Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

Scarlett's POVA billionaire.The word circled my mind like a vulture, refusing to land, refusing to make sense. I kept testing it, rolling it around in my thoughts like a stone I'd found that might be precious or might be glass.One billion, two hundred and two thousand dollars.The number was so large it stopped meaning anything. Became abstract. A concept rather than reality.But it was real. Sitting in an account with my name on it. Money I could access right now if I wanted. Enough to buy a house. A car. A plane. A small country if I felt ambitious.Money stained with Silvio's blood.The thought should have made me sick. Should have made me want to give it all back, donate it to charity, scrub myself clean of the violence that had funded my sudden wealth.Instead, I felt something darker. Something that whispered he deserved it for what he did to me.The jet engines changed pitch. We were beginning our descent.I looked at Cade, who'd been watching me process this for the past te

Scarlett’s POV "This meal is so wonderful, Rachel."Madison's voice cut through the moment like nails on a chalkboard. She'd been quiet since we'd sat down, practically invisible despite her strategic positioning. Now she was trying to insert herself back into the family narrative."It's Mrs. Blackwood to you!" The correction burst out before I could stop it. My voice was harsh, sharp enough to make Mom flinch.Madison's smile didn't falter. "My bad. I mean, I'll soon be your step-sister-in-law, Scarlett, so I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot."The emphasis on "step-sister-in-law" was deliberate. A reminder that she planned to marry Cade. That she had a claim here that I never would.The sarcasm in her tone made my teeth grind. I rolled my eyes, focused on my plate. Pushed food around without eating. My appetite had disappeared somewhere around the time she'd kissed Cade at the door."You haven't touched your food." Madison's voice again, saccharine sweet and poisonous. "Ar

Scarlett's POV"Scarlett, darling, what do you want to share with me?"Mom's smile was evergreen, perpetual, the kind that had sustained me through childhood scraped knees and high school heartbreaks. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with fingers that still wore her simple wedding band alongside the massive rock James had given her.She was waiting. Anticipating. Excited to hear whatever bonding moment she thought Madison and I had shared."Nothing, really, Mom." The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, like something rotten I'd been forced to chew. "I was just going to say that Cade and I are connecting well; he took good care of me, and he is indeed a great big brother. And Maddy and I are connecting well, too.”My stomach churned at the words. Actually churned, acid rising in my throat, threatening to make me vomit right there on the pristine kitchen tile.Madison's face lit up like she'd won the lottery. "See? I told you we'd be great friends.""Oh, that's wonderful!" Mom pra

Cade's POVI slammed the bedroom door hard enough to rattle the frame.Madison stumbled as I released her arm, catching herself against my desk with both hands. She turned to face me, and that infuriating smile was still plastered across her face as she had just won some kind of prize."What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The words came out low, dangerous, the kind of voice I used when violence was a breath away."What does it look like I'm doing, my love?" She straightened and smoothed her dress with deliberate slowness. The endearment dripped with false sweetness.My love. Like she had any right to call me that. Like the ten months we'd spent together meant something beyond mutual convenience and shared boredom."You better not test me, Madison." I moved closer, close enough to see her pupils dilate. Fear or excitement, I couldn't tell. "We haven't seen each other in months. So how the hell are you pregnant with my baby?""That's because I'm a few months gone." Her hand drifte

Cade's POVThe ambulance had been an unnecessary theatre, but Rachel had insisted, her maternal instincts overriding any sense of proportion. Now we all stood in a free guest room, the blue suite at the end of the hall that my father had so graciously provided, watching a private physician examine her with the kind of careful attention usually reserved for royalty.Dr Morrison was James's personal doctor, the kind who made house calls at midnight and asked no questions about bullet wounds or suspicious bruises. He'd been on the Blackwood payroll for twenty years, which meant his loyalty was bought and paid for long before tonight's drama.Madison lay in the four-poster bed, propped up on silk pillows, looking pale and fragile in an almost convincing way. Almost. Her hand rested on her stomach in that universal gesture of pregnant women everywhere, protective and proprietorial.I stood near the door, arms crossed, watching the performance with growing irritation. Scarlett was pressed a