Bella dialed her mother’s number immediately.Her fingers were trembling so badly that she almost pressed the wrong contact twice before the call went through.The phone barely rang once before it was answered.“Did Jacob do something again?” Tianna said immediately.Her voice carried the kind of tired patience that suggested this had become routine.Every time Bella called, it was usually to complain about Jacob.Bella opened her mouth, but Tianna continued speaking before she could say anything.“I heard his company is going through a bit of a problem at the moment,” Tianna said calmly. “And he didn’t tell you because he probably didn’t want to worry you. Cut him some slack and ignore whatever he does to you.”Bella’s eyebrows furrowed.Her mother continued in the same casual tone.“Men get stressed when their business is not doing well. If he cheats or ignores you sometimes, don’t make it a big issue. At the end of the day, he knows where home is.”Bella’s grip on the phone tighten

Bella sat on the edge of the couch, her hands trembling slightly as she opened the banking app on her phone. The light from the screen reflected in her tired eyes while Jacob stood a few feet away, pacing impatiently across the living room.“Make it quick,” he said harshly.Bella ignored the tone and focused on the numbers on her screen.Her personal account balance stared back at her.It wasn’t much.She had always been careful to keep her personal spending separate from her business finances. The business account had money, money meant for inventory, rent, and suppliers but touching that would destroy months of planning.And she was not about to destroy her business because Jacob had gotten himself into trouble.She swallowed and looked up.“I really don’t have anything I can give you,” she said quietly.Jacob stopped pacing.“What?”Bella turned the phone toward him slightly as if the numbers might convince him.“This is everything in my personal account.”Jacob stared at the scree

May sat quietly in the back seat of the car as it moved through the late afternoon traffic.The city outside the window flowed past in a blur of buildings, pedestrians, and headlights beginning to glow as the sun slowly dipped lower in the sky. Normally she would have used the drive home to check emails or return calls, but today her mind was elsewhere.She kept replaying the conversation she had just had with Olivia.Her daughter had been calm.Too calm.When May had mentioned the possibility of calling off the marriage, she had expected hesitation… maybe even relief.Instead, Olivia had refused almost immediately.May folded her hands in her lap as she thought about it.Olivia had changed.The shift had been subtle at first, but now it was obvious.At the beginning of the engagement, Olivia had treated the whole arrangement like a contract. A responsibility she was willing to carry out for the sake of the family.There had been no emotion behind it.No curiosity.No interest.But no

The Beecroft manor had barely returned to its quiet routine after May’s visit when another car pulled up sharply in front of the entrance.The driver had barely stopped when the back door flew open.Blossom stepped out.Her heels struck the stone pavement with sharp, impatient clicks as she marched toward the entrance like a storm rolling through the estate.The house staff immediately sensed the tension.Blossom rarely came to the manor in this mood unless something had angered her deeply.She pushed through the front doors without greeting anyone and headed straight down the familiar corridor toward her father’s study.The door was closed this time.Blossom didn’t bother knocking.She shoved it open.Lord Beecroft sat behind his desk exactly as he had earlier, reviewing another stack of documents under the soft glow of the desk lamp.He didn’t even look up when the door slammed against the wall.“I assume you’re here to complain,” he said calmly.Blossom froze for a brief second.Th

Becca sat behind the glass desk in her apartment office, scrolling slowly through the report that had just been delivered.Across from her, the private investigator sat quietly, waiting.The thick file in Becca’s hands contained everything her mother had asked for.Twelve months.Every meeting.Every dinner.Every event Olivia had attended outside of her usual work schedule.The investigator had been thorough.Names, dates, locations, photos, timestamps.Becca flipped through the pages slowly.Most of the names meant nothing.Business executives.Construction partners.Legal consultants.Investors.Nothing unusual.Olivia was the acting head of the Beecroft construction business. Meeting powerful people was part of her job.But Becca kept reading.Eventually she reached the section marked Private Meetings.Her eyes narrowed slightly.These were smaller encounters.Less public.A few restaurant meetings.A few hotel lobby conversations.Still nothing that looked scandalous.She turned