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Chapter 16: The First Step
publish date:
2026-09-29 20:25:13
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The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 41: Headlines
Francesca’s POVAn hour later, the pictures were on more sites.Some of them used the same headline, and some used more exaggerated ones. Julian Windsor’s wife surfaces with Italian billionaire. Runaway bride found. The worst one was, Windsor’s bride walks out on him for an Italian billionaire.I read the comments on that one. The first said poor Julian. The second said she’s only with him for the money. The third called me a gold digger, and a woman under it wrote that she’d seen my type before. I couldn’t continue reading so I threw my phone on my bed.It didn’t take long for it to start buzzing. Unknown number. It buzzed again, a different unknown number. I didn’t answer any of it.I called Alessandro instead and he picked up immediately. “Have you seen it?” I asked.“Yes.”“They’re saying I left Julian for you.”“I know. Don’t answer any number you don’t know.”“Someone called me a gold digger.”“Did you read the comments?”“Yes.”“Don’t pay attention to any of it.”“Alessandro.”
The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 40: Dinner
Francesca’s POV After the call, I sat in the kitchen for a while before going back to the room. When I went back into the room, Alessandro was awake. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt in his hand. “Hey. I woke up and didn’t find you.” “I got a call, so I left to answer it so I wouldn’t wake you.” “Who was it?” he asked “Davis.” “Who’s Davis?” “Julian’s grandfather.” I sat down next to him. “He’s the only one in that house who was ever kind to me.” “What did he want?” I told him all of it. The book, Sophie being pregnant, Julian believing it was his, and Davis saying he didn’t think so. “Did he say how he got your address?” he asked, when I finished. “No. He said he’d explain another time.” “That’s all?” “That’s all.” “Okay. Come back to bed. We’ll take more later.” he said. I climbed on to bed with him and slept off. When I woke up, he wasn’t there. I heard movement in the kitchen so I went there. “Hi.” I said “Heyy. I’m making coff
The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 39: The report
Julian’s POVSophie ate two slices of toast and most of a bowl of fruit. She hadn’t eaten like that in weeks.I’d slept maybe two hours. I had a cup of coffee in front of me and I hadn’t touched it. Sophie had pushed hers away when Marta offered it and said she couldn’t have it now.“You’re not eating,” Sophie said.“I’m not hungry.”“You should have something. You’ll make yourself sick.”“I’m fine.”She put her toast down. “Did you tell anyone yet?”“Davis. I went to see him yesterday afternoon. My parents after that.”“What did they say?”“My mother wants you to see her doctor this week. She’s sending a car.”“That’s nice of her.” Sophie smiled at her plate. “I’ll call my parents myself later. I’ll tell them myself.”“Okay.”“I was thinking we could turn the blue room into a nursery.”“It’s nine weeks, Sophie.”“It’s never too early to plan.”After eating a bit, I left for the office. I got to the office at nine and my private investigator was waiting in the lobby with a folder unde
The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 38: The footage
Francesca’s POVWhen I got into my apartment, I locked the door and double checked the house to be sure no one was in it. Afterwards I sat on the couch with the sketchbook on my knees and went through it page by page. Who could have brought this here?After a while I called Alessandro. “What happened?”“Somebody left my sketchbook outside my door this night.”“The one from Julian’s house?”“Yes.”“How come? Does anyone from that family know where you live?”“I don’t think so. I haven’t spoken to anyone since I left, so there’s no way they could know where I am.”“Okay. I’m on my way.” “No,no. There’s no need for you to come back.”“I’m coming, Francesca. Just wait for me.” he said and hung up.He was there in twenty minutes. He looked at the envelope on the table, then checked the lock on my door and walked down to the stairwell and back.“Does the building have cameras?”“There’s one at the end of the hall. Mr. Bennett would know.”Mr. Bennett’s office was on the ground floor. I did
The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 37: The hospital
Sophie’s POVI woke up with a nurse holding my wrist and a light in my face.“There she is,” the nurse said. “Don’t sit up yet.”I sat up anyway. The room was small, with a curtain around the bed and a machine that kept beeping. There was a needle taped to the back of my hand and my head hurt.“Can I have some water?”She filled a plastic cup from the jug on the table and held it while I drank. “Don’t gulp it.”“What time is it?”“Almost eleven. You passed out at a party, do you remember that?”I remembered all of it. Odile asking me about the jewelry and me feeling hot.“The doctor will be in soon,” the nurse said, and pulled the curtain back on her way out.Marcus was in the chair by the window with his jacket across his knee, scrolling through his phone. He didn’t look up. “You’re awake.”“Obviously.”“They said it’s your blood pressure. You didn’t eat anything today.”“I was busy.”“I told you to eat.” He turned the phone over in his hand. “At least it got you out of that room.”“
The Woman He Couldn’t Keep Chapter 36: The Launch
Francesca’s POVI didn’t say anything back. Odile had told me not to say anything so I kept quiet.“You know each other?” Odile asked.“She’s my sister,” Sophie said. “We don’t see each other much.” Then she turned and held out her hand. “Madame Delacroix, it’s such an honor. I’ve loved your house since I was in school.”Odile shook it. “Marcus tells me you designed all of this.”“Every piece.”I held my bag in front of me with both hands. Alessandro stood a step behind me with his hands in his pockets.“Walk me through the necklace,” Odile said. “Start with the gold.”“Eighteen karat, yellow. The chain’s sixteen inches. The stone is oval, and I set it a little off center.”“Why?”“So it doesn’t look like every other necklace. I wanted it to look like a mistake.”“And how long did it take?”“A few weeks. It’s a lot of small work.”Odile nodded. “Is there somewhere quieter? I don’t like talking about work at a party.”“Of course,” Marcus said quickly. “There’s an office at the back.”H
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