Semua Bab The Billionaire’s Discarded Bride : Bab 201 - Bab 210

Caleb POVThe word that stayed with me was what Jade had said in the courtroom, right before the guards took her away. Stripped of all her composure, she had shouted, "You're not even my sister. Ask her what you really are."I had been standing in the gallery, three rows back. I watched Bella hold Jade's gaze for seconds. Then, Bella turned and walked toward me. I took her hand at the end of the aisle, and we walked out into the cold Tuesday afternoon. I didn't say anything about it because Bella said she didn't want to think about it, and I respected that.But the word stayed with me, I thought about it on the drive home. I thought about it that night while Bella slept and I couldn't. I thought about it the next morning at five-thirty over coffee, and by six, I had made a decision.The trial had produced hundreds of pages of paperwork—witness statements, forensic accounting, and communication logs from the remand facility. My legal team had read every page twice to prepare for testi

Caleb pov "Sebastien Marchetti," the investigator said. He spelled the name. "Lyon, France. He is sixty-five and the chairman of Marchetti Group. It is one of the largest private conglomerates in Europe, covering private banking, real estate, and fashion. He was thirty-three when Bella was conceived. The fellowship records put him and Elaine in the same city for those four months." He paused then continued. "There is no sign he knows she exists. No contact, and no acknowledgement in any record." I wrote the name slowly, Sebastien Marchetti. "He was one of the twelve fellows," I said. "Yes. He is the only one who fits the timeline and the location perfectly. I checked the other eleven, and none of them match." I looked at my notepad. Elaine Voss, the fellowship. The baby, the heart defect, the money. Margaret raising her dead sister's daughter as a transaction. And at the bottom of the page, in my uneven handwriting: Sebastien Marchetti. "Thank you," I said. "Send me everything.

Bella POVWe lay in the dark together, both of us doing the same thing we had done every night for weeks lying awake, pretending to sleep.I turned toward Caleb and pressed my mouth to the side of his neck, just below his ear, slow and deliberate. He made a quiet sound in his throat.“Bella…” he whispered.I didn’t answer. I just kissed him again, then let my hand slide down his chest. My fingers slipped under the waistband of his sweatpants and wrapped around his cock. He was already half-hard. I stroked him slowly, feeling him thicken and throb in my grip.Caleb groaned softly. “We should talk about today.”“We already did,” I murmured, pressing closer. I nibbled on his earlobe, sucking lightly the way I knew he liked. “I don’t want to talk anymore tonight.”His hand came to my waist, gripping me tightly as I continued stroking him. He was fully hard now, hot and heavy in my palm.“Bella,” he said again, voice strained. “You just found out Margaret wasn’t your mother. That Richard w

Bella POVI was on my second coffee and a conference call with the international office when Lena appeared in the doorway. She had the look she always gave me when something needed my attention but wasn't an emergency yet.I held up one finger as she waited.I finished the call in three minutes, faster than scheduled, and looked at her. "What?""Mrs. Hart is at the front gate," Lena said. "She has been there for about eight minutes. She is being loud."I put my coffee down. "How loud?""The neighbors across the street have their lights on."I checked the time. It was 8:47 AM. Tom was at school, Caleb was in his study and Grace was with Nadia in the nursery, which was on the other side of the house and wouldn't catch the noise. I stood up."Leave her at the gate," I said. "I'll go out.""Bella""She is not coming inside," I said. "Leave her at the gate."I heard Margaret before I saw her."sitting in that cell because of her, because of what she did! And nobody is saying a word about w

Bella POVThe envelope sat on the kitchen table for hours before I touched it.Caleb had brought it in with the morning mail. He read the sender's name on the forwarding label and set it in front of me without a word. Then he poured two coffees, put one by me, and sat down across the table. Tom was at school. Grace was outside in the garden with Nadia. We could hear her little screams through the open window every few minutes because she didn't like walking on the uneven grass. I looked at the envelope. It was heavy cream paper with neat typing: Marchetti Group, Lyon, France. The letter had been sent to my old office at Hart Worldwide first, then forwarded here. That meant he found me through my business records, not my personal information. He looked for the company first and worked backward. That told me how his mind worked.I picked up the envelope.The letter inside was a single page. It was handwritten in French, with an English translation typed on a second sheet. The handw