Page 118 of Sweet Deception

“Can this be fixed?” Gleb finally asked.

Valentina let out a slow breath. “Only if we return both Italian daughters.”

Gleb’s entire body stiffened. “You mean my wife and that other woman?”

“The other woman has a name. Maria,” Valentina corrected. “Funny how you hate her but adore her sister.”

“That woman is arrogant and insufferable.” He refused to say her name.

A strange satisfaction curled inside me.

Valentina sighed. “Regardless, it’s our only option.”

“I’m not sending my wife back,” Gleb said coldly.

Valentina’s eyes hardened. “Then you leave me no choice but to declare war on you.”

My breath hitched.

“It will be said that you single-handedly tore this family apart for an Italian woman.”

Gleb’s jaw clenched. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t.”

A long pause. Then Valentina muttered, “Unless.”

Gleb’s eyes flickered. “What?”

“If your wife was pregnant, I could renegotiate.” She gave me a pointed look. “But she isn’t. Which makes this option... useless.”

I froze.

Gleb’s response was immediate. “They don’t know she isn’t pregnant.”

Valentina’s head snapped toward him. “You expect me to lie to them?”

“You’ve lied before.”

“And when they demand the child in nine months?”

Gleb’s voice was steel. “We will have our baby within the year.”

Valentina scoffed. “I don’t believe you. I gave you one month and nothing happened.”

“Grandma. You won’t declare war on your favorite grandson.”

Valentina drummed her fingers on the armrest, considering. Then she shook her head. “No.”

“I can buy us time, but not much. If I tell them Anna is pregnant, they’ll demand proof. Ultrasounds, doctor reports... they’ll want to control the pregnancy just like we do.”

“We’ll always find a way around it.”

She exhaled, “You paralyzed my son and I felt nothing. Don’t test how far that numbness goes. Push me again, and I will end you. And I still won’t feel a damn thing. Do something.”

Then she walked out.

The moment she was gone, Gleb remained frozen. Unmoving. His hands clenched into fists, his eyes far away.