Todos os capítulos de The Secret Billionaire I Married: Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 28

Rain woke me. Not the gentle kind. The kind that slapped against the window like it had a grudge. I lay still, listening. Liam's arm was heavy across my waist. His breath warm against my neck. I did not want to move. But my mind was already running.Anna's words from yesterday kept looping. The other children. Charles's other children. Alone. Scared. Hiding.Just like me.I slipped out of bed. Liam mumbled something. Rolled over. Fell back asleep.The kitchen was dark. I did not turn on the lights. The rain made everything grey. Soft edges. Blurred lines.I found the folder on the shelf. The one Marcus Webb had given Liam. Thick. Heavy. Full of names and addresses and photographs.I opened it.Victoria. Age twenty eight. Lives in Chicago. Works at a bookstore. Never married. No children.Marcus. Age thirty one. Lives in Atlanta. Owns a bar. Two kids. Divorced.Samuel. Age twenty four. Lives in Seattle. Works construction. Engaged.Seven names. Seven strangers. Seven people who had no

The flight to Seattle took six hours. Liam booked first class. I did not argue. My body was tired. My mind was tired. But something kept me going. Something that felt like purpose.Anna sat next to me. She stared out the window at the clouds. Victoria sat across the aisle. She had a book open in her lap but she was not reading. Liam sat behind us. He was on his phone. Texting someone. Lawyers probably. Or accountants. The sale of Sterling Industries was moving faster now. Piece by piece. Dollar by dollar."Samuel," Anna said. "What do we know about him?"I pulled out the folder. Opened it to his page."Twenty four years old. Works construction. Engaged to a woman named Jenna. Lives in a small apartment outside the city.""No children?""Not yet.""Does he know about Charles?""The file does not say. But probably not. Most of them did not know."Anna turned from the window. Her eyes were tired."What if he does not want to meet us?""Then we leave. We do not push.""And if he wants to

June called on a Tuesday morning.I was in the garden, knees deep in soil, pulling weeds that had grown taller than the tomatoes. Liam was fixing the porch steps. Anna sat on the swing, reading through the folder again.My phone buzzed. A number I did not recognize."Ellie? It is June. From Miami."I sat back on my heels. "June. I did not expect to hear from you so soon.""Neither did I. But I could not stop thinking about what you said. About family. About Sofia needing people.""She does. So do you."A long pause. I could hear her breathing. Fast. Shallow. Nervous."I want to meet the others. The ones you found. Victoria. Marcus. Samuel. All of them.""They want to meet you too.""When?""How about next weekend? We can all come to Miami. Or you can come to Vermont.""Vermont is far. Sofia gets scared on planes.""Then we come to you. I will make the calls."June was quiet again. Then she said something that broke my heart."I have never had anyone come to me before. It has always be

The days after Miami blurred together. Morning light through the kitchen windows. Coffee on the stove. Liam reading the news at the table. Me in the garden, dirt under my nails, sun on my back. The routine felt good. Safe. Like something I could hold onto.Anna left for Oregon on a Wednesday. She had a job. A life. Students who needed her. She promised to visit. She promised to call. She promised to stay in touch. I believed her.Victoria stayed. She said the bookstore could wait. She said the cat was fine. She said she was not ready to leave. I did not argue.Catherine stayed too. She baked bread every morning. The smell filled the farmhouse. She did not talk about Charles. She did not talk about the past. She just existed. Day after day. Flour on her hands. Butter on her apron.Liam spent his days on the phone. Lawyers. Accountants. Bankers. The sale of Sterling Industries was moving faster now. Piece by piece. Dollar by dollar. The money was going to charities. To families. To peop