HIS RIVAL'S CHILD.

**CHAPTER 021**"Mr. Cross, what... what is going on?" Thomas said as he struggled. "Who are these men? Mr. Cross—""I said take him away," Mr. Cross yelled.This was the first time I'd ever seen him raise his voice.Thomas struggled but both officers had him by the arms. He twisted between them, pulling, his composure finally and completely gone, the performance stripped away and whatever was underneath it spilling out loud and desperate."Mr. Cross — sir, please... please just listen to me, please—" His voice cracked on the last word, head turning back toward Michael even as the officers moved him toward the door. "I love her. I genuinely love her. Whatever you think happened in that room is not what it was. I would never hurt her, I swear to you I would never — she's been with me longer than you know—"Michael said nothing.Just stood there with his hands at his sides and that flat controlled expression and let Thomas talk."She means everything to me, sir, please—" Thomas's feet d

WILL WATCH ME SET MYSELF ON FIRE.

**CHAPTER 022***CASSIAN'S POV*The room was completely silent.My mother stood in front of me with that look on her face — the one that had been making me confess things since I was seven years old — and I knew there was no version of this conversation where I walked away without spilling the truth.I exhaled slowly."It's Isolde, Mom," I said. "Rosa's twin sister. The person on that bed is not Rosa."My mother stared at me.Then she let out a sound. Short. Sharp. Something between a laugh and a scoff that came from somewhere deep in her chest."I knew it," she said quietly. Then louder — "I KNEW it, Cassian."She turned away from me and pressed both hands flat on the dresser, head dropping slightly, and for a moment she just stood there. Breathing. Processing. And I watched her shoulders rise and fall and knew — the way you always know with her — that the quiet was not peace. The quiet was the thing that came right before everything that wasn't quiet.She turned back around."I push

WAS SHE YOUR WIFE?

**CHAPTER 023**I stared at him.*How,* I thought. *How does he even — how did he—*"I knew," he said, cutting me off. "I knew from the very beginning who you were.""You knew?" The words came out barely above a whisper. "From the beginning you knew who I was?"Michael looked at me steadily. "From the very first day."I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "How?""The moment I brought you to the hospital I had someone run a search on you," he said, his voice matter-of-fact, like this was the most ordinary thing in the world. "I couldn't find much about your background or your story but I found enough. I found out you were married to Cassian Weldon."The name landed in the room like something dropped from a height.I pressed my lips together. "Cassian," I repeated."He duped me in a business deal two years ago," Michael said simply. "So yes. I know exactly who Cassian Weldon is."I stared at him. *Of course,* I thought distantly. *Of course the man who hit me with his car and b

SHE WASN'T MY WIFE.

CHAPTER 024“She wasn’t my wife,” he said.I stared at him.He still hadn’t turned around. Still standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets, back to me like the door was already more interesting than anything I had left to say.“She wasn’t your wife,” I repeated slowly. “Then who was she?”The silence was starting to get on my nerves, so I pushed.“Mr. Cross.” I shifted forward slightly on the bed. “If she wasn’t your wife, then who— I’m just curious. I’m not trying to pry. I just want to understand—”“Rosa.”“Please.” The word came out smaller than I intended. “Please just tell me. I won’t bring it up again after this, I promise, just—”He turned around.And whatever was left of my sentence died completely.Not anger. Not the red-edged fury from the study. Something quieter than that and somehow much harder to look at—something that had been pressed down for a very long time under a very great weight and did not appreciate being disturbed.“Listen to me carefully,” he said, his vo

RISE AND SHINE.

**CHAPTER 025**I woke up before my alarm.That never happened.I lay there for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, waiting for the familiar heavy feeling that usually came with mornings—the weight of everything that needed to be processed before I could properly function. But it wasn’t there. My head was clear. My body felt rested in a way it hadn’t in days.Hmm, I thought.I sat up slowly, half expecting something to hurt, but nothing did. I pressed both hands over my stomach the way I always did first thing—checking, confirming, reassuring myself and whoever was in there that we were still okay.Still okay.I got up, went into the bathroom, and showered.When I came out, the room was still quiet and golden with early light coming through the curtains, and I moved through it feeling almost normal, which was strange enough that I noticed it. I pulled out clothes from the wardrobe—Michael’s wardrobe full of Michael’s choices, all perfectly coordinated and colour-sorted—and got dressed

ROSA IS COMING BACK?

**CHAPTER 026**I stood in the doorway and stared at him.“What… what are you doing… what are you doing in my room?” I asked.He uncrossed his legs. “Waiting for you.”“Why?”“Because you weren’t here when I came.” He said it simply, like that answered everything. Like showing up in someone’s bedroom and sitting on their bed while they were gone was a perfectly normal sequence of events that required no further explanation.I walked in slowly and closed the door behind me. “Mr. Cross, why are you actually in my room?”He stood up, straightening his jacket. “I’m not going to work today.”I blinked. “What?… why?”“I’m staying, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.” He looked at me directly. “Plus… what I said to you yesterday—the way I spoke to you—that was out of line. I’m making it up to you today.”I stared at him.Michael Cross… the Michael Cross… wants to make it up to me…He literally wants to make it up to me.What the hell was wrong with this man? He literally chan