MasukShare
71. The Memory in the Kitchen
Tanggal publikasi:
2026-08-19 18:04:57
Bab terbaru
The Wife He Chose Too Late 72. I remember I loved you
Claire's POVThe words had barely left my mouth when Damien's expression changed.He didn't rush toward me. He didn't grab me or start asking a dozen questions. He simply stood there, looking at me as though he was afraid that if he moved too quickly, the memory might disappear and take me with it.Maria quietly set the wooden spoon down. "Claire," she said gently, "are you sure?"I nodded, although my eyes were still fixed on Damien. "I remember being here."Damien's voice was soft when he answered. "You remember this kitchen?""Not this kitchen exactly. I mean..." I pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to find the words. "I remember the other kitchen. The same one, but different. I don't know if that makes sense.""It does.""You were standing there." I pointed toward the stove. "You were wearing a white shirt."His mouth curved slightly. "I owned several.""You had the sleeves rolled up.""I usually did.""And you kept stealing food."He laughed under his breath. "Apparent
The Wife He Chose Too Late 71. The Memory in the Kitchen
Claire's POVThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was smiling.I didn't know why at first. I lay still beneath the blankets, staring at the ceiling while the pale morning light slipped through the curtains, and for several seconds I couldn't understand what had put that expression on my face. Then the memory came back, not as a picture or a complete scene, but as a feeling. Damien's hand against my cheek. His lips against mine. The hesitation in the way he'd kissed me, as though even after everything we'd been through, he was still waiting for me to decide whether he was allowed to be close.I touched my lips with my fingertips. It had felt familiar. That was the part I couldn't stop thinking about.Not simply the kiss itself, but the strange sensation that somewhere beneath the empty spaces in my mind, there was a woman who knew him. A woman who knew the sound of his voice when he was tired, the way he smiled when he was trying not to laugh, the warmth of his hand and
The Wife He Chose Too Late 70. The Kiss
Claire’s POVThat, more than anything, made my heart beat faster.Damien remained where he was, close enough that I could see the small movement of his chest as he breathed, but he didn't reach for me. He didn't try to turn what I'd said into something bigger than it was. He simply looked at me, and there was something almost unbearably careful in his expression.I lowered the photograph onto the bedside table. "You're doing it again."His eyebrows drew together slightly. "Doing what?""Looking at me like that."A faint smile touched his mouth. "I'm trying not to.""Why?""Because I'm not sure what you're thinking."I folded my arms loosely across my chest. "You could ask.""I could.""But you're not.""Because I don't want you to feel pressured into giving me an answer just because I want one."I stared at him for a moment. "You really are different from the man I remember being told about."His expression softened. "You haven't been told much about me.""I've been told enough.""By
The Wife He Chose Too Late 69. The Photograh
Claire's POV The nursery door closed softly behind us, and for a few seconds Damien and I simply stood in the hallway without saying anything. My hand was still resting over my stomach, almost as though I was afraid that if I moved it, the tiny flutter we had felt would disappear completely. I could still feel the memory of it in my palm even though the movement itself had stopped. I looked at Damien and found him watching me with that same stunned expression he'd had when the baby moved beneath our hands. There was something almost boyish about the way he looked, something I hadn't seen often since I had woken up in the hospital. It made him seem less like the intimidating businessman everyone else seemed to know and more like a man who had just been given something he wasn't sure he deserved. "I think our baby boy likes you," I said, smiling. His eyebrows lifted. "You've decided it's a boy now?" "I didn't decide anything." "You just called the baby 'he.'" I looked down at my
The Wife He Chose Too Late 68. The crib
Claire’s POV Three days later, Damien's prediction came true. The intercom buzzed just after ten that morning while we were finishing our coffee.Damien reached for the receiver beside the kitchen island, listening for a moment before a smile spread across his face. "I believe our living room is about to disappear."I looked at him curiously. "The delivery?"He nodded. "The concierge says there are several men downstairs asking where they'd like to put the mountain of boxes."I laughed, setting my mug in the sink. "I don't remember ordering a mountain.""I think the website used very flattering photographs."A few minutes later the front door opened, and one delivery man after another carried flat-packed boxes into the penthouse. They stacked them neatly in the living room until cardboard seemed to occupy every available space.I stared at the pile in disbelief. "I don't remember it looking quite this big."Damien folded his arms beside me. "I suspect the photographs were taken from
The Wife He Chose Too Late 67. The Nursery
Claire's POVNearly three weeks had passed since our ultrasound appointment, and somewhere along the way the penthouse had stopped feeling like a place I was borrowing from another version of myself.It hadn't happened all at once.There hadn't been a single morning when I'd woken up and suddenly remembered where everything belonged or felt as though I had reclaimed the life I'd lost.Instead, it had happened quietly, one ordinary moment after another.The notebook Emma had given me now rested permanently on the coffee table, its once-empty pages slowly filling with little discoveries about the woman I used to be and the woman I was becoming.The calendar hanging near the dining room no longer made me sad every time I looked at it. Instead of reminding me of everything I'd forgotten, it reminded me that life kept moving forward.Even Maria had somehow become part of my new routine. She arrived every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with grocery bags in one hand and opinions in the other,
The Wife He Chose Too Late 10. The First Attack
Claire's POVThe problem with Tiffany Morgan was that she never did anything obvious because if she had openly flirted with Damien, I could have been angry if she had insulted me in front of other people, I could have defended myself and if she had behaved like the villain I wanted her to be, at le
The Wife He Chose Too Late 9. The First Encounter
Claire's POVBy noon, I had accomplished almost nothing. On paper, my morning had been productive. I had answered emails, approved schedules, finalized travel arrangements for three executives, and reorganized next week's board meeting agenda.In reality, I couldn't have told anyone what half of th
The Wife He Chose Too Late 8. Back In His World
Claire's POVI barely slept again but the difference was that this time I wasn't staring at an empty side of the bed. Damien had eventually come upstairs sometime after midnight. I knew because I heard him moving quietly through the bedroom while he assumed I was asleep.Neither of us had spoken an
The Wife He Chose Too Late 7. The Explanation
Claire's POVDamien stood in the foyer for a moment as though he wasn't entirely certain he wanted to be there and the sight alone told me more than I wanted to know.His suit jacket was gone. His white shirt was creased in places that suggested he had been wearing it far longer than intended. Dark
Anda juga akan menyukai
The Wrong Woman
Ginny Not Genie1.2M DibacaWanted: Billionaire's Wife And Their Genius Twin Babies
Pamela979.6K DibacaPregnant and Favored: See You in the Morning, Young Master
Miss Yu923.7K DibacaYou're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
Cora Smith691.3K DibacaStolen Glory: Reborn to Ruin Them All
So Stuffed623 DibacaThe CEO's Secret Divorce
Tessy pen 30 DibacaDiscarded By Ex, Claimed By His Half-brother
Author Gold72 DibacaMarried as a Spare: The Billionaire's Comeback Queen
Nora West10 Dibaca
