Page 172 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“I never hid what I wanted,” Bianca snaps coldly. “We had an agreement. Don’t start blaming me now.”

A longer silence follows.

“Understood,” Gaspard finally replies in a cold voice.

Then Bianca continues:

“When do I get my payment?”

“As soon as Wald verifies the authenticity of the documents.”

“Perfect.”

A chair scrapes against the floor, and the recording ends.

I stop the audio.

Silence floods the room.

Valeria remains motionless, elbows resting on the table, hands clasped beneath her chin.

“So Gaspard really was the third man,” she finally says.

I immediately grab my phone and call Andrea.

“I want a deep investigation into Gaspard Peltier. Everything he owns: bank accounts, companies, stocks, properties. Then cross-reference all of it with what we already have on Wald. They have to share financial interests somewhere. When Wald goes down, I want that traitor buried alongside him.”

Mara and Stephen leave shortly afterward.

Valeria and I prepare a quiche lorraine for dinner.

The contrast with what we just heard feels almost unreal.

“Why are you and Mara angry with each other?”

“For nothing,” she replies tiredly.

“Then tell me.”

She sprinkles the grated cheese with exaggerated concentration. For a few seconds, I think she won’t answer.

Then she finally sighs.

“She didn’t do what I hired her to do when she decided to follow Bianca. I was simply setting boundaries.”

“And yet following her was the right decision…”

Valeria says nothing. Something else is bothering her.

A suspicion suddenly crosses my mind.

“What exactly is Mara’s job?”

“She runs my security team.”

“You’re not telling me everything.”

She avoids my gaze.