Lahat ng Kabanata ng Tangled Destinies : Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

The mental image of easygoing Marcus as some cruel, overbearing employer made Lila burst out laughing. She doubled over slightly, clutching her stomach as Dominic watched her with an amused expression.“You’re ridiculous,” she managed between giggles.He shrugged nonchalantly. “Ridiculous, maybe. But effective.” His gaze softened as he stepped closer, his hand sliding around her waist. His voice dropped to a low murmur. “And for the record, seeing you in my shirt is doing things to me.”Lila felt a pleasant warmth flood her cheeks, but she met his eyes with a grin. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to bring myself to give it back.”“Good,” Dominic said without missing a beat. “Because I wouldn’t even dream of asking you to.”The space between them grew smaller, their laughter fading as they leaned in. Lila’s breath hitched in anticipation,

Annabelle stared at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity, her hands going still in the middle of applying her moisturizer. Her morning routine had always meditative and calming, but today it felt mechanical, as her hands moved on autopilot. A persistent thought had settled in her mind since last night, making it difficult to focus. Blackmailing Rachel, as her father had ordered, was unpleasant enough. The idea filled her with a sense of dread—not because Rachel didn’t deserve it. If anything, Rachel deserved worse. But the sordid revelation of Rachel’s affair with Victor Nolls had made her think of a more troubling possibility, one that Annabelle couldn’t ignore.What if the child Rachel lost hadn’t even been James’ at all?The idea rooted itself deeper as she remembered the way James had humiliated Lila in front of the family. Rachel had been having an affair with Victor before she even met James—what were the odds that

Annabelle took her time, stirring her tea with a deliberate air of calmness as she watched Rachel from the corner of her eye. Across the table, Rachel sat stiffly, her hands resting in her lap, the only betrayal of her unease being the slight trembling in her fingers. Annabelle glanced up briefly, noting the tension in Rachel's jaw, the way she refused to meet her gaze. It was amusing, really—this woman, who thrived on manipulation and deceit, was fidgeting before her without Annabelle needing to lift a finger. Annabelle couldn’t help the satisfaction that curled through her.  Setting her spoon down with a soft clink, Annabelle folded her hands on the table. "So, shall we talk about Victor Nolls?" she began smoothly, her voice filled with mock politeness. "Are you going to deny it? Or would you rather get it all out in the open now?"The reaction was instantaneous. Rachel’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with shock. For a quick moment, her compo

 Annabelle was halfway up the stairs, her mind still buzzing with the revelation she’d gotten from her conversation, when she felt a hand grab hers, sharp nails digging painfully into her skin. She gasped and turned around, expecting to see Rachel had come after her to take their fight to a physical level. But the face she saw wasn’t Rachel’s—it was her mother, Margaret’s.Her irritation flared for a moment, ready to scold her mother for sneaking up on her like that. But the harsh words froze on her tongue the moment she saw Margaret’s face. Her mother looked almost unrecognizable from the elegant beauty Annabelle was used to seeing. Her skin was deathly pale from so many days of shutting herself up in the house instead of going out into the sun. Her usually soft, pleasant features were twisted with panic, her wide eyes darting around like a frightened animal. Her thin frame seemed even smaller beneath the loose, stylish robe she wore.

Margaret’s face twisted with regret, her hand trembling as she reached for Annabelle. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. “I took James that night because I knew it would cut your father the deepest. He always saw James as his heir, even if he never said it out loud.”Annabelle’s head snapped up, her chest tightening at her mother’s words. “His heir?” Her tone was sharp, laced with a bitterness she couldn’t suppress. So what was she? The spare?Margaret flushed, rushing to clarify. “Oh, darling, don’t misunderstand. Your father loves you too. Of course, he does—”“Stop.” Annabelle’s voice cracked like a whip, her words slicing through the air. She felt the sting of those words in her chest, the unspoken truth they carried. “I didn’t ask you to justify him. I asked you what happened that night.”