Once outside, her feet naturally took her toward the nearest ice cream stall. She ordered a cup of vanilla soft serve with chocolate drizzle and a little wafer on top, and took her ti walking.
The weather was gentle today. Warm sunlight brushed against her cheeks, and the soft breeze played with her hair as she wandered through the plaza.
Then, as always, her steps paused in front of the plushie shop.
Her eyes lit up imdiately.
Rows and rows of stuffed animals smiled back at her from behind the glass—giant cats with sleepy eyes, dogs shaped like bread loaves, a frog with a hoodie, and a bunny as big as a bean bag.
Her lips parted slightly, and she pressed her fingers against the glass.
So cute... all of them.
She stayed there for a mont, her heart swaying a little, like a child torn between logic and love.
But then she smiled and took a small step back.
"I already have three babies at ho," she reminded herself with a soft laugh, picturing Berry, Snowball, and Moonbeam rolling all over her bed.
"I can’t adopt another one..."
With that thought tucked warmly in her heart, she turned away.
***
"Who is that girl?" the woman beside Alan suddenly asked, her voice cold and slightly mocking as her gaze followed a figure walking past the toy shop.
It was Bella—walking slowly, holding a phone, her long hair swaying behind her and her soft brown eyes lighting up every ti she saw sothing cute in the shop window.
Alan followed her gaze for a brief mont but didn’t say anything. He just smiled lazily, that sa charming smile he always wore when brushing things off.
The woman’s expression darkened. She turned to him, lips curling ever so slightly with dissatisfaction.
"Alan?" she pressed again, trying to keep her voice calm, seductive even, but the jealousy in her eyes betrayed her act.
Alan slowly looked at her, his smile still in place but his eyes... colder now.
"I don’t think we’re close enough that I owe you an explanation," he said casually, almost sweetly, as if it were just another passing comnt.
But the words cut deep.
The woman froze. Her heart stung. Her mouth parted slightly in disbelief.
Not close?
Funny.
They’d spent nights tangled in sheets, dinners in dim-lit restaurants, and shared whispered secrets in parked cars.
Their bodies knew each other.
Their routines had started to blend.
But now, in one simple sentence, Alan had drawn a thick, cold line between them.
Not close.
Irony burned her chest—because physically, they’d been so close that sotis she could feel his breath on her skin before he even leaned in.
And yet, emotionally... there wasn’t even a door.
Just a locked wall she had never been allowed to climb.
She forced a smile, but her eyes flicked back to Bella’s retreating figure.
Sweet, beautiful, glowing..
A softness that made people stop and look. Made Alan stop and look.
Jealousy curdled in her throat like acid.
But Alan didn’t seem to care. His attention had already drifted.
***
Jay was stunned the mont he learned that Leonardo was taking Bella with him to dinner—with Stella.
His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Seriously??" he blurted out loud in the hallway, making a maid jump.
His brother—the Leonardo Moretti, the one who didn’t care who ca or went, the one who treated dinners like business etings and emotions like annoying software updates—was suddenly bringing Bella along?
He blinked hard, once, twice.
Then a mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Oh-ho, this is getting spicy."
Jay couldn’t shake the mory from earlier—how his big brother’s face had lit up when Jay ntioned Bella checking out his muscles.
Leonardo liked it.
That was a first. Usually Leo reacted to complints the way a cat reacts to water.
So maybe—just maybe—his ice-cold brother was starting to feel sothing?
Excitent bubbled in Jay’s chest like soda. He almost skipped through the hallway toward the study room, his mind replaying every flirty little scene he’d witnessed between Bella and Leo over the past week.
He needed to confirm it. He needed proof.
He pushed open the door to Leonardo’s study without knocking, like always.
"BRO!"
Leonardo, who had just finished reviewing a contract, looked up sharply, irritation flashing in his eyes.
"How many tis do I have to tell you to knock before coming in?" he said coldly.
Jay, unbothered, waltzed in and dropped into the chair across from him, spinning once like a child.
"Knock knock blah blah... Co on! I’m your younger brother! What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine... is definitely not yours," he said with a playful wink.
Leonardo exhaled and leaned back, clearly not amused.
"You seem overly cheerful today. What’s going on?"
Jay smirked and pulled out his phone.
"I just got so cute photos from Bella. Look at this one! She’s holding an ice cream and smiling like she just won a billion dollars. And here’s one of a plushie store. Oh! And her selfie—so adorable, look!"
Leonardo’s eyes glanced at the phone briefly, his expression unreadable.
She hadn’t sent him anything.
His brows twitched slightly as he lowered his eyes back to the paper, but sothing in his chest felt... off.
Jay grinned wider, knowing exactly what he was doing.
"Bro..." he said casually, leaning his elbows on the desk. "Now that Stella is back... are you thinking of divorcing Bella?"
Leonardo’s pen paused. His gray eyes slowly rose to et Jay’s.
"What did you just say?"
Jay chuckled like he’d cracked a joke. "I an, it makes sense, right? Technically, you were supposed to marry Stella. Bella was, what do they call it? A bride swap? You’ve never even looked at her properly before, so maybe you’re thinking now’s the ti to set things right."
Leonardo’s expression darkened.
"And I was thinking," Jay continued recklessly, "if you’re divorcing her, maybe I should marry her. I an, everyone says I get along better with Bella. Even Mom said we’d make a much better couple."
Silence.
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