Chapter 178

When Matthew came back after the call, Bianca had already been whisked away by Connor. Clearly, she'd sensed the tension in the air—fleeing seemed like her best move. "What happened?" Serena walked up and gently tugged at the hem of Matthew’s shirt, her voice filled with worry. He looked totally out of it, and that alone told Serena this phone call was far from simple. Plus, she wasn’t entirely convinced Oliver had truly come to help them—his reasons felt too flimsy. A knot tightened in Serena’s chest. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Oliver had something more sinister up his sleeve. She wanted to stop Matthew from going, but things had already come this far. All she could do now was hope it was nothing more than a diversion, not something worse. After a long pause, Matthew laced his fingers through Serena’s, a soft smile forming on his lips, his eyes tender and warm. “It’s nothing serious. There’s an emergency at our U.S. branch—I need to fly over and sort it out. Might take... aro