Lahat ng Kabanata ng SHATTERED CROWNS: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Vanessa stood frozen in the doorway of the suite.Her hair was wet from the rain outside. Her mascara had started to run. The phone in her hand, the phone with the photo of her and Marcus counting cash, was trembling like she was holding a live wire."It is you," she whispered again. "You are supposed to be dead."Seraphina stood very still.Damien was between them. On his feet now, his whole body tense like he was about to intercept something coming fast."Vanessa. Get out.""No." Vanessa took a step into the room. "No, I want to hear her say it. I want her to say who she is.""Vanessa, I swear to God.""Three years, Damien. Three years I have been with you. I built a life with you. And this little rat shows up in a red dress and crawls back into your bed and you are going to what? Leave me for her?""I was never yours to leave."Vanessa laughed. It was not a nice sound."Listen to him. Listen to this man who cried in my arms for eight months after she disappeared. Who drank himself

The Times article dropped at 9 a.m. Tuesday."The Sinclair Scandal: How One Woman Bribed Her Way Into New York's Most Powerful Family."It had photos. It had financial records. It had the sworn statement of Elise Monroe, dated three months before she died of an overdose, notarized, sealed, and undeniable. It named Vanessa Sinclair as the sole architect of a three-year fraud that had resulted in the divorce of Damien Cross and his first wife, Aria Sinclair, whose current whereabouts were unknown.The article did not name Seraphina Kane.That part, Elena and Seraphina had agreed, would come later. On their terms. Not in a tabloid.By noon, the article had been shared nine million times.By 12:30, Vanessa's phone had been turned off.By 12:45, three of her four regular luncheon companions had canceled. Her driver was running behind. Her stylist had stopped answering. The black car that usually collected her from the penthouse had been reassigned to another client, and she had to call a r

The first Thursday dinner lasted fourteen minutes.She arrived at La Rouge. She sat down. She looked at the menu. Damien ordered a bottle of wine. She ordered nothing. She asked him one question, which was how his week had been. He started to answer. He said the word "Vanessa" in his second sentence. She stood up, put her napkin on the table, and walked out.He did not chase her.She liked that he did not chase her.The second Thursday, she stayed for forty-seven minutes.They did not talk about Vanessa. They did not talk about the past. They talked about a book. The Remains of the Day, which she had been rereading because it was the only novel she had brought with her from London. He had read it. He had hated the ending. She had loved the ending. They argued about it for forty minutes, and by the time dessert came, she was laughing once. Not a real laugh. A half one. But it escaped her mouth before she could stop it, and Damien looked at her like a man watching the sunrise after a lo

The song ended.Neither of them let go.The orchestra started another song. Slower. A ballad she did not recognize. Damien's hand on her back felt like a thing she had been missing for so long she had forgotten it was missing."Aria.""Yes.""I want to take you home."She closed her eyes.She had been waiting for this sentence for three months. She had rehearsed her answer a hundred times. I am not ready. We said no. Rules. Boundaries. Self respect.What came out of her mouth was none of those things."Not your home," she said."Not mine.""My hotel.""Yes.""Damien.""Yes.""If we do this, I need you to understand something. This is not forgiveness. This is not a reunion. This is one night. And tomorrow I am going to have to look at you across a table and figure out whether I still respect myself. Do you understand?""I understand.""Do you really.""I understand that you are going to use me tonight to punish me for something I deserve to be punished for, and that I am going to let y

Sunday afternoon came cold and bright.Seraphina pushed Luna on the swing at the playground near the house in Notting Hill. Luna wore a red coat and a matching beanie. She laughed every time the swing came up. She was missing her front tooth, and the gap made her smile look like a jack-o'-lantern.Lucas sat on a bench nearby, reading a book he was not actually reading. He had asked to come. Seraphina had said yes because she needed him there. She did not know if she needed him as a friend or a bodyguard or a witness, but she needed him."Mummy. Higher.""Hold on tight.""I am tight."She pushed.Luna squealed.At the far gate, a figure appeared.Damien. In jeans and a charcoal coat. His hands in his pockets. He had not shaved. His hair was a little wind-blown. He looked, she realized, exactly like a father at a playground. Not a billionaire. Not a CEO. Just a man.He saw her. He did not wave. He did not smile. He just stood there, waiting for permission to come closer.She nodded once