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CHAPTER 28
Date de publication:
2026-02-06 18:26:46
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Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 128
Esmeralda's POV"We were acquainted," I say. "We moved in some of the same professional circles. We had met at industry events.""Would you characterize your relationship as friendly?""Professional.""Not friendly.""Professional can include friendly. We were collegial.""Collegial." He repeats the word the way lawyers repeat words they want to color. "And yet you attended a charity gala together in—" He checks his notes. "Three years ago.""I attended the gala. Mr. Hale also attended the gala. We spoke.""For how long?""Approximately an hour.""An hour is a significant conversation.""An hour at a charity event with many other people present is not remarkable.""And your husband at the time.. Julian Voss…was not present.""He had a scheduling conflict.""So you attended alone.""I attended without my husband. There were several hundred other people in the room."He pauses. Lets it sit. Moves on."Ms. Voss… you testified that you were removed from Morrison Manufacturing's operations
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 127
Damien's POVI am three rows back in the gallery.I chose the seat deliberately close enough to see her face, far enough that the cameras can't easily put us in the same frame. Marcus suggested the back row. I compromised. Three rows. I am not going to sit at the back of this room while Esmeralda testifies about the seven years of her life that were taken from her.She walks to the stand and she counts the steps.I notice because I know her. Because I have watched her closely enough to recognize the small things she does when she is managing the distance between what she feels and what she shows. The counting is grounding. It's something Dr. Chen suggested months ago she told me about it one evening, almost offhand, and I filed it away the way I file everything about her.Eleven steps.She sits.She is composed in a way that has nothing to do with performance.That is the thing that I want the room to understand and cannot say from this gallery seat. That her composure is not armou
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 126
Esmeralda's POVThe walk from the plaintiff's table to the witness stand is eleven steps.I count them.Not because I'm nervous I told Damien this morning that I was ready and I meant it and I still mean it. I count them because counting is a way of being present in a body that wants to float slightly above itself. Eleven steps. Solid floor. My heels on marble. Real.I sit.The courtroom settles.Adriana stands.And we begin.************************"Ms. Voss… can you describe for the court the nature of your relationship with Morrison Manufacturing before your marriage to Julian Voss?""My father founded Morrison Manufacturing twenty-three years ago. I grew up in that company. I worked there during summers through university. When my father's health began to decline I became more formally involved in operations." I pause. "It was not just a business to our family. It was the thing my father built with his hands from nothing.""And during your marriage to Julian Voss how did your in
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 125
Esmeralda's POVThe morning of the hearing I wake up at five and I lie still.Damien is awake beside me. I know his awake from his asleep the quality of his stillness is different. Right now he is very still in the way of someone who is being careful, giving me the space of the morning without filling it.I appreciate it more than I know how to say.So I say something else."I'm ready," I tell the ceiling."I know," he says."Not performing ready. Actually ready.""I know the difference," he says. "That's why I'm not arguing."I turn my head to look at him.He's looking at the ceiling too. Profile sharp in the early dark. The man who has been beside me through every piece of this the evidence, the arrest, the acquisition, the motions, the preparation. Who sat in my kitchen at six in the morning and read my statement before it went out. Who showed up at a courthouse he didn't need to attend because he wanted to be there."After today," I say."After today," he agrees."Whatever the
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 124
Julian's POVThe night before the hearing, Richard comes at seven.He doesn't usually come at seven. Seven is outside the scheduled visit window, which means he had to file a special request, which means he has something to tell me that couldn't wait until morning.I sit across from him at the table in the visitation room and I wait."The anonymous tip," he says.I go still."What about it?""She knows about the witness." He sets his briefcase on the table, doesn't open it. "Esmeralda's attorney filed a motion this evening requesting disclosure of any undisclosed witnesses the defense intends to call. The judge fast-tracked it given the proximity to the hearing." He pauses. "We have until nine AM to either disclose or withdraw."I look at him."Withdraw," I say.He blinks. "Julian""Withdraw. If she knows about it, the witness is useless. Whatever they were going to say, Adriana Colts has had time to prepare a counter. Using them now just makes us look desperate." I lean back. "Withd
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 123
Esmeralda's POVI go to the grave on a Wednesday.No particular reason for Wednesday except that the week is quiet in the middle and I have a two-hour gap between a Morrison meeting and a call with my attorney and I have been meaning to come for weeks. Since the acquisition. Since I put his name back at the top of a letterhead and felt the particular weight of that and didn't know where to put it.I bring flowers. White one, he always said coloured flowers at graves were for the people standing above the ground and white ones were for the person below it. I never asked him what he meant by that. I wish I had asked him more things.The cemetery is quiet.A Wednesday thing, or a grey-sky thing. The kind of day that doesn't attract visitors.I stand at the stone and I don't try to make it a speech. I've never been good at talking to people who can't answer back and he would have had no patience for performance anyway. He was a direct man. He wanted the plain thing said plainly.So I sa
Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 15
CELESTE'S POVI'm having tea at the club when Margaret Pierce slides into the chair across from me, her face alight with gossip."Celeste, darling. I heard about Julian and that Laurent girl. How exciting!"I smile, the practiced expression of a woman who's perfected social graces over sixty-two ye
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-19Ashes Of His Regret Chapter 16
JULIAN'S POV"Mr. Voss, we need to discuss the document requests from your ex-wife's attorney."Richard Patterson, my lead counsel, sits across from my desk looking far too serious for what should be a non-issue."What about them?" I don't look up from the contract I'm reviewing. The Singapore expa
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-19Ashes Of His Regret CHAPTER 53
DAMIEN'S POVI watched the footage three times.It's from the coffee shop. Angle from the security camera across the street. You can barely see their faces but I can read body language.The way Julian leans forward.The way Esmeralda leans back.The flowers he brought that she left behind.Marcus
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-28Ashes Of His Regret CHAPTER 46
JULIAN'S POVVivienne won't stop talking."—and then the caterer said the orchids weren't available in white, so I had to settle for cream, which completely throws off the color scheme for the nursery reveal party—"I'm not listening.I'm watching Esmeralda across the ballroom.She's wearing red. S
Dernière mise à jour : 2026-03-27
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