All Chapters of His Hidden Devotion. : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Teresa left the lights off.The apartment was quiet except for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the rain tapping against the balcony doors. Emma was asleep down the hall, curled around her favorite stuffed rabbit after crying herself to sleep. Mrs. Lim, the kind middle-aged woman Teresa had hired to look after Emma while she worked, has gone home, leaving a bowl of untouched soup in the kitchen and a note reminding Teresa to eat.She hadn't.The photograph lay on the coffee table.She picked it up again.The hospital logo in the corner had faded with time, but she remembered that day clearly enough. She remembered the ache in her ribs every time she drew a full breath. She remembered pulling her sleeves lower before walking outside. She remembered refusing the nurse's offer to call the police because she still believed she could fix her marriage if she tried a little harder.What she didn't remember was him.Lucas.He stood across the street in a dark coat, half hidden behind a bu

Teresa didn't take her eyes off Lucas.The apartment had gone strangely quiet. Emma was back on the living room rug, making her stuffed rabbit "read" the new storybook while Mrs. Lim quietly disappeared into the kitchen, sensing the conversation wasn't meant for her.Lucas stood near the door with his hands in his pockets. He wasn't avoiding Teresa's gaze this time. "How many keys were made for this apartment?" he asked."Three.""And who had them?""Myself." She held up one finger. "Asher."She stopped. Then looked at him."And you."Lucas gave a single nod. "I had one." The answer came too quickly.Teresa stared at him. "You're admitting it?""I've never lied to you about having the key.""You've never told me either.""You never asked."A bitter laugh escaped her. "That's convenient."Lucas accepted the remark without reacting. She stepped closer, lowering her voice so Emma wouldn't hear. "Why did you have a key to my apartment?""It wasn't your apartment then."She frowned."It wa

The folder was shaking inTeresa's hands. She looked from the hospital receipt to his face, then back again. "You paid my hospital bill?"Lucas didn't answer."You paid it!" Her voice sharpened. "After everything you just told me... after everything I found in here... don't stand there and pretend this isn't yours."He walked over slowly, stopping a few feet away instead of reaching for the folder. "I never pretended.""Then explain it." Silence settled between them. The clock on the wall ticked once.Lucas finally held out his hand. "May I?"Teresa stared at him for another moment before handing him the file. He accepted it carefully, almost as if he were afraid one loose page might drift away. He rested the folder on the coffee table but didn't close it."You've been keeping records of my life for years," she said. "Hospital bills, photographs, and even Asher's business records." She shook her head. "Why?"Lucas rested one hand on the back of a chair. "Because I believed one day you

Teresa stared at the message on her phone until the screen dimmed.Did you enjoy reading my brother's secrets?She looked up slowly. Lucas was watching her, not the phone."He knows," she said.Lucas held out his hand. "Huh?"Without taking her eyes off him, she passed him the phone.He read the message once, then locked the screen and returned it. "This isn't for you."Teresa frowned. "He sent it to me. He wants me to know he can reach you whenever he wants." Lucas glanced toward the study window before looking back at her. "Don't answer him.""You think I was planning to?" She said with a sigh of irritation. "I think Asher knows exactly how to start a conversation without asking a question."Teresa slipped the phone into her bag. "You make him sound predictable.""He is.""You keep saying that, but somehow he's always three steps ahead of both of us." She said in a perpetually tired voice. Lucas didn't argue. Instead, he held the folder on his hands and slid it back into the cabine

The words lingered in the room long after Natalie stopped speaking.Lucas looked at the registration records on the laptop again, then closed it with more force than he intended. "There has to be a mistake.""There isn't," Natalie replied. "I checked three separate databases before I came here.""He shut that company down years ago.""I know."Lucas rested both hands on the table and stared at the polished wood between them. Teresa watched him carefully. This wasn't the calm, unreadable man she'd come to expect. He looked as though someone had pulled a thread he hadn't realized was still holding everything together."If my father wanted to help Teresa," he said quietly, "he would've done it openly.""You don't think he paid the fees?" Natalie asked.Lucas gave a humorless laugh. "My father doesn't spend money without expecting something in return."Teresa folded her arms. "Then maybe that's exactly what this is."Lucas looked at her."He knows about the custody case," she continued. "