CHAPTER 26: What Love Looks Like

POV: Selene Castellano

The prep session started at nine AM sharp.

Selene sat in Diana’s conference room, coffee growing cold in front of her, while the attorney ran through potential questions with the efficiency of someone who’d done this a thousand times.

“They’ll start with the background,” Diana said, flipping through her notes. “Easy stuff. Name, occupation, how you met Avalon. Then they’ll move to the timeline. When you reconnected, what was discussed, when you agreed to marry.”

“And that’s where it gets complicated,” Selene said.

“That’s where you tell the truth simply. You reconnected because of Nene’s will. You discussed the requirements. You agreed to marry for multiple reasons—the money for Maya’s treatment, honoring Nene’s wishes, and unresolved feelings for Avalon.”

“That sounds calculated when you say it like that.”

“It sounds honest. Which is better than calculated.” Diana fixed her with a steady gaze. “Selene, here’s what you need to understand. Sullivan is going to try to make you look like either a gold digger or a liar. Your job is to be neither. Your job is to be human.”

“How?”

“By not hiding your motivations. Yes, you needed money. Yes, the will created an opportunity. Yes, you had feelings for Avalon that never went away. All of those things can be true simultaneously. The key is owning all of it.”

Avalon, sitting beside Selene, spoke up. “What about the miscarriage? How detailed will they get?”

Diana’s expression softened slightly. “Detailed. I’m sorry, but they will. They’ll ask when Selene found out she was pregnant, what she did, who she told. They’ll ask about Catherine’s threats. They’ll ask why she didn’t tell you, Avalon, and whether she considered telling you later.”

Selene felt her throat tighten. “And I just—tell them everything?”

“Everything relevant. You don’t need to describe medical details unless they specifically ask. But yes, you tell them about the pregnancy test, about Catherine showing up, about the threats, about the miscarriage. And you tell them why you made the choices you made.”

“Even though those choices hurt Avalon?”

“Especially because those choices hurt Avalon. Because that’s the context Sullivan will try to use against you. He’ll paint you as someone who makes selfish decisions without considering consequences. You need to show that’s not true—that you made impossible choices in impossible circumstances and you’ve carried the weight of them ever since.”

They ran through questions for another hour. Diana playing Sullivan, Selene answering, Avalon listening and occasionally interjecting when something didn’t sound right.

“What’s your current relationship with Avalon Pierce?”

“We’re married. We’re building a life together. We’re in therapy working through our past.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yes.”

“When did you fall in love with him?”

“I fell in love with him in college. I never really fell out of it, even when I left. I just buried it.”

“Does he love you?”

This was the one that made Selene hesitate every time.

“He’s working on it. He’s been honest that he’s not there yet, but he’s trying. And I respect that honesty.”

Diana nodded approvingly. “Good. Don’t oversell it. Don’t claim something you can’t prove. Just be honest about where you both are.”

They broke for lunch—sandwiches delivered to the conference room, eaten mechanically while Diana reviewed the timeline one more time.

“The money is the hardest part,” she said, pulling up the bank records. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, transferred three days before your wedding. Sullivan is going to hammer this. He’ll imply—or outright state—that Avalon bought your agreement to marry.”

“He helped with Maya’s treatment,” Selene said. “That’s not buying me.”

“From Sullivan’s perspective, the effect is the same. You needed money, Avalon provided it, you married him. Cause and effect.”

“But it wasn’t that simple.”

“I know. So explain the complexity. Avalon offered to help with Maya’s healthcare before you’d agreed to marry him. You initially refused. He had to convince you to accept. Those details matter.”

Selene nodded, trying to memorize the sequence.

By three PM, her head was swimming with responses and counter-responses, with phrases that sounded good and phrases that would be used against her.

Diana finally closed her notes. “I think we’re ready. Selene, you’ve done this well. Just remember—tomorrow, no one in that room knows you except Sullivan, and he’s been paid to think the worst. Your job is to show them who you actually are. Not perfect. Not calculating. Just human.”

After Diana left to prepare for another case, Selene and Avalon sat alone in the conference room.

“You’re going to be great tomorrow,” Avalon said.

“How can you know that?”

“Because I’ve seen you be great in impossible situations. The board meeting. The press conference. Dinner with my mother. You show up even when you’re terrified. That’s what tomorrow requires.”

Selene leaned her head on his shoulder. “I keep thinking about what Margaret said. That I love you in a terrifying way. She’s right. This whole thing terrifies me.”

“What the whole thing?”

“This, us. The fact that I’m putting myself through a legal deposition to defend a marriage that started as a contract. The fact that I’m fighting this hard for something that might not work out.”

“Why are you fighting this hard?”

She lifted her head, looked at him. “Because it’s already working out, maybe not perfectly. Maybe not the way either of us planned. But we’re here. Together. Trying. That’s worth fighting for.”

Avalon cupped her face gently. “Tomorrow, when Sullivan asks if this marriage is real, I want you to think about this moment. Right now. Us sitting in a conference room after six hours of deposition prep, exhausted and scared, and still choosing to be here. That’s real. That’s what you tell them.”

“What if it’s not enough?”

“Then we try harder. But Selene—” his thumb traced her cheekbone, “—I think it will be enough. I think we will be enough.”

She wanted to believe him.

Tomorrow would test that belief.

That night, Selene couldn’t sleep.

She lay in bed running through potential questions, her answers, the ways Sullivan might twist her words. Beside her, Avalon’s breathing was steady but not quite relaxed. He was awake too.

“Tell me something good,” she said into the darkness. “Something that has nothing to do with tomorrow.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Maya texted me earlier. Said her latest scans look even better. Dr. Chen thinks she might be completely clear within a month.”

Warmth flooded through Selene. “She told you that? Not me?”

“She said she wanted me to know that the money I spent is working. That she’s grateful.”

“You saved her life.”

“We saved her life. You kept her alive for ten years before I showed up. I just helped with the final push.”

Selene rolled toward him, close enough to see his face in the dim light from the window.

“Thank you. For that. For everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Yes, I do. Because you didn’t have to help. You could have just met the will’s requirements and kept your distance. But you didn’t. You showed up. For Maya, for me, for us. That matters.”

Avalon pulled her closer, and she settled against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Tomorrow’s going to be hard,” he said quietly. “Sullivan’s going to push every button he can find. But you’re stronger than you think. And you’re not alone.”

“Promise you’ll be there? After?”

“Promise. Diana’s office. I’ll be watching the feed, and the second it’s over, I’ll be there.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They lay together in the dark, gathering strength for what came next.

Tomorrow, Selene would sit across from Sullivan and defend her choices, her marriage, her love.

Tonight, she’d hold tight to the man those choices had brought back into her life.

And pray it was enough.