Page 56 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“Oh, Dante!” Bianca cries as she hurries toward me. “I just heard what happened. There has to be some mistake. Valeria would never do something like this.”

Her eyes glisten with tears. Her voice trembles.

She’s defending Valeria.

And yet — I don’t know why — something about her reaction feels off.

Is it really? Or am I just looking for excuses? Am I trying to justify myself by making her suspicious too?

I gently move Bianca aside and turn to the guards.

“Leave us.”

They exit the room, leaving the four of us alone.

That’s when Valeria finally seems to notice Andrea.

“Andrea?”

Her voice. Just that single word — spoken with such naked vulnerability — cuts straight through me.

Her eyes fill with tears.

She isn’t pretending.

She’s shattered.

Completely.

“Valeria,” he says softly, though there’s caution in his tone.

She nods.

She understands he chose a side and she accepts it without resentment.

Maybe that’s what unsettles me most.

“Tell us what you did,” Andrea says. “And why.”

Her jaw tightens. Her eyes flick toward Bianca — wary, hostile.

She won’t speak. Not in front of her.

Why? What happened between them?

“Why were you trying to steal company data?” Bianca asks as she steps closer.

Valeria’s gaze hardens.

Cold. Glacial.

Not hatred.

Worse.

Contempt.

Bianca takes a step back, visibly shaken.