تسجيل الدخولElliot's POV"Who is the partner?" Serena asked."As I said, the details-""A fund in a jurisdiction we can't audit, financed by our reserves, with details to follow." Serena closed her folder. "I've heard that before."The room went very quiet.ISandra's smile didn't falter, and her hands stayed folded, but a small muscle at the corner of her mouth went still. For a second, no one breathed.Then she laughed."How charming. Everyone, do you see why I've always said the Vance family has a gift for sentiment?" She turned to the directors, with a sorrowful face. "Mrs. Vance is clearly... tired. It's a lot for a new bride. I understand. But I'm afraid caution is a luxury this Group can't afford.""It's not caution," Serena said. "It's simple maths.""Is it?""Yes.""Then let's test the maths." Sandra's voice hardened. "I'm the Director of this Group. By the terms of my appointment, which every person in this room has now seen, I have the right to table any motion, and the board is obliged
Elliot's POVThe boardroom was filled with silence.I'd sat in this room a thousand times. The long glass table, the twelve leather chairs, the view of the city from the forty-first floor. It had never felt small before. Today the air was so tight I could hear the directors breathing.My father sat at the head of the table with his cane laid across his knees. I sat at his right hand, where I'd always sat, though my name didn't carry its old weight. Across from me, in a chair that had been brought in that morning, sat my wife.She hadn't looked at me once.She'd walked in ten minutes early, with her hair pinned back and a slim folder under one arm. She'd greeted the directors by name and taken her seat without a glance in my direction. Her eyes had passed over me the way eyes pass over a coat stand.I told myself it didn't matter.After all, she's the woman I am paying to carry my child. She's allowed to be cold. But I'd lain awake in her bed until I heard the guest room door. I'd fou
Serena's POV His hand tightened on my wrist slightly."What?”"I don't want you here.” I repeated, avoiding his stare."You were fine with it two nights ago.""Two nights ago was a mistake.""Serena-""You don't have to do this." I pulled my hand free, and my voice shook. "You don't have to sit by my bed and hold my hand and look at me like that. There's no one here to see. There's no board, no family, no audience. So stop acting like we're in love."The silence was very long."Isn't that what the contract demands?" he said.I turned my face toward the wall.My eyes were burning. I could feel the tears pooling in the corners, and I didn't want him to see them. I didn't want him to know what he'd done. God, why does this hurt so much? It seems I'd fallen in love.I blinked hard, once, twice, and focused on a crack in the plaster until the pressure behind my eyes began to ease."Serena?""I can't," I said, very low."Can't what?""Keep pretending." My voice came out thin. "I'm not good
Meanwhile, Finn had learned how she took her tea.That was the first thing Karen noticed that morning, standing in the kitchen doorway in her robe with one hand pressed flat against her stomach. He'd made it exactly right, one sugar, a splash of milk, the bag removed after precisely two minutes, and he was holding it out to her with the pleased, anxious look of a boy who'd done his homework."You're up early," he said."Yes.""Sit. I'll bring your toast.""Finn, I can-""Sit."“You really don't need to-” Karen started but he ignored her.She sat. He kissed the top of her head on his way to the toaster. Karen’s fingers curled around her dress. The smell of the bread turned her stomach. She breathed through her mouth and stared at the window until the nausea receded.She wondered how long she could stand this behaviour from Finn. Yet she knew she couldn't dare to tell him the truth. In about four weeks, she would show him the test results and say it's his child. God forgive me."I have
Serena's POV"Are you all right?" Elliot gripped my elbow so hard that it ached."I'm fine," I said, through my teeth."You're not."I didn't respond."You're white as a sheet." His other hand came up and pressed against my forehead, and I felt the faint shake in his fingers. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be resting. I told you to stay in bed.""I wasn't tired.""You lost consciousness yesterday.""I'm fine.""You snuck out of the house." His voice rose, and he caught himself with visible effort. "You walked past two guards and sat in a car and came here, knowing you'd been unwell, knowing the doctor said-""Elliot.""Don't Elliot me.""Brother," said Aunt Rose, faintly. "Perhaps a chair."A chair appeared. They lowered me into it, and Elliot knelt in front of me, which I'd never seen him do for anyone. His eyes searched my face.Behind him, Jenson stood with his arms rigid at his sides.He hadn't spoken. His lips were pressed together so tightly they'd gone pale. His
The silence in the room was broken by Mr Vance's frail voice.“Have a seat, Sandra.” He paused and added. “It's good you came. I'd have probably asked the butler to make something if you had informed us you were coming.”She smiled as she took her seat majestically, “don't kid with me Mr Vance. I didn't come here to eat.”“Right, so let's not waste our time. I will give you a villa on the coast.” He offered.“That's lovely.” She smiled and asked, “Does it have a view of the water?”Everyone in the room knew she was joking. And for the tenth time in his life, Jenson wondered how Elliot could love someone like her. Since he's known Sandra, he had never been able to read her. You could never tell if she was serious or just bluffing.“If that isn't to your taste, I'm willing to give you a controlling share in a subsidiary.”Sandra laughed. “What do you think I am, Mr Vance?”“How about three subsidiaries? That should be enough for a woman as big-mouthed as you.”Sandra scoffed. “You are







