MasukGenevieve stood in front of the mirror, staring at herself as she brushed her hair. Grace stepped inside and paused when she saw her already dressed. “You're really going to go, sweetheart? You don't have to put yourself through all of that if you're not ready. You can stay here with me. ”Genevieve gave her a small smile and picked up her phone from the dresser.“I know you're worried about me, but I'm okay. I don't want to stay home just because I'm scared of what people might say, and George's anniversary has never been something I've missed. I want to pay my respects and come back home afterward.”Grace studied her for a moment, clearly unconvinced by the calmness in her voice.“You keep saying you're okay, but that doesn't mean you have to prove anything to anyone today. You don't owe the Vaughns your presence, and you certainly don't owe Desmond the chance to make you uncomfortable.”“I know, Aunt Grace, and I'm not going there for any of them. I'm going because I want to, and
Before Ethan could ask another question, the man walked away. Ethan remained in his seat, staring after him. That was the first time he was seeing the man from the photograph which he didn't expect. Since that afternoon, after he was back, he had taken the photo from his drawer and had stared at it for a long time wondering. How did Isabella meet him? Was it an affair between them? But Ethan stopped himself from thinking further so he wouldn't accuse his mother of having an affair. But one thing is that Isabella and the man has a history together. Now standing at the hallway at midnight about heading downstairs,.Ethan heard footsteps approaching.He turned.Isabella stopped when she saw him.Neither of them expected to meet there.Ethan had the small photograph between his fingers, and before he could put it away, it slipped from his hand and landed on the floor.Isabella's eyes immediately dropped to it.The moment she saw the photograph, all the color disappeared from her face.Sh
It was midnight, but Isabella was still standing on the terrace outside her bedroom.The cold night air pressed against her bare arms, yet she barely felt it. Her mind was too occupied with the phone call she had received earlier. Victor's voice still echoed in her head, calm and confident as if the years between them had never happened. He had spoken to her as though he had every right to return to her life, and the final thing he had said continued to haunt her.He was going to be at George's anniversary. She should be expecting him.Isabella wrapped her arms around herself and stared into the darkness beyond the terrace. She had spent years making sure Victor stayed far away from her family. She had built her life around the belief that he was behind bars, unable to reach her or her sons. Now, one phone call had shattered that sense of security.For the first time in a long time, fear had found its way into her chest.Isabella Vaughn did not scare easily. She had survived things th
The message came from a number that she had deleted along time ago. From one man she had spent years trying to forget. The man whose name she never wanted to hear again.Victor.The thought of him made something cold crawl through her chest. Victor Scott was the man she despised more than anyone in the world. He was the reason George was dead, and Isabella had never forgotten that rainy night when she watched Victor murder him or rather victor made her watch as he killed George.She had spent years believing Victor belonged exactly where he deserved to be.In prison.Behind bars.Unable to reach her.Unable to reach her sons. Unable to destroy what she had built.So why was he texting her? And how did he even still have her number?Isabella slowly bent down and picked up the phone with trembling fingers.She stared at the message again.Hello, wife.Her hands became colder. Victor was supposed to be in prison. Unless something had happened. She immediately searched for the number of t
Desmond continued staring at Olive.She was still sitting on the edge of the bed with the medication bottle in her hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around it as if she could somehow hide it from him by holding it harder. The fear in her eyes was obvious, but Desmond no longer had the energy to ask questions or start another argument. He had spent the entire day discovering truths that had been hidden from him, and he wasn't about to walk into another one of his mother's games.There was no need to confront Olive.After all, she was his mother's pet, and whatever Isabella had told her to do or whatever she had been hiding, shouting at her would not change anything. Desmond already knew enough. The baby wasn't his, and that was the truth he had to accept whether he liked it or not.He didn't even want to know the details yet.All he wanted was to stay away from his mother's games, stay out of whatever mess she had created, and somehow find a way to fix what mattered most to him.Genevi
At exactly ten in the morning, Desmond's phone received the message he had been dreading.He had been sitting in a board meeting when the notification appeared. He almost ignored it, too busy trying to keep his mind focused on the discussion in front of him. But something about the hospital number made him reach for his phone.The report had arrived.His fertility report.Desmond opened it beneath the table, expecting to see something that would confirm what he had believed for years. Instead, the moment his eyes landed on the result, the room around him seemed to disappear.Oligospermia.He read it again.Then a third time.His eyes moved across the words, but his mind refused to accept them.He was the problem.Not Genevieve.Him.The woman he had spent years blaming for their inability to have a child had never been the problem. His wife had been innocent all along, and he had spent years making her feel like she was the reason their marriage had failed.Desmond barely remembered w







