Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 393

"Don't be afraid of me. That man, Cossio, he's violent-dangerous. He'll hurt you. Why don't you come with me instead?"

Mila bit her tongue, refusing to answer.

Is he for real? Just going to say that right in front of everyone?

What's his angle, being so blunt when Cossio's right there? Then again, maybe their relationship is close enough that this sort of thing isn't out of bounds.

Sure enough, the man everyone called Cossio-whose moods were notoriously unpredictable-didn't get angry. Instead, he simply yanked the other man aside and replied coolly in Italian, "She belongs to me."

The man just shrugged and dropped back into his seat at the poker table. As Cossio sat down, the man glanced at the veiled woman behind him and grinned. “Come on, Cossio, be serious. Let me have this beauty, will you? I caught a whiff of medicine on her-she's hurt. You always forget, women need to be cared for and cherished."

He seemed suddenly reminded of something, and went on, "Remember that foreign beauty from over twenty years ago? Didn't you—"

BANG!

The heavy ebony cane slammed down on the table, its tip aimed straight at the man's chest. Cossio's voice was icy and measured: "Are you challenging me to a duel? Fine. Name the place. Sign the contract."

A brief hush fell.

Then, as if on cue, the others crowded around the table burst out laughing and cheering, clapping their hands. "A duel! A duel!"

They were clearly here for the drama.

The man raised both hands in surrender, looking resigned. "Alright, alright, my fault for running my mouth. I'm not interested in a duel my lover's waiting for me back home."

The crowd groaned and booed, disappointed.

by a black veil, brow

what that man had said, did it mean that, all those years ago, there was a

she'd noticed how Cossio seemed oddly attentive whenever Felicity was mentioned. She tried to piece things together,

Montgomery family for seven years, and yet there was so much she didn't know. All she really knew was that Felicity had suffered from postpartum depression after

she didn't

But... what if...

years ago was Felicity? And what if that

suspicion crept up Mila's spine, chilling her to

illness really just postpartum

treated her like her own daughter, and Mila had come to love her as a true mother in return...

detail surfaced-something she'd never

Lysander, Mila couldn't recall any of the core Montgomery family ever traveling abroad-not even for

inconsistencies she

her head

it.

Felicity's background was impeccable.

Fontaines were a family of scholars. Mila had heard that Felicity was engaged to Lysander's father, Conrad, at eighteen.

the Fontaines-two of the most respected

have

No. Impossible.

think such things

to get curious. None of this had

around the hem of her dress, knuckles white and veins standing

what did these people

Meanwhile,