The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 383

Chapter 383 You scared me

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Chapter 383 You scared me

Mia’s POV

“The doctor,” she said quietly, so the children couldn’t hear. “Dr. Norbu. He will see Kyle tomorrow at two o’clock. Mount Sinai, room 847.”

“Sophie-”

“Trust me,” she interrupted gently.

She kissed my cheeks and followed Thomas out the door.

Morton and Scarlett were the last to leave. He kept one hand lightly on her elbow as they walked toward the door, ready to steady her if she stumbled.

“Mia,” he said, pausing at the threshold. “Thank you. For letting me come up.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Both of you. Anytime.”

Scarlett turned back, her eyes bright with tears and wine and what might have been gratitude. “I love you,” she said simply. “You know that, right? Whatever happens, I love you.”

“I love you too, Scar” I replied.

And they were gone, leaving me alone with three sleepy children and an apartment that smelled like

candle wax and chocolate.

“Mama,” Alexander said, tugging on my sleeve, “that was the best dinner party ever.

“It was pretty special,” I agreed, looking around at the chaos of dishes and empty wine glasses and the general disorder that came from hosting too many people in too small a space.

“Can we do it again tomorrow?” Madison asked hopefully.

“Maybe not tomorrow,” I said with a smile. “But someday. When we have something else to celebrate.”

The children seemed satisfied with this answer.

We moved through the bedtime routine with the efficiency of long practice-teeth brushed, faces washed, pajamas wrestled into place despite protests about not being tired.

Alexander fell asleep first, as he always did, curled on his side with one hand tucked under his cheek.

Ethan followed soon after.

Madison took longer. She lay in her bed, clutching her elephant and staring at the ceiling.

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Chapter 383 You scared me

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“Mia?” she said quietly, just as I was about to turn off the light.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why Sophie said those things to Thomas?”

Trust Madison to notice the undercurrents.

“Sometimes grown-ups say things to each other that sound mean but aren’t really mean,” I said carefully.

“Oh.” Madison considered this. “So Sophie was just teasing Thomas?”

“Something like that.”

Madison seemed satisfied with this explanation. She closed her eyes, settling deeper into her pillow.

“Mia?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad we live here. With you. In this house where people come to dinner and eat food and talk about things.”

My throat closed. “I’m glad you live here too, baby girl.”

“Good night.”

“Good night, princess.”

I turned off the light and pulled their door mostly closed, leaving it open just enough that they could see the hallway light if they woke up scared or confused.

The apartment felt enormous after the chaos of the evening.

I should clean up, I thought, looking at the dishes. It would only be harder to wash if I left them until morning. I should put away the good china, blow out the candles, restore my space to its usual neat order.

A few more seconds later, I poured myself the last of the wine and collapsed onto my couch.

I kicked off my shoes and pulled my legs up under me, letting my head fall back against the cushions.

I closed my eyes, letting the wine and exhaustion wash over me in gentle waves.

I pulled the throw blanket from the back of the couch and settled deeper into the cushions.

Just for a few minutes.

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Chapter 383 You scored me

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Just until the wine stopped making everything feel soft around the edges.

I was asleep before I could finish the thought.

Something woke me.

Not a sound, exactly. More like the feeling of being watched.

The apartment was dark except for the pale wash of moonlight that filtered through my living room windows. The candles had burned themselves out hours ago, leaving behind the waxy scent of extinguished flames and the faint ghost of vanilla.

I blinked slowly, my mind struggling to surface from wine-heavy sleep. My neck was stiff from the awkward angle, and my mouth tasted like the aftermath of too much red wine and not enough water.

Something moved in the shadows across from me.

My heart jumped into my throat, adrenaline cutting through the fog of sleep and alcohol with sharp efficiency. I sat up too quickly, the sudden movement making my head spin.

A figure sat in the chair across from my couch, perfectly still in the pale moonlight. Tall, lean,

shadows where a face should be.

“You’re awake,” said a voice I knew better than my own heartbeat.

Kyle.

He sat in my reading chair like he belonged there, like he’d been waiting patiently for me to surface from sleep. The moonlight caught the sharp angles of his face, the hollow beneath his cheekbones, the way his clothes hung loose on his diminished frame.

“You scared the hell out of me,” I said, my voice rough with sleep and shock.

“Sorry.” But he didn’t sound sorry. He sounded tired, maybe, or resigned. “I didn’t want to wake you. You looked peaceful.”

I stared at him, trying to process his presence in my living room at what had to be well past midnight. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been in a hospital bed, connected to monitors and IV lines and all the medical machinery that came with being actively dying.

Now he sat in my chair wearing jeans and a dark sweater, looking almost normal except for the

careful way he held himself, as if sudden movements might cause something important to break.

“How did you get in here?” I asked.

Kyle held up a key.

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Chapter 383 You scored me

My spare key, the one I kept hidden under a loose brick in the building’s front garden for emergencies.

“Seriously? You broke into my apartment?”

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