Semua Bab My ex husband lost me to his rival : Bab 31 - Bab 40

(LUCIANO POV)"Counter file today," I said. "By noon."My lawyer looked up from Blake's secondary filing. "You've read it already."“Yes last night”“ I sat across from him. "Walk me through their argument."He opened the folder. "They're classifying your relationship with Olivia Bennett as a material conflict of interest. Romantic involvement that compromises your position relative to Sterling Global. They want you barred from certain board proceedings until the custody matter resolves.""Blake filed a custody petition naming me as a conflict of interest," I said. "Then used that same petition to try removing me from the board before the inheritance clause activates." I looked at him. "He's not fighting two battles. He's trying to win one with the other.""It's not a weak argument legally.""It doesn't need to be weak. It needs to be wrong." I leaned forward. "The deposition transcripts are public record. You know every Olivia's labor has been documented and timestamped. She was Ste

(OLIVIA POV) I bought him three things. The book he'd been asking about before everything fell apart. A set of good drawing pencils. And a chocolate bar. The kind he hid under his pillow thinking I never noticed. I packed them in my bag and prepared for work. --- "This isn't what I assigned you." My supervisor was standing at my desk looking at my screen. "You assigned me the social media calendar," I said. "I finished that yesterday. What's on the screen is the campaign strategy behind it. The calendar doesn't work without it." She read it properly. Not a quick glance. Actually read it. "I'll review this later," she said. She walked away. Clara at the next desk leaned slightly toward me. "She's already reading it on her phone," she said quietly. "I know," I said. I turned back to my screen. Six years of putting my name on nothing. Six years of work going out under someone else's signature. This document had my name at the top. Nobody else's. I smiled and

(BLAKE POV)"Sit down, Aria," I said.She crossed the room and sat across from my desk, and crossed her legs neatly, those warm careful eyes fixed on me like she was already trying to read my thoughts. I had spent most of the night thinking about everything I saw and heard.“My father’s private fund,” I started, keeping my voice even while I watched her face. “Monthly payments consistent six years straight. Into a Cayman Islands account registered under a shell company.” I paused, my eyes locked on her. “The account belongs to you Aria.”She looked at me for a second nothing moved on her face, then something sharper like calculation.“Blake”“Don’t start with my name like that,” I cut in sharply “Just tell me.”She looked down at her hands for a moment, twisting her fingers together. When she spoke her voice was very quiet.“Your father approached me years before that night in the garden. I was struggling Between jobs and I didn’t have anything stable.” She stopped, “He told me he

(OLIVIA POV)"You came back," he said.He was already at the door. Black shirt. Sleeves rolled up. Something on the stove behind him smelling like garlic."You invited me," I said."I know." He stepped back. "Last time you didn't have a choice."I walked in.This was different."You know where everything is," he said."I was here once before," I said. "Under different circumstances.""I know." He stepped back. "That's why I wanted you to come back."I walked in.The apartment was calm like the last time.Books on every surface — not arranged for display, he actually reads them, spines cracked, pages marked. A kitchen table worn at the corners. The kind of furniture that belonged to someone who actually lived in their home and does chores.He went back to the stove.I sat at the kitchen table and watched him cook without offering to help. He moved around the kitchen like a man who had been doing this alone for a long time and had made peace with that."You cook," I said."Three things

OLIVIA POVI was still awake at five when the city started outside the window.Not the restless kind of awake,the kind where your body has given up trying and your mind just keeps going without it.I turned over and looked at the wall.Alexander Sterling had called me at midnight directly.Not Blake,not a lawyer nor anyone connected to the ongoing machinery of divorce proceedings and custody filings and board maneuvering.Alexander directly Just to ask how I was.I lay there until the room got light enough and I stood up ---Ivan was already at the table.She looked up when I came in and Said nothing.I put the kettle on and stood at the counter while it heated."You didn't sleep," she said."No.""Me neither." She wrapped both hands around her cup. "You want to talk about it?""Not yet."She nodded. No follow up or asking questions Just — accepted it and moved on the way she always had when I needed space more than I needed words.I made my tea and sat across from her.The window