LOGINTheo I looked from her to the easel, every fiber of my being wanted me to hide again, assume ignorance and remain angry, to shut down anything that would trigger a memory but my cowardice made me alike with my father, the only difference was that I didn't light the fire. I took in the content on the canvas, line by line and the more I looked, the blurrer my vision became as realization dawned on me. I numbly moved forward, my fingers touched the canvas lightly, what this piece was about, what my mother had obsessed about during her last moments, the one piece my father could not touch and standing there staring at it, incomplete yet I understood immediately why it was spared. It was spared because I was my mother's last piece. My tears dropped freely now, a mix of nostalgia and grief tightened my chest. I groaned out, leaning slightly, holding on to the easel for support, the pain of loss carve
Theo It was my turn to stand up and storm off but she shocked me with how swift she moved, keeping me in place, her small hands gripping my arms, fingers digging into my flesh. “Hear me out first.” She urged softly. But I didn't want to, just the mere thought of it made my skin crawl. “Bella you have no business doing that. You have no business with the charity. That charity is dead.” Gall spilled over my tongue. “Perhaps your mother wanted you to keep it alive even in her absence.” I jammed my teeth together. “And you know that how? Is that what someone else told you, or did you hear it from my mother?” Her hands moved up and down the length of my arm, the calmness it brought me threatened my resolve. She glanced at the easel then back at me “When I received that portrait, I knew you had to see it for yourself.” She smiled at my rigid face. God. Whenever she smiled at me, trumpets went off and she doesn't smile at me often , not like I deserved it. “In fact,” s
BellaThe air in the music room turned instantly suffocating. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner sounded deafeningly loud, each second striking like a hammer against my temples. My head spun.I jerked to my feet, driven by the instinctual urge to run, to hide the cracked, broken pieces of myself from his sharp eyes as I always did. That horror was mine to carry alone. Having him openly strip away my defenses and ask about the one topic no one else spoke about was terrifying.I barely made it past the wooden bench before his hand clamped around my wrist once more."Bella,"I turned back, my vision already blurring with hot, unshed tears.With a sudden, firm tug, Theo pulled me backward. The sheer force of his movement landed me with a sharp gasp directly on his lap, my body flushed against his chest. His arms wrapped around my waist sturdy, locking me in place.His eyes swept over my face, searching every inch. "I want to be better for you, Mirabella," he gritted out, h
Bella An odd memory startled me out of sleep, pulling me back to reality alongside the sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains. I sat up immediately, my heart thumping a heavy rhythm against my ribs.The fog in my head pieced into recognizable figures in my head.Theo.A hand— his hand, holding mine. A comforting warmth pressed along my side throughout the night. I squinted around the room, sorting through the fragments pouring into my mind. All I knew for sure was that I had been completely knocked out and that I had somehow allowed myself willingly climb into his bed.Wait. Wait. Wait. Rewind.A wave of realization hit me. How on earth did I allow myself get comfortable enough to sleep beside him?Last night rolled through my head like a film rewind. Clearer, vivid. Theo was the one who had put me to sleep, tucked me in, and held me. He held my me? Laid beside me?I jerked, casting a look at the other side of his bed. It was empty, the sheets where he had laid barely wr
TheoShe lifted the corners of her lips but her smile trembled. “It's nothing” she said and made an attempt to side step.I drew her back to me and she clasped against my chest. My perfect fit."It's not nothing, Cherie." I had no control of the way my voice dropped when it came to my wife but seeing her shaken up made a thousand dreadful thoughts run wild in my head. "That's a mark on you, Bella. Someone touched you.""Theo—"I tilted her jaw upwards. "Who?” That was all I could trust myself to say.She stepped back, putting deliberate space between us and something about the way her eyes dropped unsettled me."I'm not telling you." She said firmly. "I'm not telling you who, and I'm not telling you why, because the second I do, this stops being about what happened to me and starts being about what you're going to do about it. And I have had enough, Theo.” The pain in her voice tore at my heart. “...of men deciding what to do about me without asking first.""I'm your husband." It cam
Mirabella"What about my marriage?" My voice came out hollow, my cheek still stinging from the slap. "Sit down, Mirabella.""I'll stand." He didn't argue, dropping into the armchair, elbows on his knees, studying me like I was some failed investment. "Zoya Voss came to see me. A few weeks back.""Zoya?" The floor tilted slightly. "Why would she come to you?""Apparently a lot of people are concerned for you. She was concerned for you.” He flashed a smile. My stomach twisted.“She implied there were things about the Hartleys we should have made sure you understood before the wedding." His jaw tightened. "I didn't like being lectured by a stranger about my own daughter, but she wasn't wrong that you deserved to hear it eventually. She made it plain she'd tell you herself if we didn't."I swallowed the boulder sitting on my throat. "Tell me what, exactly?""The company faced trouble last year. Somet
Everyone was playing with me.They always did, not once has there ever been a time anyone took me seriously or cared for what I had to say. It was always I'm sure Mira wouldn't mind.All this was fishy, how was everyone fine with me marrying my sister's fiance.I wanted to flee from this sham and d
I wasn't one to be jittery.My palms were sweaty, my nerves were getting the better of me but all that ceased as the large hall door opened and the bride stepped in with her father.I watched closely as she walked further.I made the call, but the only way to know if it worked was to see the bride,
I was supposed to accompany my sister, walk her down the aisle, and be her bridesmaid.What I was not supposed to be doing was wearing her dress and walking down the aisle perched on my father's arm to be wedded to the same man my sister was supposed to marry.“Keep smiling Mirabella.” My father hi
Theo Father’s glass didn't quite make it to his lips, his eyes traced my gaze to where Harper stood with my wife. Her arms are folded in front of her. “You'll bore a hole.” I glared at my father. “I'll burn down everything if need be.” He cleared his throat. “You better keep that jealousy of yo







