The visiting room fell into tense silence after Brandon's outburst. Helen Montgomery stared at the scarred table between them, her carefully applied makeup streaked with tears, her hands trembling in her lap. The guard's warning glare still lingered, making it clear that one more disruption would end the visit immediately.When Helen finally looked up at her son, her expression had transformed from maternal concern to something harder, colder—anger barely held in check."You stupid, stupid boy," she hissed, keeping her voice low but venomous. "Do you have any idea what you've done to this family? To me?"Brandon blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in his mother's demeanor. "Mom, I—""Shut up." Helen's voice cracked like a whip, quiet but deadly. "For once in your miserable life, just shut your mouth and listen."Brandon's jaw snapped closed.Helen leaned forward, her eyes blazing with fury and something that looked almost like desperation. "You made a deal with Vincent Accardi. T

The Montgomery estate had fallen quiet, the last echoes of celebration fading into the night. Vivian paced the length of her bedroom, her footsteps muffled by the plush carpet. Back and forth she went, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she rehearsed conversations in her mind.They had been intimate once—a mistake born of circumstance and desperation. But now? Now things felt different. Their relationship had shifted in subtle ways she couldn't quite define. She found herself leaning toward him, trusting him in ways that surprised even herself.Still, the thought of sharing a bed made her stomach flutter with anxiety. It was too soon, too intimate for whatever this fragile thing between them was. Yet she also knew her grandfather would be displeased if he discovered Caden sleeping on the couch while she took the bed. The old man had made his expectations painfully clear.Vivian stopped pacing and pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to ease the tension building there. He

Vivian opened her mouth, then closed it. She couldn't explain the feeling in her gut, the instinct that told her there was more to Caden than met the eye. She had no proof, no evidence to offer her mother.Patricia seized on the hesitation like a predator scenting blood."You see? You can't even answer. Because there is no answer." Patricia's lip curled in disgust. "He's nothing, Vivian. A ghost of a man with no substance, no worth. And the real tragedy? You're too blinded by whatever spell he's cast to see the truth.""The truth," Vivian said slowly, her voice dropping to that dangerous, glacial tone that made subordinates at Montgomery Luxe flinch, "is that Caden has shown more integrity in a few days than most men in our social circle show in a lifetime.""Integrity?" Patricia laughed, the sound harsh and bitter. "Oh, my dear, naive daughter. Integrity doesn't pay bills. Integrity doesn't secure business deals. Integrity doesn't elevate families to the next level of society.""No,

Caden stared down at Vivian's peaceful sleeping form, her arm draped possessively across his chest, her face buried against his shoulder. A slow smirk curved his lips as he processed the irony of the situation.The same woman who had so carefully insisted last night that sharing a bed meant nothing—that she wasn't ready to give their marriage a chance, that this was merely sympathy—was now clinging to him like her life depended on it.He said nothing, simply letting his eyes drift closed again. If the little mouse wanted to contradict her own rules in her sleep, who was he to disturb her? Besides, her warmth wasn't entirely unpleasant, and the bed was comfortable enough that going back to sleep seemed like an excellent idea.Caden settled back into the pillows, his smirk still playing at the corners of his mouth as he began to drift off.A few seconds later, his eyes snapped open.His bladder was full. Uncomfortably so.Caden grimaced, staring up at the ceiling. Of all the timing. He

Vivian's chair scraped loudly against the floor as she rose abruptly, her glacial eyes blazing with barely controlled fury. Her entire body seemed to vibrate with the force of her anger as she turned toward her cousin, her mouth opening to unleash what was clearly about to be a scorching verbal assault."How dare you—""Vivian! Stand down. Now."The grandmother's command cut through the air like a whip crack, sharp and absolute. The elderly woman's voice carried the kind of authority that came from decades of ruling over the Montgomery household with an iron fist.Vivian's jaw clenched, her hands curling into fists at her sides. A low grumble of frustration escaped her throat, but she didn't immediately obey. Her eyes remained fixed on her smirking cousin, clearly torn between filial obedience and the burning need to defend Caden.The grandmother's expression hardened. "I said stand down, Vivian. Or have you forgotten how to follow simple instructions?""Grandmother—""Enough." The ol