Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Dead Wife: No Longer the Surrogate Bride: Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

The evening settled gently over Blackstone. The kind of quiet that didn’t erase what had happened but softened its edges.Althea carried a sleeping Nicholas in her arms as they walked down the corridor. He had fallen asleep halfway through their story inside the study.After requesting Mimi to bring all his dinosaurs back to his room, she picked him up and gently settled her on her bosom. His one hand gripped the wooden knight; the only thing he hadn’t let go of.One arm looped loosely around her neck, the other still clutching the knight, his cheek resting against her shoulder. His breathing was slow now.But even in his sleep, he held onto her tightly.As if afraid she might disappear.Althea adjusted her hold just slightly, careful not to wake him.“It’s alright.” She whispered, more to herself than to him.Dominic walked beside her, quiet.Watching.Not interfering.Because there was something about this moment that didn’t need words.Only presence.They finally reached his room a

Dawn came without ceremony and Dominic opened his eyes, stirring to make sure he doesn’t disturb Althea from her sleep.He turned and looked down on her, sleeping peacefully, her face finally relieved of the tension she felt when she finally told him the truth why she exploded over him asking Nicholas for help.Dominic stood up and proceeded to take a quick shower and put on his clothes.After taking one last look at Althea, he quietly closed the door and walked down the hallway, listening to the house coming alive for the day. He made a quick stop at the kitchen where a staff had his coffee ready and took it with him downstairs.The war room was already alive when he entered.Screens lit.Systems aligned.Every station occupied.Enzo stood at the central console, fingers hovering, not yet moving. Michael leaned against the table, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the projection. August stood slightly behind, already reading the structure before it even began.Antonio, Roberto, Ulysees and

Sebastian’s eyes shifted slightly towards the far wall as if already seeing beyond it. His gaze looked as though it could look past concrete, past distance and past time.“He’s going to bring the war to us.” He announced tightly. “We need to prepare for it.”Silence.Heavy.Immediate.Because that wasn’t strategy but an inevitability.Enzo straightened.“Here?!” He asked tightly. “As in here?! Blackstone?!”Sebastian didn’t hesitate.“Yes.”Roberto added quietly, “He’ll want control of the terrain. He’s going to force us to defend instead of move.”Ulysees’ expression hardened.“He wants us to turn reactive.” He commented. “That’s how the Valtieri’s do to make things go their way. That’s how they make their enemies bend.”Dominic’s jaw tightened.“He’s done it before.”Sebastian nodded.“Many times.” He affirmed seriously and pause for a while. “And despite his age now, Dominic, I’m going to tell you that he’s very good at it. Even up to now.”Enzo looked around the room.The screens.

Dominic stilled slightly and he turned to look at Seraphina.“The letter.” Seraphina clarified softly. “And the box.”"The one that I gave to you when we met inside the chapel."He shook his head.“No.” He answered and then pause for a while. “I haven’t.”Seraphina studied him.She did not look disappointed, the way she always does over the years back at the Valtieri estate. Her face did not show any judgement.Instead, her usual cold face was filled with understanding.“Why?” She questioned calmly. "It's been with you for a while now. Is there any reason why you haven't opened them yet?"Dominic exhaled slowly.“Because once I do…” He started to respond and then paused to find the right words. “I don’t get to not know.”Seraphina’s gaze softened.“That is true.” She only said. "And that is also something you cannot avoid."Silence.Dominic only glanced at his mother, not saying anything to her statement.Then, out of the blue, slowly, she reached up, her hand hesitating for just a fr

***FLASHBACK***The hospital smelled of antiseptic and quiet urgency.Alessandro Valtieri, on his own, walked down the hallways of the hospital, something he rarely stepped into himself.He didn’t belong in spaces like this.He built systems that controlled them.But for today, he walked in anyway.The corridor was busy.Doctors moving quickly while the nurses speaking in low, efficient tones. The steady rhythm of a place that dealt with life and death as routine.Alessandro moved through it like a shadow.He had come for something else.A name.A file.A routine verification tied to a separate matter.Nothing important.Or at least, to him, that was what it was supposed to be.Then, a few feet away, he heard her.“She needs to redo it.”The voice was small, calm but certain.Alessandro stopped.Not because of what was said.But because of how it was said.He turned his head slightly.And saw her.A little girl.No more than five and sitting on a hospital bed.Her arm in a cast that i