All Chapters of The Billionaire’s Discarded Bride : Chapter 211 - Chapter 220

Bella pov He came in and stopped in the doorway. He looked at the scene, the open envelope, and the note flat on the table. He came over and sat beside me instead of across from me. I handed him the photograph without speaking. He took it and looked at it. He was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "Bella." "I know," I said. "That's" "I know," I said again. He set the photograph down very carefully and looked at it again, then at me. His face held a rare look of complete wonder, as if he was seeing something too big to understand. "She looked exactly like you," he said. "I look like her," I said. "She was first." He was quiet, his hand found mine on the table. "She wrote a note," I said. "For me. She left it with the law firm when she knew she was sick. She wanted me to know I was wanted." My voice stayed flat and calm, which surprised me. "She wanted me to know his name." Caleb picked up the note. He read it slowly, the way he read things that really mattered. When he

Bella POVA business meeting came up at the last minute, so I had to delay meeting my father. It felt so strange to sit with that thought. For years, I believed I knew who my family was. Now, I had to face the reality that the man I thought was my father was a stranger, and the woman I thought was my mother was not my mother at all. Because of the sudden work conflict, our meeting was pushed back by a few weeks.But then Sebastien did something I didn't expect. He chose to come see me instead of letting me travel a long distance to France. It felt deeply touching to see him make that kind of effort and sacrifice just to meet me. When I told Caleb about it, he smiled and told me that is exactly what a parent is supposed to do—to sacrifice for their kids. It felt so good to finally witness that kind of care for myself.Once the new date was set, I gave myself exactly one week to prepare. I prepared the way I always did for important things in my life. I did my research, checked my emoti

Bella pov Sebastien laughed out loud, a sound that filled the quiet restaurant. "It was awful! She did not know the French words for half the action scenes. She started making up her own French words. They made no sense at all, but she said them with so much confidence that I just nodded along. By the end of the chapter, we were both laughing so hard our stomachs hurt."I smiled, feeling a strange warmth in my chest. "She really loved to laugh, didn't she?""She did," he said softly. "She could find joy in the smallest things. Once, we got lost in a tiny village outside Geneva. It was freezing, and our car broke down. I was furious. I was on the phone shouting at my assistant. I turned around, and your mother had left the car. She was down the road, buying hot roasted chestnuts from an old man and teaching him how to dance the waltz in the snow."I laughed, my eyes watering a little. "In the snow?""Yes," Sebastien said, smiling warmly at me. "She brought me a handful of hot chestnut

Bella POVKindly meet me at my office on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Please don't be late.Then I pressed send******On Thursday morning, I was sitting at my desk, finishing up some morning paperwork.Suddenly, the desk phone buzzed. I picked up the line, and my assistant’s voice came through the speaker."Mr Olivier Marchetti is down here to see you," she said.I glanced at the digital clock on the corner of my computer screen, it read exactly 9:58 a.m.I noticed that choice. Arriving two minutes early was very specific. It showed he took the meeting seriously, but he did not look too eager or nervous. Someone had taught him well, or he had learned it himself. Either way, I kept that detail in mind."Send him up," I said.A moment later, my assistant opened the heavy door and showed him into my room. I stayed right behind my desk, keeping the physical barrier between us.Olivier wore a sharp, dark gray suit that was expensive but simple. He looked a lot like his father, Sebastien, but Ol

Bella POV"He never did," Enzo said simply. "Not until he met you. Now he won't stop talking about her." He turned his coffee cup in his hands. "There is a photograph on his desk at home. It has been there my entire life. I always thought it was an aunt or a relative, because he never explained who she was. But after he came home from meeting you, he picked it up and held it for a long time. I think that was the first time I understood that the picture was a sadness he had been carrying since before we were born."I did not say anything."He's been very lonely for a very long time," Enzo said. He did not say it sadly, just as a fact. "And none of us knew how to help him. Olivier tried by being perfect at everything. I tried by making him laugh sometimes. Neither of those things was what he actually needed, but it was all we had.""That sounds" I stopped. I started again. "That sounds like a very specific kind of loneliness.""Yes." He looked at me steadily. "The kind where you have ev