Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours! - Chapter 459

Chapter 459: Engagement

Four days had passed since that dinner, and still Athena found her mind circling it—picking at details, teasing out thoughts, feelings, wishes, questions she shouldn’t even be entertaining.

She sighed softly, eyes fixed on the document spread open across her desk, though not a single word made sense. Her gaze skimmed the lines, but comprehension had long abandoned her. That had been her pattern these days—forcing her mind to focus, dragging herself back to the present until the effort itself gave her a headache.

Nothing substantial had happened since that night. More meetings, more discussions—plans on how to trap the gang, how to start moving against Cedric’s family, who still believed they had gotten away with murdering her real mother.

It should have consumed her completely. Yet her mind wandered elsewhere—to that suspended moment in time, the one that refused to fade.

She could still see him—Ewan—standing by her door that night after five a.m., hesitant, his hand brushing the frame like he was testing the boundaries of his own restraint.

He had leaned forward, dropped a soft kiss on her forehead, his breath trembling against her skin, then turned away before he could hold her… before he could break both of them. He had almost run down the hallway, like a man escaping a burning building.

But she had understood. Because the same fire that burned in him had burned in her too.

“Oh, come off it,” she muttered under her breath, pressing a palm against the papers before her. But even her own scolding couldn’t push the memory out. Nothing had worked.

Not Kael’s text the next morning—Have you been seeing my gifts? If you want your reputation intact, you know what to do.—not the private engagement that was set for this evening, after her grandmother’s discharge from the hospital yesterday, and certainly not the discovery that their security system had been hacked.

That one still made her sigh.

Her children had been the ones to notice it. She remembered vividly—the morning they burst into her room at four a.m., little faces tense with unease. Turns out, Spider’s absence had forced Kael to seek another hacker.

Nathaniel and his friends had rallied fast, working together to stop the breach, but it had turned into a full-blown cyber battle.

Athena knew she’d have to pay more this time—these new hackers were skilled, far beyond what her men could handle. But money was never the problem. What worried her was Ewan’s observation.

He’d recognized the hacker’s pattern, said it looked familiar—too familiar. The signature style of someone who had lingered in his digital orbit for years. It painted a clear story: Kael might have hired the same hacker who once worked for Ewan’s old sponsor.

A hire, or a loan?

She didn’t know. But fate, it seemed, had decided to tilt things in their favor. Spider had woken up two days ago, and today, he had eaten solid food for the first time. He’d even managed a few sentences.

Hope surged at the thought. Once he rejoined the team, they might finally uncover who this hacker was—and, through that, find the sponsor himself.

Still, even with all these pressing matters, Athena’s thoughts drifted back to that simple night with Ewan. To how her body reacted to his nearness, how her senses seemed tuned to pick him out of a crowd, every single day since then.

And today—of all days—was her engagement day.

Another sigh escaped her lips. Maybe that was what made it worse. Maybe the thought of the approaching engagement had magnified the ache, had made her question what her grandfather had told her in the garden days ago.

Was marrying Antonio too much? Too soon? Should she take more time?

She shuddered, imagining Antonio’s reaction if she even dared to suggest that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she called absently, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

When the door opened, she looked up—and smiled. “Aiden,” she greeted, rising to meet his familiar hug.

“How’s the birthday girl doing?” he teased lightly.

Athena rolled her eyes. “Stop calling me that. That’s over already.”

Aiden snorted. “Not until this week ends. You’re stuck with it. Besides, I heard you’ve been getting quite a few gifts lately.”

Athena pouted, groaning softly. It was true. Even if she wanted to forget that night with Ewan, the daily gifts he’d sent—like clockwork—made it impossible. Each package arrived at the same hour, each card handwritten, thoughtful, perfectly her. And worse, she had started sending him gifts too.

It had begun as a polite return gesture, but somewhere along the way, she realized she enjoyed it—the thought, the exchange, the anticipation. The chats that followed. The smiles.

Was that… cheating on Antonio?

“Aiden,” she said suddenly, her voice softer. “Do you think I’m… doing too much with Ewan?”

He tilted his head, studying her. “You’re doing what your heart wants,” he said simply. “And that’s rarely wrong. Your mind just needs time to catch up. But honestly?” He sighed. “That’s why I don’t think the engagement is a good idea.”

Athena exhaled. He wasn’t the first to say that. Everyone around her seemed to think the same—her friends especially. They’d cornered her this morning, voices overlapping with concern: Are you sure? Are you ready? as though today were her wedding, not just the engagement.

Gianna had been the most vocal of them all, claiming Antonio was fickle. Athena had frowned at that—Gianna and Antonio had once been friends. What had happened between them? She hadn’t had time to ask. Maybe she would, later tonight.

“Wait a minute,” she muttered, sighing. “What am I doing?”

Aiden, watching her face shift through a storm of emotions, frowned and stepped closer, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Take a deep breath.”

She did—long, steady.

“Maybe it’s just nerves,” he said quietly.

Athena gave a small laugh. “It’s an engagement, not a wedding.”

“True,” Aiden said with a shrug. “But knowing you, you’re just as duty-bound as Ewan was. Don’t fall into that trap.”

She frowned slightly, not quite understanding what he meant, but nodded anyway. “I won’t.”

“Good,” he said, smiling faintly. “You’ll handle this like you handle everything else. Just… listen to your heart, Athena.”

“I will,” she promised.

A short silence followed before she tilted her head. “Why are you here, though?”

Aiden’s expression changed. He slipped his hands into his pockets, his usual playfulness dimming. “It’s about the anonymous tip.”

Athena’s heart gave a sharp, involuntary thud. “What about it? Did you find the person?”

He nodded slowly, moving to sit on the chair opposite her. His mood turned somber, and Athena felt her stomach tighten. She sat down too, eyes locked on his. “Who is it?”

Aiden hesitated before speaking. “Fiona.”

Athena froze. For a moment, she thought she had misheard. “You said what?”

“Fiona,” he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was just as surprised as you. I had to hack into the cameras in that area to be sure. And my search dug up more information we can work with.”