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She must have done something to it.

The purple is noticeably deeper than it was this morning, richer and more vibrant, although she hasn’t left her room since we arrived. She must have changed it herself.

It falls freely down her back in soft, cascading waves instead of its usual straight curtain, with two small braided sections framing her face. It still seems longer than the dress she’s wearing, giving her an almost otherworldly appearance that fits her name far too well.

“What are we eating?” she asks as soon as we step out of the elevator and head to the car.

As we approach, the driver steps out and opens the rear door for us.

“I was thinking one of Theo’s restaurants,” I reply, helping her inside.

“Theo being…?”

“One of my brothers,” I explain. “I don’t know how much you’ve learned from my mother or Sara, but when Nick and Sierra started their relationship, we all decided to move to London so we could stay close to each other.”

It still feels surreal that more than two years have passed since then.

Just as surreal as the fact that Serena is already so big.

Selene doesn’t interrupt. She simply listens, giving me her full attention, genuinely interested in what I’m saying.

“That’s when we decided to buy that land and each build a house there—sort of following our parents’ tradition without even realizing it.”

“You’ve got one big yard with all the houses together?” she asks.

She’s so invested in the conversation that you’d think we were discussing something far more fascinating than the way my brothers and I live.

“Yes,” I answer with a smile. “Besides the Hardy brothers, there’s me and Liam… then Theo, Colt, Aiden, and Chase.”

“None of those names sound familiar,” she says thoughtfully, searching her memory.

“I’ll tell you more over dinner,” I say, giving her a wink.

TEN

Selene

“What do you mean Thalia pretended to be in a relationship with Theo?” I ask, utterly stunned. “That’s the kind of thing you only read about in books or see in movies. How exciting.”

Zayn laughs and lifts his glass for another sip. We’re the last customers left in the restaurant, and I’m pretty sure the staff is cursing us under their breath, even if no one dares say anything to him.

From the moment we stepped inside, everyone has been hovering around him, making sure he has everything he could possibly want or need. It’s obvious they know him, and it’s far from his first time here.

“Yeah, very,” he replies with a chuckle. “Especially for Ethan.”

“I don’t even want to imagine how jealous he must’ve been.”

“I’m not sure he even realized it back then. But just before Theo told us the relationship was fake, he and Thalia were already on the verge of starting their story, whatever they called it at the time.”

“I can’t believe they got married so quickly,” I say, sinking into my thoughts as I cradle my face in both hands, my elbows resting on the table.

“Yeah,” Zayn says, his tone shifting.

Something changes.

It’s subtle, but I see it clearly. Different from the way he’s been talking to me for the past few hours.

Before I can ask what happened, my phone vibrates on the table. It’s lying near the middle, beside the bottle of wine we’ve been sharing.