MasukChapter 215Veronica's POVLife with three children was chaos in the best possible way. Our house was never quiet anymore. Someone was always crying or laughing or asking questions or needing something. The laundry multiplied like some kind of evil magic trick. I found Cheerios in places Cheerios should never be. Sleep became a distant memory again.But it was joyful chaos. The kind I had dreamed about during those dark years with Jason when I thought happiness was something that happened to other people.Monte took his role as big brother seriously. He helped with diaper changes even though he wrinkled his nose at the smell. He sang to Manuel when the baby cried. He read him board books with exaggerated voices that made Sophia giggle. At eight years old, Monte was already more nurturing than most adults I knew.Sophia was intensely curious about everything baby Manuel did. Why d
Four's POVThe blood terrified me more than anything I had faced in my entire life. Veronica stood in our bathroom at five in the morning with blood running down her legs and panic written across her face. I called 911 while helping her sit down on the edge of the tub. Monte and Sophia were still asleep down the hall."It is going to be okay," I said, not believing my own words.The ambulance arrived in eight minutes, which felt like eight hours. Beverly came to stay with the kids. At the hospital, they did an ultrasound that seemed to take forever. The technician's face gave nothing away. Veronica gripped my hand hard enough to leave marks.Finally, the doctor came in with a cautious smile. "The baby is fine. You had what we call a subchorionic hematoma. Basically a pocket of blood between the uterine wall and the placenta. It can cause bleeding but it does not always mea
Veronica's POVSophia's first day of preschool arrived with all the chaos I expected. She refused to wear the outfit I picked, insisting on her sparkly pink dress with purple leggings that absolutely did not match. Four tried reasoning with her. I tried bribing her. She won by sheer force of personality."This is my first day outfit," she announced with the confidence of someone who had never doubted themselves. "I look beautiful."Four caught my eye over her head and smiled. "She does look beautiful."We walked her into the bright classroom with alphabet posters and tiny chairs. Sophia marched right in without looking back, already introducing herself to other kids. No tears. No hesitation. Just pure fearlessness that made my chest tight with pride and terror in equal measure.Monte had been like that too at her age but Sophia had something extra. A b
Four's POVThe video message sat on my phone like a bomb waiting to explode. Claire Reeves. Jason's sister. A person from the nightmare part of Veronica's past reached into our present on the day we renewed our vows. The timing felt deliberate somehow, like the universe reminding us that peace was never permanent.Veronica stood frozen beside me in our backyard. The last guests were leaving. Monte and Sophia were crashed on the couch inside. String lights still glowed overhead. Everything looked perfect and wrong at the same time."Should we watch it?" I asked quietly."I do not know." Her voice shook. "What could she possibly want after all this time?""Only one way to find out."We went inside to my office and closed the door. I pulled up the video on my laptop so we could watch together. Veronica sat so close that our shoulders touched. When
Chapter 211Veronica's POVNormal felt wrong somehow. Like wearing someone else's clothes. I kept catching myself waiting for something bad to happen, but days turned into weeks and the crisis never came. Four left for work in the mornings and came home for dinner. I went to the foundation and actually focused on my job instead of constantly checking my phone for emergencies. Monte brought home spelling tests and soccer permission slips. Sophia learned to count to twenty and announced it to anyone who would listen.We went on a date to an Italian restaurant downtown on a random Tuesday. No bodyguards. No security team is watching the exits. Just us sitting across from each other arguing about whether pineapple belonged on pizza while sharing a bottle of wine. Four reached across the table and took my hand."This is nice," he said."This is weird," I corrected. "I keep expecting s
Chapter 210Four's POVNathan Graves was arrested for corruption. The words did not make sense at first. I stood in my office while the party continued beyond the door, Detective Rivera's voice coming through the phone explaining what had happened. The man who had tried to destroy me, who had manufactured evidence and orchestrated elaborate schemes to put me in prison, was now facing the same fate himself."How long have you been investigating him?" I asked."Two years," Rivera said. "Ever since your case.Something about his methods bothered me. Too convenient how the evidence appeared. Too perfect. I started digging quietly and found a pattern. Graves has been taking bribes for over a decade, falsifying evidence, and planting witnesses. You were not his first victim, just his most high-profile."The room felt too small suddenly. All the fear and paran
Manuel's POVI stood in Four's hospital room holding a folder I wished I could burn. Veronica looked at me with concern. Four pushed himself more upright in bed despite the pain it caused."What is it, Manuel? Just tell me."I opened the folder and pulled out financial reports. Stock charts showing
Veronica's POVMonte was playing with his toy trucks on the floor of his room when the alarms started screaming. The sound was deafening and immediate. Red lights flashed in the hallway. My son looked up at me with wide terrified eyes."Mama?"I scooped him up before I even processed what was happe
Four's POVThe hospital discharge papers felt like freedom in my hands. Two weeks of forced rest, countless tests, and Dr Chen's stern warnings about not pushing myself too hard. But I was finally going home.Veronica held Mont
Veronica's POVThe manila envelope arrived while Four was sleeping. A nurse handed it to me with a smile, assuming it was getwell cards or hospital paperwork. I thanked her and set it on the chair beside Monte, not thinking much about it.&n







