While My Husband Cheated, I Married His Powerful Brother

The words hung in the air between them.

Do you really think I still love you?

Caspian’s face crumbled. His mouth opened and closed and even opened again. He looked like a man who had been punched in the chest and was still waiting for the pain to register.

"Veyra," he said. His voice was soft. Begging. "I dealt with Xiomara. She’s gone. I ended things with her completely. I had no idea she would do those things to you. The slapping. The locking you in the basement. I didn’t know."

She stared at him.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It’s the truth."

"Even if it is," she said, "even if you didn’t know about the slapping, you knew about the basement. You were there. You held the door while she turned the key."

His jaw tightened. "I was trying to protect you."

"From what?"

"From yourself. From the choices you were making. You were going to leave me. You were going to take everything. I panicked."

She shook her head slowly. "You locked me in a room without food or water for three days. You and her. Together. That’s not panic, Caspian but cruelty."

"I made a mistake."

"You made a choice." Her voice was quiet and deadly. "You’ve always made choices. And every single time, you chose yourself. You chose your comfort. Your money. Your mistress. You never chose me. Not once."

He reached for her hand. She pulled away.

"It’s over," she said. "It’s been over for a long time. Our relationship ended the moment you let my mother die. It ended the moment you spent eighteen million dollars on another woman while I ate cereal for dinner. It ended the moment you locked me in that basement."

She looked at him. At the man she had married. At the man she had loved. At the man who had destroyed her.

"There’s nothing left," she said. "There hasn’t been anything left for years. Go home, Caspian. Leave me alone."

The café door burst open.

A crowd of people surged inside. Men and women. Dozens of them. They poured through the entrance like water through a broken dam. Loud voices. Pushing bodies. The smell of sweat and perfume and coffee.

Veyra was knocked sideways. Her hip hit the edge of a table. She stumbled. Her elbow scraped against the wall. A sharp pain shot up her arm.

"Excuse me—" she tried to say, but the crowd swallowed her voice.

Someone stepped on her foot. Someone else shoved her shoulder. She lost her balance and went down. Her knees hit the floor. Her palms scraped against the tile.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the crowd moved on. They flowed toward the back of the café, toward the restrooms, toward the exit. And Veyra was left on the floor, her arm bleeding, her dress torn.

Caspian was beside her in an instant.

"Are you okay?" He knelt down. His hand hovered over her elbow. "You’re bleeding. Let me get some bandages."

"I don’t need bandages."

"It’s just a scratch. I’ll be right back."

He ran toward the counter. Veyra pushed herself to her feet. Her arm stung. She barely felt it.

She looked down.

Lily was gone.

The small chair where Lily had been sitting was empty. The hot chocolate cup was still there. The spoon was still in the saucer. But Lily was not.

"Lily?" Veyra turned in a circle. "Lily!"

No answer.

She pushed through the crowd. Looked under tables. Checked the restroom. The kitchen. The back hallway.

Nothing.

"Lily!"

Caspian appeared beside her. A box of bandages in his hand. His face was concerned.

"Here," he said. "Let me—"

"This is your fault." Veyra’s voice was shaking. "This crowd and this stupid chaos. You showing up here, you harassing me and you making a scene."

"What? I didn’t—"

"She’s gone." Veyra’s voice rose. "Lily is gone. Because of you. You distracted me. You kept me here. And while I was arguing with you, someone took her."

Caspian’s face went pale. "I didn’t know—"

"You never know!" She was shouting now. "You never think about anyone but yourself! You never consider the consequences of your actions! A little girl is missing, Caspian. A little girl. Because you couldn’t leave me alone."

She turned and ran out of the café.

The bodyguards were outside.

They were standing by the cars, their faces calm with their eyes scanning the street. They had not seen, they had not known.

Veyra ran to the head bodyguard. His name was Li Wei. He was tall and broad and steady.

"Lily is gone," Veyra said. Her voice was breathless. "Someone took her. In the crowd. I can’t find her anywhere."

Li Wei’s face changed. The calm disappeared and it was replaced by something sharp, something dangerous.

"Spread out," he said to the other guards. "Search the café. The surrounding streets. Every shop. Every alley. Move."

The bodyguards dispersed.

Li Wei turned to Veyra. "Is there a surveillance system in the café?"

"I don’t know. Maybe. There are cameras on the walls."

"Come with me."

He took her arm, although it was not roughly, but firmly. He led her back into the café. Past the crowd. Past Caspian, who was still standing by the table, the bandages still in his hand.

"Sir, you need to leave," Li Wei said to Caspian.

"I’m not going anywhere—"

"Sir. Leave. Now."

Something in Li Wei’s voice made Caspian step back. He looked at Veyra and she looked away.

He left.

Li Wei found the security guard in the back room. A young man with a bored expression and a cup of coffee.

"Footage," Li Wei said. "From the last fifteen minutes. Now."

The security guard sat up straight. His fingers flew across the keyboard.

The footage appeared on the screen.

Veyra watched herself. Sitting at the table. Talking to Caspian. Lily beside her, small and sweet, swinging her legs.

Then the crowd surged.

The footage showed everything. The bodies pressing together. The chaos. Veyra falling. And then—

"There." Li Wei pointed. "There he is."

A man in a dark jacket. A hat pulled low. A face mask covering his nose and mouth. He moved through the crowd like he knew exactly where he was going. His hands reached out. Scooped Lily up. She struggled. He held her tighter.

The footage followed him to the door. He pushed it open. He stepped outside. And then he was gone.

"Can you zoom in?" Veyra asked. "Can you see his face?"

Li Wei shook his head. "The hat. The mask. He knew what he was doing. He didn’t want to be identified."

Veyra’s stomach dropped.

"This was planned," she said. "This wasn’t random. Someone sent him."

Li Wei was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. "I think you’re right."

Li Wei pulled out his phone.

"Mrs. Thorne, I’m going to have someone escort you back to the estate. We’ll handle the search from here."

"No."

"Mrs. Thorne—"

"I said no." Her voice was firm. "I’m not going back. I’m not sitting in a room while that little girl is out there with a stranger. I’m going to find her."

"Mr. Thorne would want you to be safe."

"Mr. Thorne isn’t here." She looked at him. "And right now, I don’t care what Mr. Thorne wants. I care about Lily. I’m staying."

Li Wei hesitated. "I can’t make that decision without notifying him."

"Then notify him."

Li Wei’s thumb hovered over the screen. He looked at Veyra. Then he looked at the phone.

Veyra’s heart was pounding. Dorian adored Lily. Everyone said so. The whole family doted on her. If he found out she had gone missing while in Veyra’s care—

She could not finish the thought.

Li Wei pressed the button. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.

Then a voice answered.

Li Wei spoke. His voice was steady. Professional. But Veyra could hear the tension underneath.

"Sir," he said. "The young miss has gone missing."