Chapter 164 Eva's Point of View My heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird as I stood before the board, Samuel glaring at me with a mixture of shock and fury. The whispers and murmurs of the board members filled the silence, but I kept my head high, channeling every ounce of strength I h
Chapter 165 Max's Point of View The tension in the boardroom was thick enough to cut with a knife. I sat at the head of the table, my fingers laced together to hide their slight trembling as I watched Samuel Graves struggle to maintain his composure. The board members exchanged glances, their deci
Chapter 166 Eva's Point of View It was my father's funeral day. The sky hung low and gray, mirroring the hollow ache in my chest as the priest's words droned on, a somber melody marking the end of my father's life. The air felt heavy with the promise of rain, nature itself seeming to hold its brea
Chapter 167 Eva's Point of View Three days after the funeral, I sat in Mr. Thompson's law office, my fingers nervously twisting the tissue in my lap. The familiar leather chairs and wood-paneled walls should have been comforting I'd been here countless times with my father but something felt off.
Chapter 168 Eva's Point of View The words left my mouth before I could stop them. "This will is fake." The silence that followed was deafening. Emily's smug smile faltered for just a moment so brief I almost missed it. Sara's perfectly manicured fingers tightened around her designer purse. "That
Chapter 169 Sara's Point of View As soon as Eva's footsteps faded down the hallway, I collapsed back into my chair, my heart pounding against my ribs. Mother's laughter filled the room that rich, triumphant sound I'd heard so many times before. "Did you see her face?" Mother poured herself a glas
Chapter 170 Max's Point of View My hands shook as Clara entered my office with a manila envelope. After weeks of wondering and sleepless nights, the moment I'd been waiting for was here. "The DNA results have arrived, Mr. Graves," Clara said quietly, setting the envelope on my desk. Her face show
Chapter 171 Max's Point of View The DNA results trembled in my hand as I watched Eva's face change from shock to anger. The warm evening air suddenly felt thick with tension. The paper between us felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, carrying the weight of all our past mistakes and future battle
Chapter 190 Max point of view The car ride to Eva's home was filled with noise and laughter. The kids were still buzzing from their day at the mall, talking over each other as they relived every moment. I smiled, keeping my eyes on the road, but Sara’s voice echoed in my head. I clenched the steer
Chapter 189 Max point of view Sara’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and cold. I froze, my heart sinking. She stood there, dressed perfectly as always, her eyes scanning me and the kids like we were part of some joke she didn’t get. “My kids,” I said firmly, pulling Leo closer to me. Sara ra
Chapter 188 The mall was a riot of noise and color, and I found myself constantly counting, one, two, three, four. Making sure all of them were there, within reach. It still felt surreal sometimes, looking at these four amazing kids and knowing they were mine. Five years of their lives I'd missed,
"Age is just a number," Leo declared grandly, another line I suspected came from Eva's romantic comedies. "And my heart wants what it wants." "Your heart wanted to marry the pizza delivery girl last week," Sam reminded him. "That was before I met Clara," Leo said with dignity. Then he turned back
Chapter 187 Max's Point Of View I stared at the stack of reports on my desk, each one thicker than the last, but none containing the answers I needed. Finding Emily's secrets was like trying to catch smoke, just when we thought we had a lead, it would slip through our fingers. "Mr. Graves?" Clar
Chapter 186 Max point of view I sat at Eva's dining room table, watching my kids do their homework. It had been a week since the cookie incident, and things were... well, different. Not perfect, but different. James was actually letting me help him with his math now. He still rolled his eyes whe
Chapter 185 Eva's point of view I got up from the floor as fast as I could, trying to brush cookie crumbs out of my hair. My face felt like it was on fire as I met Josh's stare. Even though he's only a few years older than me, that look on his face still made me feel like a little kid who got cau
Chapter 184 Max sat on the living room floor, surrounded by opened presents and four very different reactions to his presence. Mia beamed at him, clutching her new stuffed unicorn like it was made of gold. The boys, however, radiated waves of barely contained hostility that made the room feel ten d
"Sometimes," Sam continued, his young voice unnaturally steady, "she would look at pictures and get really quiet. Was that because of you too?" I swallowed hard. "Yes." "Then why should we want you here?" Leo demanded. "You hurt Mom. You didn't want us." "That's not true," I said quickly, too qui