OFF LIMIT: FOURTEEN NIGHTS WITH MY HUSBAND'S BEST FRIENDS 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 261 - 챕터 270

Chapter 259Elowen"That's the honest answer. I have no idea."The words came out quietly, but they landed with more weight than I expected. Like I'd been carrying them for a long time without realizing."For so long everything was about surviving him. Then it was about Giuliana's illness. Then it was about figuring out what I was to Matteo and Kian, what we were to each other." I shook my head slowly. "And now I have all of it. I have more than I ever dreamed of having. And when I try to look past it, past the family we're building, past the baby coming, I just…" I stopped. Pressed my lips together. "I don't know what I see."The confession sat between us, raw and a little clumsy. The kind of thing that sounds smaller out loud than it feels inside.Caroline didn't rush to fill it.She just looked at me, steady and patient, like she was giving me room to hear myself properly. "That's okay," she said quietly. "That's actually an incredibly honest and human thing to say. You don't hav

Chapter 261Elowen"I know," I said quietly. "I never did."Matteo's hand moved gently on my shoulder, a silent question in the touch."There wasn't much to say," I continued. "I was left at the orphanage when I was a baby. No note. No name. No explanation. The nuns gave me a name, raised me, and that was it. End of story.""Except it wasn't," Kian said softly."No." I looked at him. "It wasn't. There's always been this... gap. This blank space where the beginning should be. And I learned not to ask about it. Not to think about it. Because what was the point? They were gone. I survived. Move on.""But you never really did," Matteo said."I tried." My voice came out smaller than I intended. "I really did try. I built a life. I got married, badly, but still. I moved forward. I told myself it didn't matter where I came from because I was making my own way.""And now?" Kian asked."Now I'm about to become a mother." I pressed my hand to my stomach, where our baby was growing. "And I keep

Chapter 263ElowenThe investigators arrived on a Thursday morning.I don't know what I had been expecting. Older, maybe. The kind of weathered, seen-it-all professionals who carried their experience in the lines around their eyes and moved through rooms like they already owned them. People who looked like they'd been handed impossible things before and had simply gotten on with it.What walked through the door instead were two people who looked barely past thirty, and something about that surprised me enough that I had to school my expression quickly so it didn't show.Kian noticed anyway. He always did. The corner of his mouth moved and he leaned slightly toward me as they settled into the chairs across from us."Don't let the age fool you," he said quietly.It didn't take long to understand what he meant.Declan Marsh was Kian's contact. British. Dark-haired, lean, with a quality of stillness about him that felt deliberate.The kind a person cultivates over years of learning that

Chapter 265ElowenAnother three weeks slipped by in a rhythm I was starting to recognize. Mornings turned into prenatal appointments and quiet afternoons where I tried not to hover over Kian’s phone every time it buzzed. Giuliana had taken to asking for “search updates” with serious little face, hands folded, like she was ready to problem-solve if needed. I loved her for it and hated that she had to carry even a piece of this weight.Reina and Declan were ghosts in our lives now—efficient, professional ghosts who sent detailed reports through the guys and rarely needed face-to-face meetings. Their last note had been cautiously optimistic: a possible lead on an unlicensed midwife who’d operated out of a small town about forty minutes from Millbrook in the late ’80s and early ’90s. A woman named Marlene Cross. Word-of-mouth from an elderly nurse who’d worked at one of the regional clinics. Cash-only deliveries. No questions asked.I tried not to let hope bloom too brightly. I’d be

Chapter 267ElowenDr. Ferraro cleared me for travel with strict conditions.No stress. Frequent breaks. Someone with me at all times. First-class flights with extra legroom. Compression socks. Hydration. The list went on.Caroline flew to Rome first, arriving two days before we did. She texted me updates, she'd found a hotel near the university where Anna worked. She'd seen the woman from a distance. She'd cried for an hour because the resemblance was undeniable.El, she's you. She's literally you thirty years from now. Whatever happens, you need to prepare yourself.Matteo, Kian, and I flew out on a Thursday.Giuliana stayed with Alessandro and Margaret, who'd grown into the kind of family friend who didn't need an explanation, just a "we'll be back in a few days" and a hug.The flight was long. I slept fitfully, my head on Matteo's shoulder while Kian held my hand across the armrest.When we landed in Rome, Caroline was waiting.She hugged me so tight I could barely breathe."Are