silence.I couldn’t stop looking at his face.He looked so much like me. Same hair, same jawline, even the way he raised one eyebrow when he was curious was exactly what I always did. The only things he got from Belva were his blue eyes, the way he smiled wide, showing a small dimple on one side, and his hair, which was a bit lighter than mine.Max took a big spoonful of his ice cream, chewed it eagerly, then suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.“Daddy...”I gave a smile, still not tired of hearing him call me that. “Yeah...?”Max squinted like he was thinking really hard about something important. “Can you fight?”I raised an eyebrow. “Fight?”Max nodded quickly. “Yeah! Like a superhero! Mommy says Daddy is strong, but I’ve never seen you.”I chuckled. “I don’t fight like a superhero
A couple months ago.I stood in front of the VVIP hospital room door, my shoulders tense, my jaw locked.The name on the door—Belva Moguel—was clear.I never imagined I’d see her again after all these years. Not after she ran from me, not after she shattered me exactly 30 minutes before our wedding was supposed to begin.But now she’s here.Behind that door. Her eyes were focused on the iPad screen, fingers moving quickly, expression serious as always.As if she wasn’t someone who had just been in an accident. As if she was still the same girl as before—stubborn, restless, and too smart for her own good.I should walk in and ask. I should ask her to explain. Why she left. Why she walked away without a reason, without a message, not even a single word. Why she trusted her twin brother’s deception so easily?Why?Why?Why...But before I could move, footsteps approached behind me. Jacob stopped, his hands slipped into the pockets of his doctor’s coat, his expression calm.Then, in a low
BELVA.I don’t remember how we got out of that tunnel. Maybe Jacob pulled us out, maybe it was Rafael’s commanding voice, or maybe it was my own body moving without my brain’s permission… just getting away from the sound of gunfire and Ryan’s still-labored, vengeful breathing.All I remember is one thing: Pascha’s hand.His left arm wrapped around my back without pause, while his right hand stayed on his waist, alert.In the car, my body leaned against his, but my mind was still floating in the bunker hallway.In Ryan’s eyes, which showed no fear, only satisfaction like a spectator who knew the final act of the drama had just begun.All this time, I’d called him “office friend.” Sent him morning coffee on long days, traded jokes about projects, even trusted him with the predictive algorithm I called my “favorite child.”I even once felt guilty for scolding him. And now I want to erase every fragment of those memories from my system… but I don’t know which button to press.“Bee?”The v