Chapter fifty one

Seraphina POV She heard his office door close. Stood in the corridor for a moment after. Then she went upstairs. She showered quickly the good kind, the kind that washed the day off properly. Changed into something simple. Dark jeans, a soft cream top that Camille had picked and she'd grown to love for its particular quality of being comfortable without looking like she'd given up. She looked at herself in the mirror. Pressed her hand briefly to her stomach. "Dinner," she told the baby. The baby offered no objection. She went downstairs. She didn't know why she cooked. Or she did know — she just didn't examine it too carefully. Cooking was the thing she did when she wanted to do something real with her hands. When the day had been full of performed things and she needed one genuine one. She went through his kitchen with the confidence of someone who had been learning it quietly for weeks which cupboard held which, which burner ran hot, where the good pan was kept rather t

Chapter fifty two

She said nothing. He didn't look at her face but he felt the change in the air beside him. Something that went very still. "You reminded me of her," he said. "Physically." He set the plate down. "That's why I paid the fees. Initially." She handed him another plate. He took it. "And the second time?" she said. Quietly. The forced quality of the question like she was asking something she needed the answer to even if the answer cost her. He dried the plate. Looked at the window above the sink. "The club," he said. "Yes." "You were wearing red," he said. "Dark red. Dancing and not caring who was watching." He paused. "You looked—" he stopped. Chose. "The word I thought was free. Like someone who had decided to take up exactly the amount of space they wanted and wasn't apologizing for it." He set the plate down. "I noticed you before you noticed me." She was looking at the water. "And then you turned around," he said. "And I thought—" he stopped. "What," she sai

Chapter fifty three

Adrian POV Adrian was already awake he'd been awake since four, which had become a pattern since the kitchen counter and I'm sorry and the ceiling he'd stared at for two hours afterward. He picked up on the first ring. Jonas. "You need to come in," he said. "Now. It's the Meridian infrastructure contract." Adrian was already out of bed. "What happened." "Someone filed a disclosure complaint with the regulatory board. Anonymous. Claiming financial irregularities in the original bid process." A pause. "It's detailed, Adrian. Too detailed to be random. Someone with inside knowledge filed this." Adrian stood at his window. The city was still dark. "Lucian," he said. "That's my read too." "How bad." "Bad enough that the regional board in Harwick wants a full audit. And the partner company in Harwick is threatening to pull their investment pending investigation." Another pause. "If they pull the whole project stalls. And if the project stalls during audit—" "T

Chapter fifty four

A pause. We haven't found the second passenger yet sir. The car went into the embankment. We're still searching. Jonas held the phone. His name was Adrian Vale,Jonas said. Yes sir, the voice said. We know. That's why we called this number. Is there family we should contact? Jonas looked at the wall of his office. Thought about the penthouse. About Elara at the kitchen table with her notebook. About a baby at fourteen weeks whose heartbeat he'd heard. I'll handle it, he said. He hung up. Sat on the floor. For approximately thirty seconds he allowed himself to be a person who had just received that information. Then he stood up. And started making calls. Elara POV She knew something was wrong before Jonas said anything. He called at seven. She was making tea. His voice had the specific quality of someone who has prepared what they're going to say and is delivering it carefully. "There's been an accident," he said. She set the kettle down. "Adrian's car," he said. "O

Chapter fifty five

The room went still. Everyone looked at her. She kept her face completely even. "Before Adrian left," she said. "I called Mr. Osei. The transfer was completed." She held Derrick's gaze. "The fifteen percent is already in Adrian's name. There's nothing to sign." Helena looked at her. The flowers-and-tea voice was gone. What was underneath it was considerably colder. "You're lying," she said. "Call Mr. Osei," Elara said simply. "We will," Lucian said. "Good," she said. She held her ground. Three people and the weight of everything they'd done in the last weeks pressing against the single fact she'd just put in the room. True or not true she'd bought herself something. Time. She just needed— The elevator opened. Jonas came through the door at speed. He took in the room in one second — Derrick, Lucian, Helena, Elara standing against the wall with her hands flat at her sides and her face composed and doing something with her eyes that he read immediately

Chapter fifty six

Seraphina POV Seraphina had been living in the village for three weeks.She'd chosen it specifically for what it offered distance. Quiet. A place so far removed from anything connected to the Vale name, the company, the world she'd spent the last several months trying to fully exit, that nobody here had ever heard of any of it. She rented a small house at the edge of the village. She'd told them, when she arrived, the simplest version of a story that explained her presence without inviting questions.My husband travels for work, she'd said. I needed somewhere quiet while I wait for him.It wasn't entirely a lie.It just wasn't the whole truth either.She heard about the stranger from the woman who sold vegetables at the small market a foreigner, found near the forest road, can't remember his own name, the nurse says he's getting better though.Seraphina had nodded politely.Hadn't thought much of it.It was three days later needing supplies for a cough that had been bothering her,