MasukHi everyone! If you've read to this moment, I know I know I know. I messed up by going Mia. But now I'm back. Please forgive me, and don't give up on this book! Enjoy!
026Mirabella I could feel Ethan’s gaze tracking me as I bolted past him, my eyes fixed on only one thing. My baby. The suit-clad man who had wheeled Theo in pushed the chair faster, shortening the distance for our reunion. “Theo,” I murmured, tears clouding my vision and making it impossible to see clearly as I knelt before him. “Mommy,” he said in that same frail way as before, his eyes sunken and drained. My baby was exhausted. I cupped his chin with my palm, the heat of his feverish skin seeping into my hand. “Mommy is here now.” He nodded weakly against my touch. The tears finally slipped out, trickling down my cheeks and dropping onto Theo’s small hand. I looked down to see the IV marks, the puncture sites still a bruised, fresh red. It will go away, I told myself in that moment. All that mattered was that Theo was okay. Heaving a heavy sigh, I pressed my forehead lightly to his. I shut my eyes, letting the rest of the tears fall. It was all okay now. “The surgery went w
025 Mirabella “If you would like, you can follow me to my car. I will show you something.” Mr. Chen: Jesse misses you so much. I informed her of your arrival. She has not stopped jumping ever since. We cannot wait to see you. “Do you trust me, little sister?” “No.” Mr. Chen: Did your flight get delayed? You were supposed to have arrived. “Please, you have to believe me. I need you now more than I have ever needed anyone.” Mr. Chen: Mirabella? “Why should I help you now? Have you ever asked yourself that, Sienna?” Two missed calls from Mr. Chen. “Little sister, please.” Mr. Chen: Call me now. I need to know you are safe. “This is your marriage, after all. I am handing it all back to you now, and I am asking...” Dragging my hollow eyes from the screen, I fixed them on the mansion standing before me. “...You... all I ask is that you take over your marriage and take care of Juliana as if she were your own, just as you would for Jesse.” ...All I ask is that you take bac
024 Mirabella Mirabella? Mirabella. I repeated the name over in my mind, biting the inside of my cheek, a habit I had suddenly developed. This woman. “What do you want from me, Sienna?” I thinned my lips to say. “Sister,” she deadpanned. A scoff escaped my lips as I scrutinized the joke standing in front of me. Sister? Truly, I was not even interested in having Sienna corner me, taunt me with that pathetic title, and gloat over how she stole my husband and my son. And heck, do not tell me I saw wrongly and it was actually this good-for-nothing-wanna-be monster who saved me, and not Richard as I had thought. “Please sign here,” a voice pulled me back, forcing me to look away from the saccharine, tooth-rotting smile now on Sienna’s lips. Sienna always smiled like that, though I was not sure if that expression was reserved only for me. Turning, I gripped the pen and signed my name with a jab that nearly tore the paper. Then I turned on my heel and started walking away. Sienna fel
023 Mirabella The door swung open for what felt like the tenth time. Two officers walked in, one tall and broad with a neck thicker than my thigh, the other leaner, with a clipboard he seemed to be using to measure my worth. Behind them was the woman from earlier with the same cold stare and stiff ponytail. Her badge gleamed. “Mirabella Carter,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting across from me. “Let us go over this again.” My jaw clenched. “Go over what? I already told you everything.” “You arrived at Room 215. You were found crouched over Ethan Robert’s bed, your hand...” “My hand was in his hair!” I snapped, slamming my cuffed fists on the table. “My son was right beside him, for God’s sake! What did you expect me to do, throw confetti?” “Ma’am,” the clipboard guy said sharply, his eyes unreadable, “please lower your voice.” I laughed bitterly. “Lower my voice? You are accusing me of strangulation! Do I look like I came here to commit a murder? Do you think I hopped
022 Mirabella I hung up before it beeped uselessly. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hurl my phone at the airport walls until the screen shattered and the voicemail with it. But I did not. I just gripped the device so tightly my knuckles paled and hurried toward the main exit, my legs moving as if they were no longer mine. “Taxi!” I flagged the first one I saw the moment I stepped outside, yanking the door open and tossing myself and my suitcase in. “Drive, please. Out of here. I will give you the address once I have it.” The driver gave me a look but did not question me. He simply nodded, pulled away from the curb, and slid into traffic. The city blurred past. My fingers hovered over my phone the entire time, eyes flicking to the screen every few seconds. I checked for a missed call, another text, or anything at all, but I received nothing yet. Ethan better not be kidding me with such news. Thirteen minutes into the drive, just as we crossed a quiet intersection, my screen lit u
021 Mirabella The airport was unusually quiet, or maybe it was not. Maybe the noise was there and I just could not hear it, as if the world were moving and I was stuck between seconds, standing still in a place that no longer made me feel alive. I clutched the handle of my suitcase, the same one I had brought here with me from Switzerland. It felt heavier now than it did back then. Perhaps it was just me and not the luggage. My fingers tightened around the grip and my heart felt hollow beneath my ribs, yet my chest still carried something stubborn, something foolishly hopeful. It was a small whisper that maybe, just maybe, this was what starting over multiple times looked like. It was not brave, and it was not perfectly figured out. It was just... necessary. The glass windows beside me overlooked the runway, where planes glided across the tarmac like clockwork. I followed their movements with my eyes, but in the reflection of the glass, all I could see was Theo’s face. I saw his la







