All Chapters of One Year as Mrs.Carusso: Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

Megan's POV The house had gone quiet in that heavy way it did after midnight, the kind of quiet that pressed against the windows and made every little sound feel louder than it should. I lay on my back staring at the ceiling, the sheets twisted around my legs, my mind still stuck on the way Arian had looked at me before he left. Like he wanted to say more. Like whatever was sitting between us was bigger than the room.I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his face, the tension in his jaw, the way his hand had hovered near the door as if he might turn back. I kept replaying the evening—Chloe’s soft voice at dinner, the way she’d watched him, the way he’d watched her when he thought no one noticed. Something was off. I just didn’t know how off yet.A soft knock pulled me upright.My heart jumped. For one stupid second I thought it was him. I swung my legs out of bed, bare feet hitting the cold floor, and crossed the room before I could talk myself out of it. I pulled the

MEGAN'S POV I don't know how I kept my face still.Arian's fingers tightened around mine under the table, just once, just briefly, and I held onto that like it was the only solid thing in the room, because everything else had started to feel like it was tilting sideways in slow motion.Lucas Valmoria's hand rested on that folder like he owned every person sitting at this table, and maybe in his head he did. He was patient about it, which was somehow worse than if he'd just opened it. He wanted us to sit with the not-knowing. He wanted to watch us sweat through the crystal and the heavy silver while he decided how much of whatever was inside to actually use.Chloe was still looking at me.I made myself look back. I refused to be the first one to drop my eyes."Perhaps," Arian's father said, voice careful, "we should let whatever is in that folder stay in the folder for now, Lucas. This is a family dinner, not a deposition."Lucas smiled. "Of course. I only want clarity. For everyone's