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22. THE MEASURE OF ME

Penulis: Phil
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-06-18 20:34:35

ELARA

I looked at the photograph and did not let my hands tighten on the frame.

Every instinct in me wanted to demand where she had got it and how long she had kept it and what it meant.

I did none of those things, because doing them would have told Victoria exactly what she was fishing for.

“I did not know you knew my father,” I said instead, keeping my voice soft and a little surprised.

“Oh yes,” Victoria said warmly. “Many years ago, before you were born and for some years after. He and my l
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  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    166. THE FIRE ON THE TERRACE

    ARIA'S POVNight fell over the valley with a quiet, velvet stillness. The last crimson light faded from the western peaks, replaced by a dense canopy of stars that glittered sharp and brilliant through the cold mountain air.Down at the creek, the repaired waterwheel kept up its steady, rhythmic CHURN-slosh, a comforting heartbeat echoing softly through the darkened trees. But up on the high stone terrace, the focal point of the estate had shifted to the broad granite fire pit set into the outer flagstones.Theo and Silas had built the fire high, stacking heavy logs of dry applewood and split hickory over a bed of pine knots. Bright orange sparks drifted up into the cool night sky like temporary stars, casting a deep, amber glow across the long oak table, the stone pillars, and the fifteen faces gathered in a loose circle around the warmth.The evening work was done. The tools were cleaned and oiled in the forge, the grain was safe in the cedar chests, the blackberry jars rested in

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    165. THE CIRCLE OF THE WHEEL

    ARIA'S POVBy two o'clock in the afternoon, the heat down in the lower gorge was thick and heavy, trapped between the high granite walls of the creek bed.The upper waterwheel, a twelve foot structure of dense white oak that powered the estate’s wood turning lathe and the secondary grain mill sat motionless in its stone race. The creek water had been diverted through the timber bypass sluice, sending a torrent of foam and spray churning over the mossy rocks below, leaving the giant wooden wheel hanging dry, exposed, and silent in the shade of the hemlocks.For three years, the upper wheel had turned without complaint. But last week, during the heavy timber hauling for the loft floor, one of the three inch iron binding hoops that held the outer oak rim together had buckled under stress, splitting clean through at the weld. Without a sound outer hoop to clamp the radial spokes, the wheel would warp, bind against its granite housing, and tear its own axle tree to splinters within a sea

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    164. THE STRENGTH OF THE LOWER BRIDGE

    ARIA'S POVThe morning sun had barely cleared the granite crags when Theo, Thomas, and David headed down the winding gravel track toward the lower gorge. The mountain air was cold and crisp, carrying the sharp scent of damp hemlock, crushed fern, and the icy spray of the creek where it narrowed into a churning white-water flume.Two hundred yards below the copper gate, where the road crossed the torrent before winding out into the wider world, sat the lower timber bridge. Built years ago from thick white oak stringers resting on dry stacked granite abutments, it had carried horses, loaded supply wagons, and countless travelers safely across the gorge. But after a spring of heavy snowmelt and the recent hauling of timber and stone, the northern approach had settled two inches into the gravel, causing the main deck timbers to creak ominously whenever the heavy work cart crossed over."If we leave that settlement until the autumn rains hit," Theo remarked as we reached the edge of the

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    163. THE HARVEST OF THE HEDGEROW

    ARIA'S POVThe morning dew had barely evaporated from the high stone walls when Elizabeth stepped out onto the sunlit terrace, a stack of woven split-oak baskets cradled in her arms.While the men spent the morning in the upper barn loft hoisting two hundred pounds of clean wheat into Kat’s iron-strapped cedar chests, the lower valley belonged to a quieter, sweeter rhythm. The long stretch of dry-stacked granite wall that marked the eastern boundary of the orchard was thick with tangled wild blackberry canes. Heavy, dark, and swollen with the summer's late heat, the clusters hung in heavy clusters over the grey stone, scenting the warm air with the perfume of ripe fruit and sun-warmed earth."If we don't pick them today, the autumn thrushes will harvest them for us by tomorrow night," Elizabeth remarked, setting three wide baskets down on the long oak table under the porch roof. She looked over at Maya and me with a knowing spark in her eyes behind her brass-rimmed spectacles. "A

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    162. THE SECURING OF THE GRAIN

    ARIA'S POVThe morning after the harvest loaf was broken, the valley woke to a sky crisp, pale, and cool as polished glass. A light frost had touched the high peaks during the night, painting the jagged granite crags in silver, though down on the terrace, the air quickly softened as the sun cleared the eastern ridge.In the upper courtyard, the six heavy cedar tubs of threshed, winnowed wheat sat in a neat row under the porch overhang, covered with clean canvas tarps held down by smooth river stones. Nearly two hundred pounds of golden grain rested there, the tangible proof of yesterday's labor. But grain left in tubs on a porch was vulnerable to damp air, field mice, and early autumn mountain storms. It needed a permanent, secure home.Down in the carpenter’s shop, Julian and Thomas had spent the previous afternoon framing three massive cedar grain chests along the northern wall of the dry barn loft. Built from thick, tongue-and-groove planks of aromatic red cedar, the bins were

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    161. THE FLOUR AND THE FLAME

    ARIA'S POVThe sky above the western ridge had shifted to a deep, velvety indigo, dotted with the first bright prickles of evening stars, by the time the heavy wooden hand mill was bolted securely to the end of the long oak board.The mill was a magnificent, ancient piece of equipment, two thick discs of dressed mountain granite enclosed in a polished beechwood casing, turned by a long iron crank handle with a smoothed hickory grip. Julian had oil-rubbed the iron gears after the winnowing was done, and now the mechanism sat ready on the porch, gleaming softly under the amber light of two hanging oil lamps."Fill the hopper half-full, Maya," Elizabeth instructed, her voice a calm, comforting anchor as the household gathered around the expanded board. "Not too high, or the stones will choke on the first pass. We want a fine, silk-soft flour for tonight's harvest loaf."Maya leaned over the wooden hopper, using a carved birch scoop to transfer two generous helpings of the clean, golden

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    2. THE NIGHT OF COLLISION

    ELARA’ S POV The next place I stood felt nothing like home. The Grand Meridian Hotel glowed with wealth and power, and when I stepped inside, I felt like I had crossed into a different world where people like me only existed to serve and disappear. I kept my head down and held my tray steady as I

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    1. WHAT THE DIRT HIDES

    ELARA’S POV The first thing I heard when I stepped through the door of my own home was laughter, and it did not belong to anyone I loved. I stood in the doorway of the small apartment on Crest Lane with my work shoes still on and my uniform smelling. Looking closer, I watched three women I h

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    15. THE NAME ON THE LIST

    ELARAI did not let my face change when Lydia said his name.I had spent years learning to hold still while the ground moved underneath me and this was simply the hardest test of that skill I had ever faced.“Silas Thorne helped Victoria make your sister disappear,” I said.“His name is on the list

  • My Billionaire Ex- Husband’s Nemesis    3. THE GHOST FROM HER PAST

    ELARA’S POV The night after the gala, everything felt wrong. I went back to work like nothing had changed. It was as if I had not seen a world that was never meant for me, as if I had not stood in front of a man who looked at me like I truly mattered. But nothing felt the same. The diner smelle

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