ALEXI finally received an offer from Dourado Insurance Group—the so-called help from Gregory Duncan. I forwarded the offer to Grayson and Emily, and the three of us met in my office an exact hour later. I needed every single paragraph of that deal before I even considered signing it.Emily showed up first, a copy of the offer in one hand and an iPad in the other. I wasn't surprised that she had already made her notes concerning every part of that offer, and as I studied her expression after she walked into my office, she didn't seem pleased.Grayson entered a few minutes later. His lips formed a tightly sealed line as he made his way to the sofa and sat down. Then he glanced at Emily, and what he read from her expression caused him to curse under his breath. Yes… this was going to be one hell of a “pleasant” meeting.“Let me cut to the chase.” Emily broke the heavy silence. “This offer is unacceptable.” She shifted in her seat and crossed her long legs. “The price is agreeable, but t

ALEXI thought I had everything under control. As soon as I left the museum, I headed back to the office and used the business card Philip Corbin had given me. Less than three hours passed, and I had an offer from the Lumiere Insurance Group lying on my desk. I checked the main points and sighed in relief. The sum of money they demanded was higher than what our initial deal with Viento had assumed, but it was manageable without the need to make drastic cuts in our other investments.Certainly, Emily, Grayson, and I kept everything secret. The negotiations with now three different insurance companies were ongoing, but with what Lumiere Insurance offered, we finally had the upper hand.I could finally breathe, sit back in my chair, and casually plan the weekend with my son and Sarah. It was supposed to be our escape from reality, a brief moment that would allow me to get to know my own kid. But then Friday came, and I woke up to a nightmare…“They even had test results, Alex. How the he

I watched Mary and Liam disappear behind the closing door. Then I turned to Eleonor. The elegant old lady held my stare for a moment before she smacked my arm.“Ouch!” I groaned. “It hurt!”“Good,” Eleonor huffed. “That's for not telling me that Liam is my great-grandson.” She folded her arms over her chest and frowned. “I understand why you didn't tell Alex. He can be a real jerk sometimes. But I'm old, for God's sake! You wanted to take away my time to spoil this boy?!”My lips twitched into a faint smile. Perhaps I shouldn't be smiling since Elenor looked seriously pissed, but I couldn't help it. I could see that she loved Liam already, and seeing that glow in her eyes flooded my chest with warmth.“I didn't want to lie to you,” I admitted. “I just wanted to protect Liam. I wasn't sure if I could trust Alex, and I didn't want to give my son false hope for a family.”Eleonor's frown deepened. “You should have told me. I would have made sure my grandson officially claimed that Liam w

SARAH “First of all, you'll need to start to look like Mrs. Ravenford.” Eleonor pursed her lips as she carefully scanned my slightly torn jeans. “It's OK to wear comfortable clothes, but not when someone may see you or when you're in the middle of a war.” I gave her a wry smile. “I'm not Mrs. Ravenford, and currently Liam's father stays engaged to someone else. I don't want people to look at me as someone who tries to destroy Alex's”—I finger-quoted—“perfect relationship.” Eleonor rolled her eyes. “For God's sake, Sarah, Jeanette may be intelligent, and she may know how to act, but you're forgetting one thing.” She leaned closer. “You don't have to act for people to like you. You don't need to create a false story about your life to gain attention. You can tell the truth, and everyone will listen.” She fixed her eyes on me and studied me for a moment. “Your only problem is that you're afraid of Jeanette, or rather, you're afraid that people will sympathize with her and treat you as

SARAH“Ms. Hill, can you tell us more about how you and Mr. Ravenford met?” The reporter shoved the microphone toward me, and I barely resisted an urge to step back.I stretched my lips, doing my best to hide my fears behind a smile. Then I glanced at Eleonor, who gave me a nearly unnoticeable nod of her head, encouraging me to speak. Before she forced me to engage in this popularity campaign, she advised me to tell the truth—well, most of it. I decided to stick to her advice. Clearing my throat, I turned to the reporter.“Five years ago, I decided to spend a weekend in the Bahamas to recover after a cheating guy broke my heart. Then, I met an extremely handsome guy and accidentally spilled my drink all over his shirt.” I smiled a little sheepishly and heard a wave of soft laughs spreading across the group of reporters.“So you and Mr. Ravenford met by accident?” someone asked.“Yes. It was one of those embarrassing moments when I wished I was invisible,” I said, and another gale of l