LOGIN"I'm fine."Naomi turned. "Where's Lily?""Found her out in the back garden a bit ago. She's up in the study with Grandpa now," Marcus said, straightforward. "He's completely taken with her. Was actually going to ask if you two wanted to stay the night."Naomi studied his face, nothing there but easy sincerity, and felt some of her suspicion ease.Maybe I really was overthinking this. Just a strange coincidence."Take me to her first," Naomi said, sidestepping the question about staying over."Sure, follow me." Marcus led the way.Naomi turned back to say a quick goodbye to Sebastian before falling into step behind Marcus.Watching the two of them disappear down the hall, something dark and thoughtful settled deeper into Sebastian's expression.He pulled out his phone and called Miles. "Where are you?""Where am I? You're the one who told me to wait in the parking lot," Miles shot back, confused.Something in Sebastian's eyes went flat.So it wasn't a coincidence after all.But why wo
Anxiety pulled tight across Naomi's face. "Marcus is there security footage in this house?"Marcus's eyes flickered, quick to smooth it over. "There is. Actually, Sebastian just asked me for the key to the monitoring room a few minutes ago. He should be in there right now.""Take me there." Naomi didn't hesitate.Every second she couldn't account for Lily wound the panic tighter in her chest."This way."She followed close behind Marcus, silently praying nothing had happened to her daughter.A few minutes later, they reached the monitoring room door.Sure enough, it stood open."I'll wait out here," Marcus said, stepping back.Naomi nodded and stepped inside.Sebastian stood at the console, tall and composed, adjusting the feed, eyes locked on the screens.He seemed completely absorbed, as if he hadn't registered anyone entering the room at all.Naomi held off on interrupting, letting herself take him in for a beat instead.If that face ever wandered into entertainment, it would break
Naomi glanced sideways at Sebastian, equally curious about his answer."Fine." Sebastian nodded.The old man exhaled, relieved. "Then the two of you can run point on this together."He turned to Naomi. "Marcus will help you follow up on logistics. Anything gets complicated, go through him.""Okay." Naomi gave a small nod.The old man glanced between them. "Do you two even have each other's contact info?"Both of them blinked, caught off guard.Naomi caught up first. She pulled out her phone and opened her contact QR code. "Mr. Cole, mind adding me?"If the old man wanted her running this project, she wasn't about to make it harder than it needed to be."Sure." Sebastian pulled up his own account and held it out.Watching the exchange complete, the old man waved them off. "Alright, that's enough for tonight. Head home.""Get some rest, Grandpa," Naomi said, standing and heading for the door.Sebastian followed right behind her.Miles, still leaning against the railing outside, arched a
"We're not divorced yet. Legally, you're still my wife."Something colder settled into Ethan's eyes as his composure snapped back into place.He registered what he'd just done in front of a room full of people and, rather than panic, doubled down.He believed he was in the right here. There was no version of this where the Sinclairs would side against him over one woman.He turned to the old man, blunt. "Mr. Sinclair. Naomi is my wife. I'm here to bring her home."Every set of eyes in the room fixed on the three of them.The old man raised his head slowly, met Naomi's eyes first, and then let out a short, humorless laugh. "Funny. I don't recall hearing anything about Naomi being your wife.""Where exactly were you when she needed someone?"If he hadn't dug into Naomi's background himself, he'd have had no idea just how badly Ethan had treated her over the years. The thought of nearly being taken in by Ethan's performance of concern made something in his chest curdle.But the words lan
"Dinner's about to start. Let's head down."Vivian buried the jealousy behind a friendly smile aimed at Naomi.Naomi caught the flicker of hostility underneath it anyway and answered, neutral. "Okay."The second they got downstairs, Naomi found Lily perched on Derek's shoulders.Her heart stuttered slightly, taking a beat to catch up.It's been less than half an hour. She's already this comfortable with all three of them?"Lily, what are you doing?" Naomi stopped short, disapproving. "Didn't we talk about respecting your elders?""It's my fault, I talked her into it." Derek's ears went red as he scrambled to explain. "She's just so cute, I couldn't help myself."Naomi's mouth twitched, out of arguments.Behind her, Vivian watched the whole scene with her jaw clenched so tight it nearly cracked.Naomi showing up was bad enough. Now there's a kid stealing everyone's attention too?Still, remembering that Naomi would soon be a divorced single mother, Vivian felt a small measure of relief
Sebastian froze slightly at the sight of her running toward him."What are you waiting for?" Miles said, unbothered. "Little Lily's asking for a hug, in case you missed it."Sebastian's mouth pressed into a thin line, something dark flickering across his eyes. "Not appropriate right now.""Why not?" Lily tilted her head, genuinely confused.Handsome uncle's never acted this cold before.She followed his gaze and found it locked on Marcus.Something clicked in her head instantly.Wait. Does handsome uncle think Mom and Uncle are together?Is he... jealous?"Handsome uncle, why do you keep staring at my uncle?" Lily asked, all innocence.At the word uncle, something shifted across Sebastian's expression. "What did you just call him?"Lily blinked, entirely unbothered. "You're staring at the guy next to my mom, right? That's my uncle!""Uncle?" Miles cut in, surprised. "Isn't that the new boyfriend you found for your mom?""Nope. Handsome uncle's the boyfriend I found for her." Lily beam







