CHAPTER 62 — SUBTLE BUT DANGEROUSFor a long, breathless second, no one spoke. The chandelier hummed, glasses trembled, and all eyes shifted from Joyce… to the man beside her.Kelvin.Leviathan leaned back slowly in his chair, a smirk playing on his lips. His fingers traced the rim of his wine glass like he was drawing circles around a secret only he understood.“Well,” he murmured, breaking the silence. “There she is. The missing bride.”Joyce’s pulse thundered in her ears. She could feel her mother’s glare digging holes into her skin, her father’s hand gripping the table edge hard enough to turn his knuckles white.“You,” she whispered, voice barely audible.Leviathan raised his glass slightly, smirk curving. “Me.”Her mind struggled to catch up with what her eyes were seeing — and failing to believe.The man sitting at the head of the Arizona dining table wasn’t only the driver who dropped her off at Kelvin’s house last night… no.He was Mr. Williams.Her supposed fiancé.The same

CHAPTER 64 — WHERE IT HURTS The rain didn’t just fall—it poured, washing the streets in silver streaks that blurred everything ahead of me. The sound against the windshield matched the rhythm of my chest—fast, uneven, restless.For a long moment, I just sat there in my car, parked outside the mansion that didn’t belong to me, watching the glowing windows where she stood moments ago. My knuckles tightened around the steering wheel.This nobody.”“Opportunist.”“You think affection replaces legacy?”He clenched his jaw until it hurt, his knuckles white as his hands curled into fists. The streetlights blurred through the curtain of rain, painting everything in dull gold. His reflection stared back from the window — drenched, exhausted, and humiliated.“Just a nobody, huh?” he muttered bitterly, laughing without humor. “Guess that’s all I’ll ever be to people like them.”His voice cracked somewhere between anger and heartbreak. He ran a hand through his wet hair, chest rising and falling

CHAPTER 66 — SHADOWS UNDER THE SAME ROOFThe drive home was long.Or maybe it only felt that way because no one spoke.Rain traced lines down the windows, breaking the city lights into fragments — gold, blue, red — like the world couldn’t decide what emotion to wear tonight. Kelvin’s hands stayed tight on the wheel, the muscles in his jaw working as he stared ahead. The rhythm of the wipers was the only sound between them.In the rearview mirror, he caught glimpses of Diana — her head turned slightly toward the window, her profile soft in the glow of passing headlights. She looked smaller somehow. Not the woman who used to walk into a room and command it, but someone still trying to remember how to breathe.Mia’s head rested on her mother’s shoulder, her eyes already half-closed. The innocence of it ached. Like the world hadn’t taught her yet that sometimes, love wasn’t enough to keep people from breaking apart.When they reached the house, Kelvin parked in the driveway but didn’t mov

CHAPTER 68 — AFTER THE CALLThe phone buzzed once. Twice. Then went silent.Diana’s eyes stayed on the screen for a second too long. Kelvin noticed — of course he did — the way her thumb hovered over the decline button like she was deciding between two lives.Then she pressed ignore.That tiny click echoed louder than anything she could’ve said.Kelvin didn’t say a word, but something inside him relaxed — that tight coil of suspicion he didn’t even know he’d been holding. The silence between them shifted, softer now, warmer.He cleared his throat. “You can answer, you know. I’m not your warden.”She looked up, one brow lifting. “Didn’t want to.”“Harry’s been calling a lot lately.”“Kelvin I’ve said this multiple times…Harry’s my coworker.”“Right,” Kelvin said, rolling his eyes. “And I’m Batman.”Diana smirked. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re more of a grumpy Iron Man on a Monday morning.”He couldn’t help it — he laughed. And damn, that sound. It cracked something between them that

CHAPTER 70– AT HER MERCYHis thrust was the punctuation to a sentence he’d been waiting years to write—a claim, a line drawn in the messy history between them. Every movement said, I’m not him. The words hung in the heated air, tangled with their ragged breaths.He was deep inside her, fitting perfectly, making her gasp and tilt back for a moment. The feeling was intense, familiar, something she’d missed in the quiet of her own bed. He stayed there, holding himself steady, forehead resting against hers. But the words, I’m not him, did something else entirely. They didn’t shatter her; they lit a fuse.A low sound, almost a growl, rumbled in Diana’s throat. Her hands, which had been gripping his shoulders, slid down his sweat-slicked back. Her nails dug in, not enough to hurt, but enough to make his breath hitch. Good.With a surge of strength that surprised them both, she rolled her hips, bucking him off balance. His eyes flew open in shock, as his grip on her tightening instinctively