Chapter 21

There was a fundraiser event happening filled with wealthy men who spoke carefully and with class Alex had been there for a short while and had already heard Bella's name three times. Not from people trying to tell him something. Just them passing by and talking about the Moreau Foundation, the government partnership and the interview that apparently everyone had an opinion about. Her name moved through the room on its own, attached to nothing he'd put there. That was the part that bothered him. He found Evelyn near the far end of the room with a champagne glass she'd barely touched, speaking to a woman he vaguely recognised from some board or another. She wrapped up the conversation smoothly when she saw him and turned. "You look like you've already had a difficult evening," she said. "I’ve had an interesting one.” He took a glass from a passing tray. “Her name is everywhere tonight.” "Oh dear, I noticed." Evelyn replied with a small laugh "Did you know she had access

Last Updated : 2026-05-19

Chapter 22

The Whitmore Garden Brunch was the kind of event Bella usually avoided, it was too social to treat like work and too public for real relaxation. But Helena had suggested it and the twins had been inside for three days straight, so here they were.Julian had already made two friends and lost them both within the first fifteen minutes. While Selena was crouched beside a flower arrangement near the entrance, studying the flowers like she was trying to figure out how they worked. Bella stood with a glass of water she wasn't drinking, watching them both and feeling something close to normal.Valentina was already there when Bella looked up.She was alone, without Lorenzo there with her this time and was standing near the entrance talking to someone from the host committee, for a second Bella just watched her, trying to determine if her being there was a coincidence or something more deliberate. Then Valentina turned slightly and their eyes met across the garden. Neither of them looked awa

Last Updated : 2026-05-23

Chapter 23

She was already in the sitting room when he got back, with a glass of wine on the table beside her that she hadn't touched. She looked up when he walked in and gave a small smile, and then looked back at whatever she'd been reading.Lorenzo poured himself a drink. Stood at the window for a moment.Something was off. He couldn't place it immediately but it was there, in the way she was sitting, the way the room felt slightly too quiet."You're unusually quiet," he said.Valentina turned a page. "Am I?"He watched her for a second. She didn't look up.They spent the next half hour going over the week's schedule, the Aldridge dinner on Thursday, a board appearance she needed him present for and whether they were attending a particular event or simply sending a gift instead. It was all normal conversation, but something about it still felt slightly off in a way he couldn't quite name.Then she closed her book."I saw Evelyn today."Lorenzo looked at her. "Oh, Why?""We spoke." She reached

Last Updated : 2026-05-24

Chapter 24

The next morning was normal enough.Valentina was already at the mirror when Lorenzo came in from his study, the soft click of her earrings against her fingers the only sound in the room. He moved past her and poured coffee, the motions automatic. He Said something about Thursday’s dinner in the same tone he might have used any other morning, like nothing had shifted overnight at all. While She responded without turning around.Everything looked the same.But Lorenzo stood there for a second longer than usual, watching her reflection, trying to locate what was different. She was composed, but it wasn't as usual. This was something else. Quieter. Like she'd put a small, careful distance between herself and everything in the room, including him.She hadn’t mentioned last night or brought it up in any way at all. She acted like it hadn’t happened.And that bothered him more than if she had."There’s an upcoming event,” he said casually, maybe a little too casually, and as he spoke he di

Last Updated : 2026-05-28

Chapter 25

Carlos found a parking spot outside the small grocery near Helena's and cut the engine. Bella was still looking out the window when he got back in with a cup from the café next door like she wanted.He put it in the cupholder without a word, but she didn't touch it."You do realise coffee stopped counting as a meal years ago right?," he said.Bella looked at the cup for a second before finally picking it up. The heat still lingered through the cardboard sleeve.He waited, knowing she was working toward something."I ran into Valentina yesterday," she said. "At the brunch."Carlos turned slightly in his seat.Bella walked him through everything that had happened, the approach, the small talk and the moment Valentina's attention shifted toward the twins. Then came the question about their age, and the brief hesitation before Bella answered it. She explained it all plainly, without dramatising any of it, the same way she handled anything that needed to be thought through carefully inste

Last Updated : 2026-05-29

Chapter 26

They'd been on the road for twenty minutes before Bella spoke, her attention fixed somewhere beyond the passenger window.Carlos hadn't pushed. He'd learned early that she processed things at her own pace and talking before she was ready just produced noise, not honesty."Evelyn did the same thing," she said.He glanced at her briefly then back at the road. "What do you mean?""At the last event I was at." Bella looked out the passenger window for a moment. "She asked about the twins. How old they were, how they were doing and the usual things." She turned the cup slightly in her hands. "But it didn't feel like small talk. It felt like she was trying to confirm something.""How much do you think she’s figured out at this point?" Carlos asked"Well enough to be on guard and keep a watchful eye around me." Bella turned her cup in her hand "A while back she would’ve just talked down to me but now she’s just being careful. That’s worse.”Carlos changed lanes. "So there's a chance Valentin

Last Updated : 2026-05-31