"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
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
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 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 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
"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 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,
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
Laughter echoed through the grand dining room of the Brown mansion as James attempted to tell a joke about dinosaurs, his five-year-old enthusiasm making the punchline almost unintelligible. Helena Sinclair, the world's wealthiest woman, leaned forward in her chair with exaggerated interest, her eye
Chapter 238 The evening air hung heavy with humidity as Sara sat at the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the cool water. Soft lighting from underwater lamps cast shifting patterns across her face, matching the turbulent thoughts swirling in her mind. Memory after memory played through her he
Mom sobbed harder. But Louis just laughed, the sound sharp and ugly. "Always the victim, aren't you, Eva?" he sneered. "Poor little Eva, losing her mother. Poor little Eva, almost losing her father. You want to know why all this happened? Ask him." He jerked his head toward William. "Ask your preci
Sara's Point of View My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I sat between Eva and William in the courtroom, my heart pounding so hard I could barely hear anything else. The wooden bench felt hard and cold beneath me, but I barely noticed. All I could focus on were the two people in orange jumpsuits standi
Sara's Point of View My world spun as I stared at my mother, the woman who'd raised me, who I thought I knew. But the person kneeling on the marble floor of the Brown Enterprise's grand hall was a stranger. A monster wearing my mother's face. Max's voice cut through my confusion like a blade. "We
Chapter 235 The tension in the grand hall thickened as tears streamed down Sara's face. Her hands trembled as she reached toward William, her performance masterfully crafted in its desperation. "This can't be true. Mom, please tell him he's wrong. Tell everyone he's wrong!" Emily rushed forward, w
The Grand Hall of Brown Enterprises gleamed like a jewel box. Crystal chandeliers cast elegant shadows across marble floors as hundreds of guests celebrated the company's anniversary. The air buzzed with excitement as waiters weaved through the crowd with champagne and delicate hors d'oeuvres. I st
Sara's Point of View The sun was rising when I walked back into the house. My feet hurt from walking all night, but I barely felt it. Inside my chest was a pain much worse. I found Mom in the living room. She sat in her favorite chair, drinking straight from a whiskey bottle. Broken glass was ever
Memories flooded my mind: Eva trying to include me in her birthday parties, Eva defending me at school, Eva offering to help me with my college applications. And how had I repaid her? With cold shoulders and bitter words, with jealousy and spite. "She was just a child," I choked out. "We both were.