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Chapter Fifty-Three: What She Did
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2026-05-16 07:13:38
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Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 145: It Almost Broke It
PENELOPE Six weeks after the gallery closed, Adrian's mother came to London to stay and not the casual visiting she does.She had sold the Hertfordshire property, the workshop, the garden that would have been extraordinary in summer.She arrived at my door on a Saturday morning with two suitcases and the look of a woman who had made a decision and was standing inside it now, daring anyone to question her.I had known she was coming. Adrian had told me. What I hadn't known was that she was bringing something with her...The table.It came in a van and two men carried it up the stairs. They set it down in my kitchen."He said you wanted it here." She lamented."I did. I wanted a table." i responded.She nodded. "It is made from good wood. It'll last.""So will I."She almost smiled but held it back which was unusual for her appearance.Adrian came up behind the men and stood in the doorway. He looked at his mother, then at the table. "It fits properly.""It does. Look at how beautiful t
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 144: She didn't expect that
PENELOPE Three weeks later, the Hartwell situation resolved faster than Tessa had predicted because Jonathan walked into Hartwell Capital's offices on a Tuesday morning without an appointment and bought their entire position in my company outright as a hostile acquisition of their stake.He then transferred the shares to Nora, in trust, for when she was old enough to decide what to do with them.Tessa called while I was in the Clerkenwell office, staring at the documentation."He can do this?" I asked excitedly."He already did it," she said. "The shares aren't his to give you. They are Nora's. He is her father, he can put assets in trust for her without your approval."I set the document down and looked at the wall, at the print of Velour I had hung there...one of the smaller projections from the gallery show, framed simply."He protected your company's ownership structure," Tessa said. "No external party can make a claim through those shares until Nora decides.""Which is never. Sh
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 143: The Declaration
PENELOPE Tessa called later on. "It's weak," she said. "The clause is standard, but their application of it is a stretch. Seraphina's introduction was informal, never documented as a formal referral, and Hartwell has no direct contractual relationship with your company. We'll fight for this. But it takes three months minimum." "I don't have three months," I said. "Why not?" "Because I'm ending this today." I stayed. "Ending what?" "All of it." I hung up, got dressed, left Nora at Mrs Park's care and drove to Seraphina's building. She answered the door in pyjamas and looked at my face before stepping back to let me in. Her flat was half-packed with boxes everywhere, the walls already stripped. She was moving out even though she has already sold the house. " About Hartwell Capital," I started. She looked at me, and something moved through her face that wasn't quite guilt. It was more like watching a buried thing surface exactly where she had buried it. Then she said. "I introd
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 142: The Woman With the Camera
PENELOPE I went downstairs. The woman was still there when I came out. She saw me coming and didn't run, which told me she was professional and was willing to confront me. "Who hired you?" I asked"Ms. Westfield. I can explain...""Who hired you?" I asked again.She lowered the camera down. "I'm not able to...""You've been standing outside my building," I said, "photographing my window. My daughter is upstairs. Tell me who hired you, or I'll call the police right now and you can explain the camera to them."She looked at me, deciding if she would reveal too much or not. "Hartwell Capital."I stared at her. "The investment firm?""Yes." she responded."They withdrew their claim against my company months ago." I muttered "They withdrew the legal claim," she said. "They retained a separate interest in the situation.""What interest?"She reached into her bag, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to me. I opened it. Inside was a printed document. I read the first paragraph, then the
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 141: Saturday
PENELOPE ***ON SATURDAY I opened the door and found Seraphina standing there with a bunch of wild flowers. It was obvious she chose them because she liked them even though they were inappropriate. "They are from the market," she said. "The man said they last two weeks.""Come in," I said.She came in, and met Nora sitting on the room floor, trying to force a wooden block into a shape sorter it didn't fit. She had been at it for four minutes with total commitment.Seraphina stopped when she saw her.Nora looked up, giving Seraphina the full-body assessment she reserved for things she hadn't decided about yet. Then she held out the block.Seraphina crouched and took it, turning it over, studying the shape sorter. "That's a square," she said. "And that's a circle hole. It won't fit."Nora's expression suggested she already knew this and found it beside the point."You're very determined," Seraphina said tapping gently at Nora's nose.Nora grabbed the block back and tried again.Serap
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret 140: Seraphina's recovery
Seraphina's POV They discharged me on a Tuesday. A nurse handed me a pamphlet about nutrition and a letter for my GP, then told me to test and have a regular meal even when they knew I wouldn't comply. But I complied. I understood something about the shape of my own life that I had been avoiding for years...I had been so busy affecting other people's stories that I had completely neglected my own. I took a taxi home, watching the city through the window, making a list in my head of what I actually wanted. *** I arrived at my flat, and I stood in the hallway and looked at the sitting room I had designed to impress, the kitchen I used only for coffee, the bedroom I had redecorated twice that year because I kept hoping a different colour would make it feel like somewhere I actually wanted to be. I opened the fridge, and there was half a bottle of water, an expired yogurt. Something in a container I didn't remember buying. I closed it and sat down on the cold kitchen floor. I had
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret Chapter Seven: The quietness feels so...wrong
Jonatha's POV "Is she really gone?" I uttered under my breath, staring deeply into the thin air.Mrs. Hale glanced at me from across the kitchen counter. She held a dish towel in her hand. "She left last night," she said. "With one suitcase and her travel bag."I glanced at the kitchen doorway, th
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret Chapter Six: His Child is my Secret
PENELOPE'S POV"You're pregnant."The doctor said it and then kept talking about early weeks, prenatal vitamins, and setting up a follow-up. I sat on that paper-covered bed and what filled my mind were just those two words that kept repeating themselves.'You're pregnant.'I looked down at the smal
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret Chapter Five: Everything I wasn't keeping
Penelope's POV***"You don't have to do this tonight." Mrs. Hale stood in the doorway of my bedroom, her hands clasped together. Her eyes showed how worried she was."I know," I said."At least wait until morning, Penelope. It's nearly ten o'clock.""I'm fine, Mrs. Hale."She lingered in the doorw
Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret Chapter Four: The Papers
Jonathan's POV 'Now that Seraphina is back, how do I get rid of Penelope?'I thought to myself for a very long time even when everyone had gone to bed.Whenever I have this kind of thought, I try to bury it. I press it down deep into my memory where it wouldn't embarrass me. Because overreacting
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