MasukDownstairs, Harris’s phone lay beneath his outstretched hand. A message from one of Sean’s other team leaders had appeared on the lock screen. 'Any requirements for the afternoon shift?'There would be no reply.The men moved Edward and his wife through the hallway.Mrs. Vale saw Harris beside the entrance and stopped so abruptly that the man behind her nearly collided with her. “Oh God.”Edward followed her gaze.Harris had stood between them and the men who came to their house. He had brought them safely here.This morning, Edward had thanked him for a shirt and now he lay motionless a few feet from the front door.Mrs. Vale began crying.Darius moved into her line of sight. “Keep walking.”“He has a family,” she said.Darius did not answer.Edward pulled her gently towards him.Outside, a vehicle waited near the entrance.Edward searched the grounds. No guard at the gate, no movement beside the garage, no one coming.His wife leaned closer. “Sean will know,” she whispered.Edward l
When Sean returned to the study, Kennedy lowered his phone. “What did you say?”“That my father cheated you, you went after what belonged to you, and someone is trying very hard to make everyone forget the first part.”Shannon’s shoulders eased.Kennedy studied him. “You didn’t have to do that.”Sean slipped his phone into his pocket. “I wasn’t going to let them use my silence against you.”“Edward is still your father.”“Yes. That doesn’t make the story they’re telling true.”Shannon reached for his hand when he came beside her. “Thank you,” she whispered.He squeezed her fingers.Not long after, on the laptop the broadcast changed. Sean’s photograph appeared beside Kennedy’s.SEAN VALE DEFENDS KENNEDY MILES: ‘MY FATHER’S CRIMES BROUGHT THE COMPANY DOWN.’Kennedy read it without speaking. Then his gaze shifted towards Sean.There had been a time when he would have searched those words for an ulterior motive. This morning, he simply said, “Thank you.”Silas watched the statement appea
Shannon sighed and leaned back against the sofa. “My father finally agrees, and now you’re the difficult one.”“I’ve always been difficult. You were distracted by my face.”She gave him a look.He kept her hand in his. “Let’s plan it,” he said.She looked at him again. “The small ceremony?”“If that’s what you want.”“The garden?”“Yes.”“No business guests.”“Agreed.”“And you don’t get to turn this into an engagement that lasts five years.”“We’ll choose a date together. We won’t choose it tonight because you’re frightened or because someone thinks a pregnant woman ought to hurry.”Shannon considered him for a long moment then she nodded. “All right.”“Are you sure?”“I’m allowed to be disappointed and still understand.”His expression softened. “Yes, you are.”She moved closer and settled beneath his arm. After a moment, she said, “We can still look at dresses.”Sean looked down at her. “You have already looked at dresses.”“I’m a designer. Looking is research.”“How many?”“That f
Sean took her outstretched hand. “What question?”Shannon glanced towards the doorway Kennedy had disappeared through. “Close the door first.”His eyebrows lifted. “Should I be worried?”“Probably.”Sean closed it, then returned to her. She was still standing beside the window, smiling in a way that made him forget the questions waiting on his phone. He rested his hands at her waist. “What have you and your father agreed to without me?”“Nothing. He told me to ask you.”“That sounds worse.”Shannon smoothed the front of his shirt, taking longer than necessary.Sean caught her fingers. “Sweetheart.”“I want us to get married.”His expression softened. “We are getting married.”“Before the baby comes.”His hands became still.Shannon watched him carefully. “Nothing big,” she continued. “Just a small ceremony. Our family, someone to marry us, dinner afterwards. We could do it here.”“Here?”“The garden is beautiful.”“And your father agreed?”“He said if you wanted it too, then it was fi
Kennedy drew a breath. “I was wrong to decide that Sean and Aria should answer for Edward.”Her expression changed.“I had reasons to distrust their father. I still do. But Aria did nothing except love you, and I made her leave this house as though that meant nothing.”“She misses everyone.”“I know.”“She asked whether she could come back.”“I heard.” Kennedy looked down at his hands. “I also heard Sean tell her to stay where she was. After what I said to him, he is still making decisions to keep both families safe.”Shannon’s eyes softened. “He never wanted to fight you.”“I made that difficult to believe.”“You were hurt.”“I was afraid.” Kennedy glanced towards the window again. “I had only just found you. Every time someone showed me another record, all I could think was that I had missed something before. That if I doubted it this time, I might lose you again.”Shannon reached for his hand.He closed his fingers around hers. “I thought keeping you close meant I was doing better,
Aria reached for her bowl again.He glanced at it. “Careful, fatso. You’ll need your own cargo flight at this rate.”Aria lowered the spoon slowly.Shannon turned towards him. “Sean.”But Aria was already moving her phone. “For your information, I go to the gym now.”Sean looked interested. “Do you?”“Yes.”“Walking past one does not count.”“I actually go inside.”“For the café?”Aria gasped.Shannon burst out laughing.“You’re both horrible,” Aria declared.“I didn’t say anything,” Shannon protested.“You laughed.”“Only because...”“No. Don’t defend him. I have a trainer now.”Sean’s eyebrows rose.“And soon,” Aria continued, pointing her spoon at him, “you won’t be able to call me fatso anymore.”Sean laughed. “That’s impossible.”“Keep laughing.”“You could win a bodybuilding competition. I would still call you fatso.”“Then I’ll be strong enough to beat you up.”“You tried that when you were twelve.”“I was a child.”“You bit me.”“You deserved it.”Shannon looked between them.
The guest room was at the end of the hall.Shannon paused at the doorway, her fingers resting lightly against the frame before she stepped in.It used to be a storage room now it was neat, cleaned and prepared.A bed, fresh sheets and a wardrobe that looked barely used.Shannon exhaled slowly and s
The hospital discharged them the next day.Shannon didn’t know whether that was fate or cruelty.She stood just outside the building, her fingers gripping the thin discharge papers in her hand as the sunlight hit her face. Too bright. Like the world hadn’t just ended for her.A few steps ahead Rowa
Shannon’s knees weakened beneath her. Three months of silence. Three months of absence. Three months where she wasn’t there. Her breathing grew uneven. Three months where someone else was. Her gaze slowly shifted back to Rowan. And this time she understood. Rowan watched her, something sharp
Rowan sat on the bed, his arm wrapped loosely around Evelyn.Evelyn stood close, too close, and Rowan leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world.Like he had done it a hundred times.Like it belonged there.“Stop!”The word tore out of Shannon befor







