جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Isabella’s POVThe pregnancy test sat on the bathroom counter, the two pink lines staring back at me. In the next room, my husband was laughing – not with me, never with me – but with her. The woman he actually loved.My hands shook as I picked up the test and stared at it again. Pregnant. I was pregnant with Marcus Wei's baby. Three years of being invisible in my own marriage and now this. I should have been terrified but instead I felt something dangerous. Hope.Maybe this would finally make him see me. Maybe a baby would turn our empty shell of a marriage into something real. Maybe he would finally look at me the way he looked at her.I was an idiot.I hid the test in my pocket and went downstairs to plan. Marcus loved Italian food, specifically his grandmother's recipe for osso buco. I had spent months perfecting it, learning from the old cook who used to work for the Wei family before Catherine fired her for being too friendly with me. Tonight would be perfect. Candles, hi

Isabella’s POV There are moments in life when everything changes. When the person you were dies and someone new is born. For me, that moment was walking into the Morrison estate and locking eyes with four men who looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. I'd spent three years married to a man who never looked at me at all. I wasn't prepared for this.Alexander Morrison hugged me for a long time on the front steps of the mansion. He smelled like expensive cologne and something else, something warm that made my chest ache. When he finally pulled back, his hands stayed on my shoulders and he just looked at me with tears streaming down his face."You have Sarah's eyes," he whispered. "And her smile. Oh God, you even have the same way of standing with your weight on your left foot."He led me inside and I tried not to gape at everything. The Wei mansion had been impressive but this was something else entirely. High ceilings with crystal chandeliers, artwork that prob

Isabella's POV I walked into that ballroom on my grandfather's arm wearing a dress that cost more than my old apartment and every head turned. But the only faces I cared about were frozen in shock at a table near the back. Marcus. Catherine. Vivian. Elena. They were staring at me like they'd seen a ghost. They had no idea the ghost was about to become their worst nightmare.The Metropolitan Business Charity Gala was held at the Plaza Hotel in a ballroom that dripped with old money and older power. Crystal chandeliers the size of cars hung from painted ceilings. The champagne was vintage and the guests were the kind of people who appeared in Forbes instead of reading it. This was the same event where Catherine Wei had humiliated me last year, making me sit at a table in the back corner while she and Vivian laughed with their society friends at the main tables.This year, I was walking in as the guest of honor on Alexander Morrison's arm.My grandfather looked distinguished in his t

Isabella's POVBy seven in the morning, the entire Morrison estate had transformed into a war room.Lawyers moved through the hallways carrying stacks of documents like waiters at cocktail parties. I didn't even know you could have more than one lawyer.Security personnel stood at every entrance.Phones rang nonstop. It was like I was in a telecommunications office.Televisions played news coverage from every major network.And every single screen was talking about Richard Blackwood.I walked into the breakfast room and found all four brothers already there.Nathan was staring at six computer screens at once.Sebastian was reading financial reports, Julian was scrolling through social media, and Daniel was on a conference call.None of them looked happy which was strange because they always looked happy."Good morning?" I said carefully, scanning their faces again.Nathan looked up. "No."“Not a good morning?”“Not at all.” Julian was the one that spoke."That bad?”"Worse than bad.” N

​Isabella's POV​The silence in the room stretched so thin I could hear the rhythmic, heavy brass pendulum of the grandfather clock in the corner.​Tick.Tick.Tick.​Five pairs of eyes—each a different shade of Morrison steel—remained locked on me.​Daniel was the first to break the quiet. His voice didn't rise, but it carried the weight of an absolute decree.​"No."​I blinked, holding his gaze. "...You don't even know the plan yet."​"I don't need to." He leaned back, his expression entirely calm, though the muscles in his jaw were wound tight. "If it involves Richard Blackwood, and it involves you taking a single step toward him, the answer is an unconditional no."​"I agree," Sebastian chimed in instantly, his fingers tapping a sharp, impatient rhythm against his coffee mug.​Nathan didn't speak, but his slow, solemn nod was deafening.​In the corner, Julian folded his arms across his chest, his usual playful smirk completely gone. Even my grandfather, sitting at the head of the