Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

Kyle's POVThe photograph lay on my desk like an accusation. Thomas Wallace, his face too close to Mia's, his hand resting on the small of her back as they walked through the children's center construction site. Her smile—that rare, genuine expression I'd seen directed at me so infrequently during our marriage—illuminated her face as she looked up at him.I slammed my fist against the mahogany desktop, sending a cascade of reports scattering to the floor. The security team I'd assigned to protect her had delivered these images this morning, and each one felt like a personal betrayal. Logically, I knew I had no right to these feelings. We were divorced. I had forfeited any claim on her emotions long ago.Logic, however, did nothing to quell the rage coursing through me.I paced the length of my corner office, the New York skyline a blur beyond the windows. Something primitive and possessive clawed at my insides. The thought of Thomas, for god's sake, stepping into the life I had ruined

Mia's POVWrong. All wrong.I sat on the sofa, staring at the business card Lieutenant Walsh had left behind. The edges were crisp, the printing precise. Everything about it suggested order, procedure, systems functioning as they should.But nothing about Richard's death felt orderly or procedural."It doesn't make sense, Gas," I whispered. "Not one bit."My father was many things. He was manipulative, selfish, cruel when it suited him. But he had never struck me as suicidal. Quite the opposite. Richard Williams had been a survivor, clinging to advantage and opportunity with relentless determination. Even in prison, facing disgrace and a lengthy sentence, he had been looking for leverage.Prison suicides. The phrase felt scripted, a convenient explanation for inconvenient deaths. Epstein. McAfee. People who knew too many secrets suddenly hanging themselves in their cells. Guards conveniently absent. Surveillance cameras mysteriously malfunctioning.I pushed myself up from the sofa wit

Kyle's POVThree weeks in Paris, and I was no closer to exonerating my father than when I'd arrived.If anything, I'd only uncovered more sins.The file on my desk contained photographs, financial records, Morton's call interrupted my thoughts."Morton," I answered, my voice rough from lack of sleep."Kyle," he replied. "There's been a development. Richard Williams is dead."I moved away from the window, alert. "How?""Officially? Suicide. He was found hanging in his cell early this morning.""And unofficially?"Morton's slight hesitation told me everything I needed to know. "The timing is... concerning. Especially given certain conversations he had recently.""With whom?" I demanded, though I already suspected the answer."Mia. He requested to meet with her several days ago."My hand tightened around the phone. "What did he want?""I'm not entirely sure," Morton admitted. "But according to Scarlett, it had something to do with Diana Porter.""Did he tell her anything specific?""If h

Mia's POVI couldn't sleep. My mind raced with fragments that refused to connect.I kept thinking about what my dad had told me before he died, that Nate was involved in this whole thing. But Nate wouldn't tell me anything.Nate's grandmother. The thought appeared suddenly, bright and clear amid the chaos in my head. Yiayia. The warm-hearted Greek woman at that small Mediterranean restaurant Nate had taken me to months ago.If anyone might know something about Nate's past, it would be his grandmother. She had looked at me with such knowing eyes that day, commenting that "growing babies need food" before I'd told her I was pregnant.I made the decision in an instant.Mom was at another of her mysterious "appointments" that made her eyes sparkle. No one would miss me for a few hours.Gas watched me accusingly as I prepared to leave."I won't be long," I promised him.The taxi ride to the small restaurant i

Mia's POVI couldn't see a thing. The blindfold was tight. My wrists burned from the restraints, the plastic cutting into my skin whenever I shifted position. A gag filled my mouth, the taste of fabric making me want to retch.I tried to focus on my breathing. In through the nose, out through the nose. Slow and steady.The twins were still. Too still.This scared me.Stay calm for them, I told myself. They can feel your fear.The car made another turn—right, I thought, though it was hard to be certain. I'd been trying to keep track: left out of the restaurant district, straight for what felt like ten minutes, then right onto what must have been a highway from the sudden increase in speed. We'd been driving for at least forty minutes now.Each minute took me further from the city. Further from anyone who might help me.No one had noticed when the man approached me outside Yiayia's restaurant. No one saw the gun pressed against my back, or my expression as I was forced into the black sed