Christina’s POV
Hudson looked back at . "What were you two talking about?"
"We were just..."
"We were just chatting!" Gwendolyn cut in desperately. Her hands fluttered as she grabbed onto my arm like we were suddenly best friends.
"I was just telling Christina about this amazing new facial place in Midtown," she babbled, her smile so fake it nearly cracked her face. "We were bonding. Right, Christina?"
I gave her a look that could freeze fire, then said, "Uh-huh."
She exhaled like she’d just dodged a bullet. "See? We were chatting. That’s all."
Hudson eyed her suspiciously. "Don’t forget what I told you last ti."
"I haven’t! I swear!" She held up her hands. "I haven’t seen Rowan Hale since that day. I’ve just been going back and forth between ho and the hospital. That’s it." She paused to catch her breath. "Oh, and I’ve been helping Declan et girls. It’s ti he settled down. If you two know any decent won, send them his way."
She rattled on nervously, as if talking louder would make her sound innocent. Hudson didn’t respond, just stared until her voice faded to a whisper.
"I’ll, uh, I’ll go check on your grandfather." She hurried off like a scared crab.
Hudson laced his fingers through mine. "She really didn’t touch you?"
"Nope. She knows better." I squeezed his hand. "She ran her mouth, but that’s all."
***
After dinner, I curled up in bed scrolling through my phone. Tax season had co, and Hudson was drowning in paperwork. He’d just returned from our trip, and his to-do list seed endless.
At ten o’clock, he was still locked in his study, on his twentieth call of the evening.
I killed ti watching short videos until my eyelids grew heavy.
Just as I was about to plug in my charger and call it a night, my screen lit up with a ssage.
Daniel: [You back in Highrise? Did you see the flowers I sent? I’m in the hospital...]
Three photos followed. Sterile white walls, an IV stand, and a sad-looking tray of hospital soup.
I imdiately backed out of the chat. He’d been bombarding with ssages for days, and I hadn’t responded to a single one. But tonight, he seed determined to break through my silence.
Daniel: [Niall hasn’t even divorced Beatrice yet and he’s already sniffing around you. Don’t worry, I handled it. I punched him for you. He’s in the room next to mine. Worse shape than I am.]
My thumb hovered over the block button. Then ca one more ssage.
Daniel: [Hudson’s not in love with you. He married you for a reason. You just haven’t figured it out yet. He’s been in love with soone else for years.]
My finger jerked away from the screen.
I sighed. I already knew there had been soone before , soone who’d vanished from Hudson’s life. For a while, I’d thought it might be that Rowan Hale woman. That theory had fallen apart weeks ago, and I’d filed the whole thing away.
But that didn’t an such a woman didn’t exist.
I’d never doubted Hudson wanted , not with the way he looked at , touched , talked to . But the idea that soone else still lived sowhere in his heart, soone he couldn’t let go of... it got under my skin like a splinter.
I had to admit I was jealous. Because I’d fallen for Hudson. Being with him felt right in ways my relationship with Niall never had. Passionate yet secure. Like he was the missing piece that completed .
Niall was my fated mate but never loved . Hudson loved ... didn’t he? But then who was this woman from before?
After a minute of debate, I typed back slowly.
: [How do you know that?]
He replied in seconds.
Daniel: [Doesn’t matter how I know. It’s the truth. I’d never lie to you.]
: [Do you know who she is?]
Thirty seconds that felt like thirty years passed.
Daniel: [Not exactly. But she’s in Highrise City. Sothing artsy. Dance, I think. Hudson never got over her. You were just the convenient option. I also heard she looks a lot like you...]
I dropped my phone face down on the mattress. My chest felt tight, like I’d swallowed sothing solid and it wouldn’t go down.
Daniel: [Everything I said is true. Ask Hudson if you don’t believe .]
I did what I should have done a long ti ago and blocked his number.
"Good riddance," Akira said. "His scent has always been tainted with deceit."
Of course I knew what Daniel was doing. He’d tried every angle to wedge himself between Hudson and , and now he thought he’d found a winner, stirring up trouble about Hudson’s alleged secret love.
I wasn’t buying it.
Okay, maybe a little bit, but not entirely. If Hudson really was carrying a torch for soone, I didn’t need to hear about it through Daniel’s garbage texts. I could ask him directly, face to face.
I kept the lamp on and forced myself to stay awake. Ten turned to eleven, and still no sign of him. Eventually, I curled up with my phone and drifted off waiting.
I didn’t know how long I’d been out. My eyes stayed shut, but the rustle of sheets pulled halfway back to consciousness. Hudson slipped into bed. His chest was warm against my back.
I moved closer, barely awake, dragging the blanket up to my chin. There was sothing I’d ant to ask, sothing important, but it hovered just out of reach in my sleepy mind.
He brushed his lips over the corner of my mouth.
I mumbled sothing incoherent.
"Go back to sleep," he whispered.
And I did.
When I opened my eyes, sunlight had already filtered through the curtains. Hudson’s side of the bed was cold.
I sat up slowly, eyes gritty, brain still fuzzy from sleep. Last night’s ssages ca flooding back like a slap to the face. I still hadn’t asked Hudson about the woman Daniel wouldn’t shut up about.
But after a full night’s sleep, it didn’t feel quite so urgent. I’d ask when Hudson actually had five minutes to spare, and when I wasn’t half dead from waiting up all night.
I’d barely reached the bottom of the stairs when Ysolde’s na popped up on my screen.
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