All Chapters of She Returned with Genius Babies, He Regretted: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elena’s POVEmbarrassment clenches around me like a fist, rendering me unable to breathe for a good ten seconds. Slowly, I turn to face Alexander, expecting him to snap and tell all of us to leave.I called him a monster. Then I told him to shove it. And now, my son asked him if he’s their father. Surely it gets to a point.But Alexander is just silent, watching Liam and Sophie run up to his desk excitedly with a little glint of curiosity in his eyes. Maybe even fascination.“Hey, both of you.” My voice is stricter and harder than usual, and it makes the twins stand in attention. “What did I say about you interrupting conversations among adults? You need to leave. Now.” I turn to Uncle Marcus. “Uncle, please take them outside so I can speak with this… man.”I almost said jerk.Uncle Marcus gets up to usher out the twins, who look visibly sad. Even as they start to walk, they can’t stop looking at Alexander….“No,” Alexander suddenly says, sitting down. His tone changed completely, from

Elena’s POV“The dinner is tonight,” I keep repeating as I stare at my laptop. “The dinner is tonight. What am I supposed to put up for auction?”Uncle Marcus and I are in a cafe overlooking Central Park. This is where I used to go out and work when I wanted some space away from home. From my parents or Tristan. Just to be creative and free. This used to be the place that calms me down, but now my stress is too great for this place to subdue.“What do I do?” I ask Uncle Marcus despairingly. “I don’t think I can design anything good this fast. I don’t have any of my standout pieces with me.”“Hmm,” Uncle Marcus muses, looking over at my screen and seeing my catalogue. “It has to be special and unique. Something that has meaning.”I scroll through my catalogue and see that everything—while still being special—is catered to the tastes of my existing clientele. I poured a lot of effort into these pieces, but in the end, they’re nothing out of the ordinary. I have to admit that most of the

Tristan’s POV“Is everything to your liking, my love?” Mira asks as she sits down next to me on the dining table. “The potatoes might be a little charred, but it should be good, right?”“Yeah, very good,” I say, sampling the potatoes.My mouth waters. It’s burnt. But Mira is smiling, even though her eyes are still swollen from crying last night.The fight between us is over now. I stopped her from leaving.Because I needed the invitation that she somehow got her hands on.And she agreed to stay… under one condition.I still don’t know how. But when I told Benjamin about it, he was overjoyed. I asked him to verify if Émeraude really was attending, and after a few calls, he confirmed it: they will put up a piece for auction.“This is huge, Tristan,” he told me last night when I called him, after Mira went to bed. “This can be our breakout. We can talk to them. We can save the deal that they were supposed to have with Van Asten!”I couldn’t answer. I wanted to feel happy, but all I could

Elena’s POVNo. I will not let them ruin my confidence. Not tonight. Not after everything.With that, I let Uncle Marcus pull me into the crowd, disappearing into the group of people enjoying the event. I don’t dare look back, I just keep my head high. My body straight and proud. A lot of people seem to be looking at me. The men seem to be appreciating my appearance in general, while the women are glancing at my paraiba necklace with great interest.An old woman with a fur shrug actually stops Uncle Marcus and me, and I realize that it’s Gabriela’s grandmother Cornelia. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”“It’s so good to see you again,” I say, leaning in as she kisses both of my cheeks. “How have you been? How are things going?”“Amazing as always,” Cornelia says, then she holds up her hand and shows me another creation of mine—a gold bangle studded with diamonds. “I can’t get enough and I’m just begging you to have a branch here in New York so I can buy whatever yo

Tristan’s POVI slam the front door shut, matching straight to my office where I want to lock myself in and never come out.But of course, Mira stops me. She blocks the door with her arms and shakes her head vigorously. “No, Tristan. You’re not shutting me out of this. You shouldn’t get mad about that Émeraude thing. It’s bullshit! You shouldn’t have to spend that much money to get a meeting with whoever owns it—”“Get out of my way, Mira,” I murmur. “For the love of god.”She shakes her head. “No! We agreed to be together. That means we talk about things, Tristan. That means we open up our feelings! Everything! Nothing hidden from each other! Talk to me, Tristan, please.”“For once, can you listen to me?” I growl. “Just this once, Mira. You always act like you have my best interests at heart, but you don’t! I want to be alone, and I don’t want to explain anything to you! I don’t owe you anything!”She backs off, horrified, but it’s all I needed to access my office. I just slam the doo