Page 120 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

He opens the car door for me with an exaggerated bow.

“Ms. Ivanov.”

He deliberately emphasizes the name.

Dante smiles without even trying to hide it.

“Remind me to give you a raise.”

“I’d rather have a bonus,” Stephen shoots back without missing a beat.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Mara arrives just then to act as his driver. After a brief exchange, we climb into our respective cars and head to the office by different routes.

The drive is uneventful, although Stephen seems even more vigilant than usual.

*

When the elevator doors open onto my floor, I head straight for my office.

Louane opens her door at the exact same moment.

“Good morning. Do you have five minutes for a coffee?”

“No coffee. No thanks. I’ve had enough for one day. But if you have hot chocolate, I might make an exception.”

Her face lights up.

A few minutes later, after a stop in the break room, we settle into her office with our hot drinks.

“I owe you an apology for the way I welcomed you the other day,” she says bluntly. “You have enough problems without me adding my distrust to the pile. Serious things are happening here. We have no interest in wasting energy on a pointless turf war.”

I nearly choke on my drink.

“What makes you say that?”

An amused smile brushes her lips.

“Your disappearance for two years. Your mysterious return. Two cyberattacks. A molecule someone tried to steal. Trackers. Files stripped of their contents. An emergency meeting where no concrete action was taken.”

She tilts her head slightly.

“Do you really want me to keep going?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

Her expression turns more serious.

“I’m a chemist too. I know that a revolutionary treatment is always a double-edged sword.”

She gestures vaguely toward the laboratories beyond the glass wall.

“What heals can also kill. And whatever you’re protecting is clearly valuable enough that some people are willing to commit crimes to get their hands on it.”

A chill runs through me.

For a second, I wonder if the second mole is standing right in front of me.