Semua Bab The Billionaire's Rejected Twins: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Two weeks after the meeting, Bella was standing in the kitchen at seven-fifteen when she burned Julian's toast and didn't notice until the smoke got bad.She scraped it into the bin, put new bread in, and stood at the counter with both hands flat on the surface staring at the toaster like it had personally done something to her.Helena came in, took one look at the smoke curling from the toaster, and opened the back door without saying a word."I need more coffee," Bella said."You've had three cups already bella." Helena said."Then I need a fourth." Bella said backHelena poured it without arguing. That alone told Bella how bad she looked. Helena always had something to say about the coffee.Julian came in at full speed, sock feet sliding on the tile, and grabbed the back of Bella's legs. "Mama. Selena won't let me have the red block.""Then share the red block." Bella said"But I had it first." Julian replied "Julian." Her voice came out sharper than she meant it to. He immediatel

Lorenzo had answered four emails in three hours.Julian was on the floor a few feet away, racing a car along the bottom of the couch and making all the sound effects himself at full volume. Every thirty seconds or so, he looked up to make sure Lorenzo was still there. Lorenzo had started to notice the pattern, check, make sure he was there, then keep playing.Selena sat on the couch with her rabbit in her lap, watching Lorenzo's laptop screen. She didn't fully trust what she was seeing yet, but she was clearly trying to figure out what he was doing."What's that?" Julian asked, pointing at the laptop."It's just work." Lorenzo answered "What kind of work?" Julian asked again "The kind that involves a lot of reading." Lorenzo replied back.Julian thought about it for a moment, then went back to playing with his car. Thirty seconds later, he asked, "Do you have any other cars?""I don't." Lorenzo answered "Why not?" Julian askedLorenzo closed the laptop. "I didn't know you were comi

Lorenzo's lawyer laid out the settlement figure in the morning and Lorenzo approved it immediately.Not because Valentina had won. But because the amount was fair, the deal could be finished quickly, and Lorenzo had no interest in dragging out the negotiations and giving her more chances to use the situation against him. She had threatened to go to the journalists, so he gave her an offer that made the threat useless. That was all there was to it.His lawyer looked mildly surprised. He'd expected Lorenzo to take longer to make the decision."Send it to her team today," Lorenzo said. "I want signatures before the week ends.""She may push for more sir." His lawyer said"She won't." He picked up his phone. "She knows what a real fight with me costs. That's why she's keeping everything private."Valentina's response came back at noon. She had two small changes she wanted, and Lorenzo agreed to both without arguing. By two p.m., her lawyer had confirmed that they had reached an agreement.

After three days of nonstop work and last minute changes, the gala finally arrived, and it looked exactly as it should.That was the first thing Bella checked when she walked in that evening. The foundation's name was on the entrance wall where Hendricks' logo had been, the tables were set, and the stage lights were exactly where they needed to be. After three days of fixing different problems, it was hard to believe the room ever had any issues to begin with.She stood at the entrance for a few seconds, looking around and making sure everything was in place.Carlos walked over from the other side of the room. "Hale's already here," he said quietly. "He's at the press table, on the far left.""I saw him." She hadn't, but she figured he would be there. "Anyone else I should know about?""Two board members came together. They don't usually do that, so they're probably watching us." Carlos replied."Well, let them watch." She picked up a glass of water from a passing tray and moved into

Bella found the box on the third shelf, hidden behind two years' worth of grant applications.It wasn't labeled very well. It was in her own handwriting from when she'd first set up the archive, with only her mother's initials and a year written on it. She'd moved everything from Helena's storage when the foundation started, and she hadn't opened most of the boxes since then.She put it on the floor and sat cross legged in front of it.Carlos leaned against the door frame. He'd stopped asking if she needed anything an hour ago, which was the right call. What she needed was to go through the box.The first thing she found was her mother's estate documents, including the money Alex hadn't been able to control. Her mother had kept some of her finances in a separate account that she'd never told anyone about. Bella only knew about it because Helena had told her two weeks after the funeral. They'd been standing in a parking lot because neither of them wanted to have that conversation insid