Todos os capítulos de Too late, dear husband; Mrs Grant is done: Capítulo 31 - Capítulo 40

MIREYA SARAI ORLOVThe doorbell rang at exactly seven o'clock.I was curled up in the living room, pretending to read a magazine I hadn't actually turned a page of in ten minutes, when my mother rushed past me toward the front door, her heels clicking fast against the hardwood."I'll get it!""Mama, I can—"But she was already gone, and I was left holding a magazine I didn't care about, listening to the door swing open and her voice turn warm and welcoming in that particular way she reserved for guests she'd already decided to love. Then I heard his voice answer hers, low and even."Mrs. Orlov. Thank you for inviting me."I set the magazine down and walked toward the hallway, and there he was, filling the doorway in a dark suit that fit like it had been built around him, a bottle of wine held loosely in one hand. His hair was slightly damp from the evening air, and when he stepped past my mother into the house he brought the smell of cedar and something clean with him, something that

MIREYAThe car door slammed shut, and the noise outside changed instantly, muffled now, distant, like watching a storm through glass.The photographers were still out there, their mouths moving behind the tinted window, cameras flashing white, a fist striking the glass hard enough to make me flinch. Nikolai was already in the driver's seat, somehow getting me into the passenger side and circling around to his own door before I'd even fully processed what was happening, and the engine turned over under his hand before I'd even finished buckling in. He pulled away from the curb without a word, and the photographers chased us for half a block before falling back, shrinking in the mirror until they vanished completely.My hands wouldn't stop shaking, no matter how hard I pressed them flat against my thighs."That absolute, lying piece of—" The words tore out of me before I could stop them, my voice cracking halfway through the curse. "She set us up, Nikolai. She actually set us up, and no

MIREYA SARAI ORLOVAugust's words settled over the room like something physical, and for a moment nobody moved to pick them back up. The fire kept cracking in the grate behind him, my mother's hand stayed wrapped warm and steady around mine, and somewhere in my pocket my phone buzzed again, the screen lighting up against the fabric before going dark, another message I wasn't ready to read.I looked around the room, searching for something that would make this easier. August watched me with that same patient, unreadable expression, waiting. Nikolai hadn't moved from where he stood near the fireplace, jaw tight, hands loose at his sides in a way that didn't match the tension running through the rest of him. My brothers looked like they were bracing for a fight neither of them could win cleanly, Alexei's arms crossed hard over his chest, Dmitri's eyes narrowed like he was still deciding who to be angry at. My father was watching Nikolai instead of me, measuring him the way he measured ev

MIREYA SARAI ORLOV I left August's house before sunrise, slipping out while the hallway was still dark and quiet, the guards at their posts not even attempting to stop me. Maybe they'd been told not to. Maybe they'd simply decided arguing with me at five in the morning wasn't a fight worth having. I didn't care either way. I just needed to be somewhere that wasn't that house. The gates were still crawling with reporters, but August's security team had found a service entrance onto a side street, and a car was already idling there when I stepped out into the cold. I got in without looking back once. By the time the sun actually came up, I was sitting at my own desk, in my own office, pretending the last twelve hours hadn't happened at all. ⸻ The building was nearly empty when I walked in, just a handful of early employees clustered near the coffee machine, their voices dropping to a murmur the second they spotted me. I felt their eyes follow me the entire length of the hallwa

MIREYA SARAI ORLOVI pushed the contract away from me like it had personally insulted my mother."I'm not marrying you."Nikolai didn't even blink. "Why not?""Why not?" I stared at him. "Do you want me to list the reasons? Because I have a list.""I'm listening."I held up one finger. "You're obnoxious."He tilted his head slightly, as though considering this. "Fair."I held up a second finger. "You called me crazy.""To be fair, you had just poured wine on me.""Doesn't matter." I held up a third finger. "I'm not going to marry just anybody.""And?""And most importantly—" I held up a fourth finger. "I don't want to marry you."Nikolai was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Are you finished?"I wanted to throw something at him. "Yes. I'm finished."He nodded slowly. "None of those reasons actually address the practical benefits of the arrangement."I stared at him. "Being an obnoxious man is reason enough.""It's not a legal argument.""I don't care about legal arguments. I care abo