Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 231 - Chapitre 240

He stood just inside the door with his navy coat open, white shirt without a tie, dark brown hair slightly mussed by the wind outside. In one hand, he carried a cardboard coffee tray with two cups. In the other, a small paper bag from the café I usually ordered almond croissants from when I wanted to pretend breakfast was a form of self-care instead of carbohydrates layered with denial.His expression changed the second he saw us.Me. Luca. Daniella. The gray folder. The photocopy on the table.For a man who claimed he was more comfortable talking to systems than people, Adrian read a room far too quickly.“Hey,” he said quietly.His voice didn’t rise. Didn’t demand. Didn’t sound an alarm. And somehow, that was harder to deal with than if he had immediately asked who died.“Adrian,” I said.He walked over carefully. “I brought you coffee,” he said, lifting the carrier slightly. “The right kind. Not the one that tastes like tax punishment.”“You came to bribe me with caffeine?”“I just

I lasted until almost noon.Lasted, in this case, meant I didn’t call Sebastian, didn’t pound on Luca’s door demanding scan results that technically weren’t finished yet, and didn’t cancel my entire life by email.Then I stood, picked up my bag, and gave Daniella a list of instructions far too long for someone who was only leaving for a few hours.“If Luca sends the results, forward them to my phone, but not through regular email. If Montreux follows up, tell them I’m unavailable until this afternoon. If Adrian calls the office, tell him I’m with Poppy.”Daniella looked at me over the top of her tablet. “And if Sebastian calls?”My hand stopped on the strap of my bag. I tilted my head. “Why is everyone today obsessed with men who aren’t here?”“Because he feels very here.”I hated how accurate that was.“If Sebastian calls,” I said, opening my office door, “tell him I’m on my way to his place.”Daniella raised an eyebrow.“What?”“Nothing.”“Your face says otherwise.”“My face is tryi

“Kelsey came to my office,” I said.Sebastian didn’t react right away.The basil was still between his fingers, one leaf half-pulled from the stem, a tiny innocent green thing that looked deeply unfortunate to be caught between us. He looked down at his hand for a second, then raised an eyebrow. Just slightly. A small movement that, five years ago, could have meant a hundred different things. Annoyed. Interested. Testing me. Holding back something inappropriate.Now I didn’t know what it meant.Or I did, and I didn’t want to give myself the dignity of being right.“What did she say?” he asked quietly.The water in the pot was already boiling. Small bubbles broke across the surface like someone was politely applauding our disaster.I dropped the pasta into the water, mostly so I had a reason not to look at him right away. “A lot.”“Jas.” My name came out low.I picked up the wooden spoon. Stirred the pasta. One turn. Two. Three. If I kept counting, maybe I wouldn’t have to think about

I stared at the water in the pot.Bubbles broke across the surface one by one. Too fast. Too many.You’re more ready to believe her than me.It wasn’t fair.Or maybe it was completely fair, and that was the part that made it feel like a slap. Because yeah...When Kelsey said wife, my brain didn’t laugh. It took the word, cleaned it off, then matched it against an old wound.When Kelsey said three months, I counted Sebastian being in Monaco for five and still left room for the possibility that he was lying.When Kelsey said Sebastian’s father, foundation, board, old system, I didn’t throw any of it in the trash. I brought all of it home like evidence.Not because I trusted Kelsey.But because five years ago, Kelsey smiled at a camera with my bracelet on her wrist, and the world gave me proof that looked more honest than my own husband.I grabbed the colander. “Do you want the honest answer or the answer that makes lunch feel less like a second divorce hearing?”“Honest.”“Of course.” I

Salma won the nap war thirteen minutes later.Poppy initially claimed she wasn’t sleepy because “my eyes still have a meeting,” then five seconds later she yawned so wide Bunny could’ve filed a formal report for loss of dignity. She still tried to climb down from the stool with her little fork in hand, resisting with her entire chubby body when Salma told her it was time for a nap.“I can’t nap,” she said, hugging Bunny to her chest. “I’m a doctor.”“Doctors sleep too,” Salma said.“Doctors on TV don’t.”“Doctors on TV get paid to suffer.”Poppy considered that very seriously. Her half-dry bangs had fallen over her forehead again, one strand stuck to her flushed cheek. “I haven’t been paid.”“Exactly,” I said. “Sleep.”Poppy turned to Sebastian. “Daddy.”Sebastian looked at her with an unfairly calm expression. “Nap,” he said.Poppy blinked, betrayed to the marrow. “You’re on Team Nap too?”“I’m on Team Lunch, Nap, and Don’t Let Your Mother Burn Down the Kitchen.”I pointed my fork at