******Until now, Irene had been so stunned by her elder sister’s wild accusation that her body had gone completely rigid, her nerve locked in disbelief.Normally, nothing should have been able to pull her back to her senses… not easily, at the very least, and even if she did eventually return to herself, it should have only been to stare at Avery in cold disappointment before walking away without saying a word.But…The news Avery had just shared had not only completely shattered her trance like a sledgehammer hitting a fragile piece of glass, but it had also unfrozen her in an instant… though not with relief.This was completely different from the shock she had felt at the baseless allegation… No.That had been the silence of someone who had been wrongly accused of something they would never have considered in their entire life, even if it was the only thing left to do on earth. But this one… it was indescribable.At this moment, Irene’s entire being had not only faltered, bu

******Irene, startled by the sudden cry, trembled slightly, her vacant eyes suddenly flickering. But before they could fully focus, Avery lunged forward, her excitement overflowing, and then, not waiting for permission, she clasped her wrist tightly.“There’s no time to waste,” Avery declared proudly and excitedly, giggling. “We must go check your wedding dress already, make sure it fits, and prepare every other detail for the grand event tomorrow.” Her words poured out one after another in breathless eagerness as she tugged Irene toward the door.But then, mid-step, she stopped and glanced apologetically at James.“Sorry, hubby! I hope you don’t mind going to rest in my room by yourself. There’s still so much I have to take care of before tomorrow.”James smiled sweetly. “It’s fine, my love,” he replied smoothly, his voice carrying its usual false warmth. “As long as you make sure you don’t overstress yourself and our baby.”Then, waving his hand as if magnanimous, he added,

******Completely oblivious to James’ twisted delight in her misery… and with no inkling that he had just uncovered Glenn’s whereabouts and was already plotting revenge for his shattered legs… Irene found herself being half-dragged, half-guided down the hall by the overtly spirited Avery.“Tomorrow is going to be a memorable day for you and me!” Avery exclaimed, her voice bubbling over with excitement. “We must make the most of it and enjoy it to the fullest!”She skipped a little as she walked, tugging Irene along with the energy of a child showing off a prized toy.She either didn't notice... or noticed but chose not to care, that compared to her own radiant, joy-filled glow, Irene’s lifeless, soulless, and unfocused gaze painted a starkly different picture as she followed her like a puppet whose strings were pulled by her.“Not only will our family be joining the powerful Koch family tomorrow,” Avery continued, her tone rising with pride and delight, “but we’ll also be tied to

******Irene was nearly crushed under this realization, her devastation growing so heavy that she thought she might collapse.But just at that moment, like a spark in the suffocating dark… words surfaced in her mind.“You can tell me whatever it is you’re going through. No matter how difficult it is… handling it would be a piece of cake for me.”They came uninvited, suddenly ringing in her ears as vividly as if the speaker was currently standing beside her.The tone was unmistakable... overbearing and dripping with confidence. It carried the kind of casual narcissism that could only belong to one man… Glenn.He had said these words to her before he left that morning, when he noticed her strange expression.The moment his words replayed in her mind, an image of him abruptly surfaced… the smug, self-assured face, and the cocky expression. The man who had left her villa that morning with that same careless charm.At the time he had said those words, Irene had rolled her eyes at h

******“Mr. Narcissist.”The caller was the guy she had just banished out of her mind… forcing herself not to dwell on his arrogance, his maddening confidence, or the strange calm his mere thought had brought to her mind.The contact she had saved two days ago, before leaving the hotel, deciding that nothing suited him better… Glenn.And now, impossibly, his ‘name’ was staring back at her in bold white letters.For a second, Irene’s thoughts short-circuited and her brain refused to function, her body forgetting how to process something so surreal.Then finally, the storm came crashing in on her… questions colliding over one another inside of her, clashing so violently that she couldn’t focus on a single one.‘Why is he calling me?’‘What does he want?’‘How does he even know when to…’And then, like a spark in the middle of nothingness, a memory resurfaced.‘Before he left this morning, he did say he would check on me later.’As soon as this realization struck her, emotion