LOGINLydia povI answered.“Hello?”“Lydia.”His voice sounded amused.“How do I remove blush from a child’s face?”I blinked.“What?”“Miriam.”I glanced at my kids in the back seat.“She told me she doesn’t want to wash her face because she likes your lipstick.”I laughed.“It’s blush, Theo.”“Whatever it is, it’s apparently precious.”“It is.”“I figured that out.”I could hear the smile in his voice.“She says she doesn’t want it to come off.”“Use a wet wipe.”“A wet wipe?”“Yes. A normal baby wipe. Just gently clean her face.”“Where do I find one?”I laughed.“Are you serious?”“I’ve been informed that I’m apparently useless in this department.”“You can find baby wipes in literally every supermarket.”“Excellent.”There was a brief pause.Then I heard Miriam’s voice in the background.“Daddy!”“What?”“Can I live with Lydia?”I froze.Theo went completely silent.Then Miriam continued, apparently unaware that she had just detonated a bomb.“I want her to be my mom.”I covered my mo
Lydia POVI woke up to the smell of cinnamon.Not the faint, polite kind that disappeared the moment you opened your eyes, but the kind that seemed to have taken over the entire house and was personally offended that I was still upstairs. It drifted beneath my bedroom door, curled around the hallway, and somehow managed to pull me out of the deepest sleep I had had in weeks. I lay there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling while my brain slowly remembered where I was, what day it was, and, more importantly, why there were children laughing somewhere downstairs before eight in the morning.Then I heard Anna’s voice.“Don’t touch that yet!”Eli shouted something back.Ava immediately corrected him.Miriam laughed.I closed my eyes again.Right.The children.The sleepover.The camping trip.And apparently, the beginning of my morning had already been taken hostage.I dragged myself out of bed, slipped into something comfortable, ran a brush through my hair, and went downstairs expe
Lydia POVThe moment Dave said he was coming to Country Z tomorrow, the room completely lost whatever little calm I had managed to restore.Ava was practically bouncing on the bed, her hair flying everywhere as she fired questions at him faster than he could answer. Eli had somehow gone from half-asleep to fully awake in less than three seconds, demanding to know what time Dad would arrive, whether he was bringing anything, how long he was staying, and whether they could go somewhere “extremely cool” when he got there.Dave laughed through most of it, trying unsuccessfully to answer both children at once. I watched him, taking in the way his expression softened whenever one of them said his name, the way he leaned closer to the screen as though he could somehow shorten the distance between them by doing so. Whatever else I could say about Dave, I couldn’t deny that the children loved hearing his voice. There was a particular brightness that appeared in their faces whenever he called,
Lydia POVIt felt like forever before the front door finally opened again.In reality, it had been thirty minutes.Thirty.I knew because Anna had checked the time twice, and because the children had managed to turn those thirty minutes into an entire lifetime of questions, whispered conversations, snacks, and increasingly dramatic theories about why adults took so long to argue and apologize.I was sitting on the edge of the sofa with Eli tucked against my side when the door opened.Theo stepped inside first.He looked exhausted.Not the polished, composed Theo who walked into boardrooms and made executives straighten their backs. This was different. His tie had loosened slightly, his sleeves were rolled up, and there was an unmistakable weariness around his eyes.His gaze found me almost immediately.“Lydia.”I looked up.He took a breath.“I’m so sorry.”I didn’t answer immediately.He glanced toward Eli, then crouched so they were almost eye level.“And for the record,” he said, “
Lydia POVThe word came out before I could stop it.Every child went silent.Even the adults.Miranda looked at me.I could feel my heartbeat pounding against my ribs, each beat pushing another layer of restraint out of the way.“You can talk about me,” I said, my voice low. “You can make assumptions about my marriage. You can make whatever judgments you want about the way I live my life. But you do not get to stand in front of me and question how I raise my children.”“I wasn’t—”“You were.”My voice cracked through the room.“You have known me for less than a day, and somehow you’ve decided you understand my children better than I do.”Miranda opened her mouth.I lifted my hand.“No. Let me finish.”Theo stood.“Lydia—”I shook my head without looking at him.“I would take anything from you, Miranda. I would take every passive-aggressive comment you’ve made since you walked through that door. I would take the comments about the temperature. The air freshener. The food. The sugar. Th
Lydia POV He walked into the hallway carrying a little girl in his arms. Miriam. Her small arms were wrapped loosely around his neck, her cheek resting against his shoulder. She was dressed in a little yellow sundress with white sneakers, her dark curls gathered into two tiny puffs. Theo looked completely at ease with her. One hand supported her back while the other carried a small overnight bag. My eyes moved from him… To Anna. Anna smiled. Too innocently. My eyes narrowed. Of course. Of course she did this. I should have known. This was Anna. If there was an opportunity to manufacture an unnecessarily complicated social situation, she would find it, polish it and serve it with brunch. “Hi, Lydia.” Theo smiled. “Hi.” I returned the smile, trying very hard not to look at Anna. She suddenly became extremely interested in her coffee. “You invited them?” I asked. Anna shrugged. “I invited everyone.” “Everyone?” “Yes.” Theo stepped forward. “Sorry.” He adjuste
Lydia’s POVThe inside of the house was even worse than the outside.Worse, because now I had to physically stand inside it and accept that this was where I was expected to live.The space swallowed me the second I stepped in.The entrance opened into a massive living area with floors so polished I
Lydia I turned.He was standing a few feet away now, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.There was no softness in his face.Just cool detachment.The kind that made the evening breeze feel warmer by comparison.For the first time since he arrived, he looked directly at me and held the
Lydia POVAfter what seems like forever, a black Rolls-Royce pulled into the court compound, I had already imagined three different ways to murder my husband.Future husband.Potential husband.Missing husband.Whatever.At that point, I wasn’t being picky.The sleek black car glided through the ga
Lydia POVOh.That was… unfortunate.Because he was beautiful.In a sharp, expensive, dangerous kind of way.Dark suit.Sharper jaw.Dark eyes that looked almost black under certain lighting.Everything about him looked controlled.I clicked another picture.Still no smile.Another.Same expression







