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2026-11-12 16:56:53
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I'm The Thorn Stuck In The Billionaire Celebrity's Foot 74
The following weeks brought their own particular, difficult adjustment, Ivy confined largely to the apartment, her firm's work handled remotely with Kennedy's careful accommodation, and the particular frustration of forced stillness settled uncomfortably against her natural instinct toward active problem solving."I feel useless," she admitted to Sterling one evening, watching him review documents related to the Cross situation without her, a division of labor that felt, despite its obvious necessity, uncomfortably reminiscent of earlier months when he'd tried to shield her from difficult things for reasons that hadn't always served either of them well."You're not useless," Sterling said, setting the documents aside to focus fully on her. "You're doing the most important work either of us could possibly be doing right now, keeping our daughter safe. I need you to trust that I can handle this piece without it meaning I don't value your judgment.""I know that, logically." Ivy sighed,
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The weekly appointments brought their own particular rhythm of careful vigilance, Ivy's blood pressure monitored closely alongside the baby's continued healthy development, and though the doctor remained consistently reassuring, the low, persistent worry settled uncomfortably alongside the ongoing concern about Cross, two separate threats demanding careful attention during what should have been the most joyful final stretch of her pregnancy."I feel like I can't fully relax into any of it," Ivy admitted to her mother, during one of their now regular weekly visits. "The blood pressure thing, Cross, the general exhaustion of being this pregnant. It's a lot, all stacked together.""You're allowed to feel overwhelmed, baby. Nobody expects you to sail through the final months of pregnancy without any worry at all, especially given everything else you're managing." Her mother's hand found hers, warm and steady. "But I want you to remember something. You survived nine years of considerably w
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The baby shower, held two weeks later at Delilah's newly acquired apartment, brought together the same careful, hard won family that had gathered for the wedding, and Ivy spent the afternoon surrounded by warmth that felt, finally, entirely uncomplicated by any lingering threat, at least for those few precious hours."You're glowing," her mother said, watching Ivy carefully unwrap a small mountain of tiny clothes and careful, thoughtful gifts, her own pregnancy with Ivy clearly present in the particular, warm nostalgia softening her expression. "I remember this exact stage. Terrified and thrilled in equal measure.""That's exactly it," Ivy admitted, laughing. "I keep alternating between excitement and pure panic about actually being responsible for a whole other human being.""You'll be wonderful," Delilah said, settling beside her with a soft, hand knitted blanket she'd apparently spent weeks working on. "I made mistakes with Sterling, more than I can properly account for. But watchi
I'm The Thorn Stuck In The Billionaire Celebrity's Foot 71
The sentencing hearing was scheduled for six weeks out, and Weston Holt was led from the courtroom in restraints, his careful, composed mask finally, fully cracking as reality settled fully into place, and Ivy watched him go with something that felt less like triumph and more like the particular, exhausted relief of a threat finally, permanently neutralized.Trent found them outside the courthouse afterward, something emotional and disbelieving crossing his face. "It's actually over.""It's actually over," Sterling confirmed, extending a hand that Trent shook with visible gratitude. "Thank you, Trent. Genuinely. I don't think this verdict happens the way it did without your testimony.""I didn't do it entirely for noble reasons," Trent admitted. "But I'm glad it mattered anyway."Ivy watched the press swarm the courthouse steps, cameras flashing in a rhythm that had become, over the past year, almost background noise, and felt Sterling's arm settle protectively around her shoulders as
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Trent's testimony unfolded over the following two hours with a raw, methodical honesty that Ivy watched land, visibly, across the jury's careful attention, every uncomfortable detail laid out exactly as he'd prepared it, no softening, no strategic omission."He taught me to identify companies with internal governance weaknesses," Trent explained, voice steady despite the visible effort each admission cost him. "How to acquire minority stakes quietly, through intermediaries, how to manufacture governance concerns compelling enough to force leadership votes, how to install myself in positions of control and extract value before anyone fully understood what had happened to their company.""And you applied these techniques against Vane Corp specifically," the prosecutor asked."Yes. Initially with Julian Vane's encouragement, though I came to understand later that my own ambition drove considerably more of it than I wanted to admit at the time." Trent's voice remained steady, unflinching.
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"I've written it all out," Trent said, sliding a carefully prepared statement across the conference table, his voice steady despite the visible effort the admission had clearly cost him. "Everything. The mentorship, exactly what Holt taught me, exactly how I applied it against Sterling. I don't want to leave anything out this time, not even the parts that make me look considerably worse than I've let myself admit to anyone."The legal team reviewed the statement carefully, and Ivy watched something shift in the room's collective expression as they read through it, Trent's account considerably more thorough and self-implicating than anyone had expected."This is going to be difficult testimony," the lead attorney said finally, looking up from the pages. "But it's also exactly the kind of honest, unflinching account that tends to land well with a jury. People respond to genuine accountability, especially when it costs the person offering it something real."Trent nodded, something tired
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