Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 37

POV: Vivienne Ashford"The preliminary report is worse than I initially indicated," Arthur said, spreading documents across the boardroom table less than twenty-four hours after Vivienne and Roman's early return, the honeymoon tan still fresh against their otherwise grim expressions. "Meridian Capital Partners now holds just over thirteen percent of Ashford Group shares, acquired through eleven separate holding entities across four jurisdictions.""Thirteen percent in under a week," Roman said, scanning the numbers. "That's an aggressive pace, even by hostile standards.""It suggests significant liquid capital and considerable urgency," Arthur agreed. "Whoever is behind this wants control quickly, which usually means they're either anticipating a specific event that will make the acquisition more expensive later, or they're worried about losing their current window of opportunity.""What's the current window?" Vivienne asked."My best assessment is the market's remaining uncertainty f

POV: Vivienne Ashford"I'm not entirely certain how to say this without it sounding like I'm burying important news in the middle of a corporate crisis," Vivienne said, setting down her fork at dinner three days later, Roman glancing up immediately at the shift in her tone. "But I'm pregnant."Roman went completely still, his expression cycling rapidly through shock, disbelief, and finally something so openly joyful it nearly undid the careful composure he'd maintained throughout the entire Meridian ordeal. "You're certain?""Three separate tests and a blood confirmation this afternoon," Vivienne said, unable to fully suppress her own smile despite the exhaustion of the past few days. "About seven weeks, according to the doctor."Roman rose from his chair and crossed to her side of the table, kneeling beside her chair the way he had on the terrace all those months ago, taking her hands in his with a reverence that made her chest tighten. "Vivienne, this is—" He stopped, seemingly una

POV: Vivienne Ashford"She agreed to unwind Meridian's position," Vivienne said, finding Roman pacing near the lobby's floor-to-ceiling windows, his relief visible the moment she relayed the news. "Slowly, to avoid market disruption, but the acquisition attempt is effectively over.""And Whitfield?" Roman asked."They're talking upstairs right now," Vivienne said. "Whatever happens between them, I think it's finally an honest conversation, which is more than either of them has managed in nine years."Roman pulled her close, the tension of the past week finally beginning to drain from his shoulders. "You did that. Whatever you said to her upstairs, you resolved in twenty minutes what my entire legal team couldn't have accomplished with months of hostile litigation.""I understood her," Vivienne said simply. "That's all it took. She wasn't actually interested in owning a shipping company. She was interested in being seen."They waited another hour before Whitfield finally emerged from t

POV: Vivienne Ashford"She has your stubborn chin," Vivienne murmured, exhausted and radiant in the hospital bed, watching Roman cradle their newborn daughter with the same careful, disbelieving wonder he'd shown holding Leo and Maya for the first time months after their actual birth, finally granted the experience he'd missed the first time around."She has your exact nose," Roman countered softly, unable to look away from the tiny face blinking up at him, dark eyes still unfocused but undeniably present, undeniably real. "Grace Eleanor Ashford. Are we certain about the middle name?"Vivienne had considered it carefully in the months leading up to the birth, weighing the complicated weight of choosing to honor, in some small way, the possibility of reclaiming a name so thoroughly stained by betrayal. "Not for her," Vivienne said. "For your grandmother, the one you told me about once, the one who apparently taught you to sail before your father ever did. I think it's time that name m