Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Woman He Lost : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

Rain pressed softly against the glass walls of the executive lounge while silence stretched between Ava and Adrian Vale. The skyline behind them disappeared beneath heavy grey clouds, but the tension inside the room remained sharp and controlled. Adrian stood across from her with one hand resting inside the pocket of his dark coat, calm in the dangerous way powerful men became when they no longer needed to prove authority aloud. Ava watched him carefully because unlike Lucas, Adrian did not dominate aggressively. He observed first. Calculated first. That made him harder to predict. “You still haven’t answered my question,” Adrian said finally. “Are you planning to fight Lucas alone?” Ava crossed her arms slowly. “You didn’t come here because you care about me.” A faint smile touched the corner of Adrian’s mouth. “No. Concern is expensive. I prefer investments.” Ava’s expression remained unreadable. “Then what exactly are you investing in?” Adrian walked toward the massive windows over

Ava stood frozen in the middle of her office long after the call ended, her fingers locked tightly around the phone while Liam’s frightened voice continued echoing inside her mind. Mommy? The fear in his voice tore through her chest like ice because this had stopped being about courtrooms, contracts, or business warfare. Lucas had dragged the twins into the middle of the battle, and whether he did it intentionally no longer mattered. Adrian watched her from across the office, his expression colder now, sharper. Where are they? He asked quietly. Ava swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe. Carter's estate. Most likely. Adrian nodded once before reaching for his phone. I’ll call security. No. Her voice cut through the room instantly. Adrian lifted his eyes toward her. You think this is the time to act emotionally? Ava stepped toward him slowly, panic and fury colliding beneath the fragile control she was struggling to maintain. You didn’t hear Liam’s voice. And that’s exactly why

Morning arrived like a punishment. Ava barely remembered falling asleep on the couch inside the penthouse lounge, yet when her eyes finally opened, the storm outside had disappeared and been replaced by something worse. Silence. Heavy. Suffocating. The television across the room still played financial coverage on mute while headlines crawled endlessly across the bottom of the screen like wounds refusing to close.CARTER HOLDINGS FACES FEDERAL SCRUTINY.LAURENT GLOBAL LINKED TO CORPORATE RETALIATION.EMERGENCY CUSTODY PETITION FILED BY LUCAS CARTER.Ava closed her eyes briefly before forcing herself upright. Her body felt drained while anxiety still pulsed beneath her skin from the previous night. Somewhere upstairs she could hear faint movement from the twins’ rooms followed by soft laughter from Eliana. The sound nearly broke her because for one fragile second it reminded her what normal used to feel like.Then her phone vibrated violently across the glass coffee table.Twenty-three

The silence inside Adrian’s office became unbearable after the video ended. Ava could still hear the distorted voice inside her head while the image of the black serpent crest burned violently into her memory. Beside her, Adrian remained motionless staring at the frozen screen with an expression so cold it no longer looked human. Elise stood near the desk gripping her tablet tightly enough for her knuckles to pale.Finally, Ava spoke.“Tell me everything.”Adrian did not answer immediately. He walked toward the windows slowly, one hand sliding into his pocket while the city glowed beneath him like a battlefield waiting to ignite again. For the first time since Ava met him, he looked genuinely shaken.Not angry.Not calculating.Shaken.“Elise,” he said quietly. “Lock the office.”The biometric doors sealed instantly behind them.Ava’s pulse quickened.Adrian turned back toward her carefully. “My uncle’s name is Damien Vale. Officially he disappeared twelve years ago after my father’s

The penthouse remained trapped in suffocating silence long after Damien disconnected the call. Ava could still hear Eliana crying through the speaker while panic clawed violently through her chest. Beside the windows, Adrian stood motionless, one hand braced against the table, as the revelation about his father echoed like a bomb through the room.Forty million dollars.Transferred willingly.Nothing made sense anymore.“Ava.”She looked up sharply as Lucas’s voice suddenly came through another phone line. Elise had reconnected with him during the call without anyone noticing.“I heard everything.”Adrian’s expression darkened instantly. “Get off my line.”“No,” Lucas snapped sharply. “Not until you start thinking clearly.”Ava stepped forward immediately. “Lucas, where is she?”Silence answered briefly before he spoke again.“I think I know where Damien is taking her.”Every eye in the room locked onto the phone.“How?” Adrian asked coldly.“Because Damien used the same location year