LOGINSELENA POVThe words caught in my throat before I could swallow them."Why are you wearing my husband's shirt?"The question came out much calmer than the storm raging inside me.Vanessa blinked, then looked down at the oversized white shirt hanging loosely over her shorts before letting out a small gasp. "Oh! I'm so sorry if this upset you." Her smile looked genuinely apologetic. "I spilled juice all over my blouse earlier and my luggage from the hotel still hasn't arrived, so I had the maid lend me one of Xander's spare shirts before I caught a cold."Xander. Again.I stared at the shirt. I knew that scent, clean cedar, fresh linen, home. Seeing it draped across someone else's shoulders made something inside me twist painfully. But what exactly was I supposed to say? Don't wear my husband's clothes?Wouldn't that make me sound childish? Petty? Unreasonably insecure in front of someone who had done nothing technically wrong?I forced a smile. "It's fine."Vanessa's face brightened im
SELENA POVThe entire cafeteria had gone quiet.Every pair of eyes seemed to be on me. Vanessa sat opposite, her smile bright and hopeful and completely harmless or at least, that was how everyone else in the room was reading it."Would you mind if I stayed at your house for a while?" she asked again. "Just until I find a place of my own. Hotels are honestly exhausting."I couldn't breathe.Say no. Just say no…But how? She hadn't insulted me. She hadn't crossed any obvious line. She hadn't been rude or aggressive or given me a single thing I could point to. She was asking politely, with that open, hopeful expression that made declining feel like an act of cruelty.Alexander's gaze had shifted to me, patient and waiting. He wasn't pushing. He was genuinely leaving the decision in my hands, which somehow made everything worse. If I said no, I'd look childish. Petty. Jealous and in front of everyone, including him.I forced the corners of my lips upward. "Of course." The words nearly ch
SELENA POV"Hi, Selena."Vanessa's cheerful voice floated through the office.For one split second I saw red.The food carrier slipped from my fingers, crashing onto the polished floor.I stormed across the office in three steps, my hand tangling into Vanessa's silky hair before Alexander could react.“Bitch….”“Stay away from my husband.” Her eyes went wide. I yanked her forward and…"Hey — Selena?"Alexander's voice cut through everything.I blinked. The office came back into focus. The food carrier was still safely in my hands. Vanessa was still standing beside the desk, smiling politely. I hadn't moved an inch."Babe?" Alexander was watching me with a slightly concerned expression. "You okay?"Heat rushed to my cheeks. Oh God. I had imagined the entire thing.I forced an awkward smile. "I'm fine." Please tell me nothing showed on my face just now.I cleared my throat and walked toward them. "I brought you lunch."Alexander stood immediately, his expression softening. "You came all
SELENA POV"I'm fine."The words slipped out with a smile, but Alexander didn't look convinced. His brows furrowed slightly as he searched my face."No, you're not.""I'm okay," I said."You've said 'I'm okay' three times in the last five minutes." His voice was gentle, too gentle. That my chest ache because it meant he already knew something was wrong and was simply waiting for me to confirm it."I'm just tired."Instead of leaving it there, he stepped closer until only a breath separated us and brushed a loose strand of hair away from my face. "I know you." His eyes stayed locked on mine. "And I know when something is bothering you."I looked away. If only he knew how much."I really am just tired."He stared at me for a long moment, and I could feel the weight of his attention. Then he sighed softly. "Okay." The word came out reluctant, like he didn't believe me but had decided to trust me anyway.He sat beside me on the edge of the bed instead of leaving. Silence settled between
SELENA POVThe sound of laughter drifted through the house before I even opened my eyes.A woman's laughter. Bright, high, comfortable.My brows pulled together as I stared at the ceiling. Miss Margaret never laughed like that. The maids certainly wouldn't. Alexander had already left for work, hadn't he?Then it came again. That same familiar laugh.My stomach tightened. Vanessa.My irritation arrived before my feet even touched the floor. I pulled on the silk robe hanging beside the bed, slipped into my slippers, and followed the sound down the hallway. With every step down the staircase it grew clearer, warmer, more settled, the laughter of people completely at ease with each other.Then I saw them.Alexander and Vanessa, sitting across from each other at the dining table, laughing over something I hadn't heard. Alexander's shoulders shook with genuine amusement. Vanessa threw her head back freely. For a moment I stood on the stairs and just watched, and something in my chest squee
SELENA POVMy chest tightened so suddenly that for a moment the MC's voice became background noise, distant and irrelevant against the sound of those heels clicking closer across the polished floor, each step echoing strangely inside my head.Grace. It can't be. Grace?But she looked so much like her that my breath had lodged itself somewhere in my throat and refused to move.Instinctively my eyes shot to the stage. To Alexander. I expected something.. shock, pain, the particular devastation I had watched move through him at the graveyard. Instead all I found on his face was simple surprise. "Hey, Selena… you okay?"Linda's voice pulled me back."That's..." I started."Vanessa Greystone," Linda supplied quietly.My brows furrowed. "She looks exactly like Grace."Linda chuckled. "I've only seen her once, but I've worked with Mr. Blackwood for years. I know who she is." She leaned slightly closer. "She's Grace's twin sister."My stomach dropped.Twin sister. That explained everything
SELENA'S POVIt had been three days since that night on the bridge, since Alexander broke open in front of me, since the truth spilled out of him like something he'd been choking on for years.And somehow, things felt different. Not perfect, not even close. But lighter, like the air around him had
SELENA POVFor a second, I almost turned away.My fingers tightened around the car door as my heart hammered against my chest. Walk away. Just leave. Ignore him the same way he ignored you last night, dismissed you like you didn't matter.But then something in me snapped. Why should I be the one t
SELENA POV He looked furious, not the usual cold, unreadable version of himself I had come to understand, but something sharper and deeper. His brows pulled together tightly, his jaw clenched so hard I could see the tension ripple beneath his skin. And his eyes were red. Not just from anger
SELENA POVI stared at Adriana, brows raised."Okay," she muttered, shifting on the bed until she was comfortable, one leg tucked beneath her like she was settling in to tell me something properly. "Two days ago, some strange men came to the house looking for Dad. They offered him a job, his







