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CHAPTER 32
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2025-04-09 23:25:48
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My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 33
Alex POVLane International Headquarters – 7:03 AMThe espresso machine hissed and spat like an angry beast as I poured a triple shot into my mug. The bitter aroma sliced through the morning haze in my office, sharper than any alarm clock. Manhattan glittered through the wall of glass behind me, all chrome and promise and lies. I sipped slowly, letting the bitterness burn the edges off my fatigue.Sally leaned against the edge of my desk, one stiletto heel hooked behind her calf, tablet in hand. She was scrolling, but her eyes weren’t glazed over with distraction—they were gleaming with anticipation."Titan Industries just landed at JFK," she said without looking up. Her voice was smooth, edged with satisfaction. "Their CEO’s texting me like a nervous prom date. Wants to meet before their 10 AM with Coleman Corp."I glanced at the digital clock on the far wall—7:03 AM. Perfect. I set the cup down, wiped the condensation off the rim with my thumb, and opened the drawer to my right. Ins
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-10My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 34
Maria's fork clattered against her plate loud enough to make their youngest daughter flinch. Claire, twelve years old and already hypersensitive to the atmospheric pressure changes that preceded her parents' storms, hunched her shoulders and fixed her gaze on the uneaten salmon on her plate. The dining room's chandelier cast sharp shadows across the table, highlighting the lines of tension etched into everyone's faces. "You've been staring at that phone for twenty minutes," Maria hissed, her voice low but edged with the sharpness of a blade that had been sharpened too many times. Michael didn't look up from the Lane International stock ticker, the blue glow illuminating the angles of his face. The stock had risen another eight percent since opening bell. "Business," he replied, his voice flat and automatic, a recording he'd played so many times it had lost all meaning. "Bullshit." Maria slammed her wine glass down, ruby liquid sloshing onto the white tablecloth like blood seeping t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-11My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 35
Michael's knuckles were white around the whiskey glass as the projector displayed Alex's Hong Kong tax records. The ice had long since melted, diluting the eighteen-year Macallan into something weak and tepid, much like his legal team's excuses. The boardroom felt like a war room, the pre-dawn darkness pressing against the windows, the city lights below reflecting off the glass like distant artillery fire."There," he rasped, stabbing a finger at the screen where a series of transactions glowed in accusatory blue. "That transfer from Lane Holdings LLC. Trace it."His lead attorney, Bernard Walsh—who'd been with Coleman Corp for twenty-two years and had buried enough bodies to populate a small cemetery—swallowed hard. The man's immaculately pressed shirt was beginning to show stress wrinkles around the collar, and sweat beaded at his temples despite the frigid air conditioning. "Sir, if we get caught digging into foreign tax structures without reasonable cause—""I pay you to not get c
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-12My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 36
Alex POV Lane International Boardroom – High Noon The air conditioning couldn't combat the sweat beading on Richard Maxwell's brow as he slid the document toward me across the polished expanse of our conference table. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan shimmered in the midday heat, a concrete and glass mirage that seemed to undulate in the September humidity. I could see our company logo reflected in the windows of the building opposite—strong, clean lines forming an 'L' that represented everything I'd built from the ashes of my previous life. "Alex... the board feels this merger makes strategic sense." Maxwell's voice carried the strained neutrality of a hostage reading a prepared statement. Though he'd been with Lane International since its inception—had been one of the few who believed in me when every door in the business world mysteriously slammed shut—his eyes couldn't quite meet mine now. Behind him, the remaining board members sat in various postures of disc
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-14My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 37
West Borough Elementary – 2:47 PM The autumn afternoon light filtered through the changing leaves as I sat in my Tesla, parked across from West Borough Elementary's redbrick façade. The school's clocktower chimed the quarter-hour, sending pigeons scattering against the cloudless sky. I'd arrived early—a habit formed from years of preparing for the worst—but today, something felt different. A prickling at the back of my neck. The same warning system that had alerted me to Michael's betrayals years before.I glanced at my watch—thirteen minutes until the final bell. The car's climate control hummed as I scrolled through the day's emails, keeping one eye on the school entrance. A flurry of congratulatory messages about Lane International's Airbus deal. Three board members requesting "private conversations" following yesterday's confrontation. A carefully worded inquiry from The Wall Street Journal about rumors of a Coleman Corp lawsuit.My phone rang, the school's number flashing on th
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-15My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 38
Alex's Penthouse – 11:18 PM The Connecticut safe house had been a diversion. After confirming we weren't followed, James had driven Griffin and me back to Manhattan, to my penthouse in a building with security that rivaled most government installations. Six hours of emergency meetings had followed—with my legal team, with Sally and the executive committee, with my brother Elliott via secure video link from Singapore.The hot shower pounded against my shoulders, washing away some of the day's tension as steam clouded the marble bathroom. I leaned my forehead against the cool tile, allowing myself exactly sixty seconds of weakness—of fear, of rage, of the bone-deep exhaustion that came from knowing this battle with Michael would never truly end.Sixty seconds. Then I straightened, shut off the water, and wrapped myself in a robe. Griffin had fallen asleep hours ago, exhausted from what he believed had been an exciting adventure, not understanding the genuine danger that had precipitat
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-16My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 39
St. Regis Hotel – Grand Ballroom – 9:02 PM Next Evening The St. Regis ballroom glittered with old money and new power, crystal chandeliers casting prismatic light over New York's elite gathered to celebrate the union of Vanessa Coleman and Harrison Montrose IV. Three hundred guests in black tie and couture gowns, air heavy with perfume and privilege. Security was tight—guest list checked twice, IDs verified, metal detectors discreetly disguised as art installations.None of which had prevented me from securing an invitation under the name Alexandra Coleman—my legal name, as Michael had recently been so eager to remind everyone. The invitation that had arrived three weeks ago, addressed to me at my old penthouse (long since sold), forwarded through a series of old addresses until it reached me yesterday. A power move from Vanessa herself, Michael's beloved niece who had never forgiven me for leaving her uncle, for tarnishing the Coleman name with my "betrayal."The chandeliers trembl
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-17My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 40
Coleman Penthouse – 3:17 AM Maria's silk robe whispered against her legs as she crept into Michael's private study, the sound barely audible over the hum of the climate control system that kept the penthouse at a perfect 68 degrees year-round. The door had closed behind her with a soft click that nevertheless seemed to echo through the sleeping apartment like a gunshot. She paused, listening for movement, for Michael's footsteps, for any sign that her midnight reconnaissance had been detected.Nothing. Just the distant drone of late-night Manhattan traffic forty stories below and the steady tick of the antique grandfather clock in the foyer—a wedding gift from Michael's parents, who had looked at her throughout the ceremony with thinly veiled disapproval. Old money meeting new. Tradition meeting calculation.The study smelled of Michael—his sandalwood cologne, the leather of his custom chairs, the faint metallic tang of ambition that seemed to seep from his pores. His desk was immac
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My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 61
Manhattan Safehouse – 2:47 AM The window alarm didn't trigger. The motion sensors stayed dark. The silent pressure plates beneath the imported Persian rug registered no intrusion. The thermal cameras mounted discreetly in the crown molding detected no heat signature beyond the expected patterns.But I woke anyway—to the scent of bergamot and betrayal.Michael stood at the foot of my bed, a silhouette against the Manhattan skyline visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse. The city lights behind him created a halo effect that was grimly appropriate—Michael had always cast himself as the avenging angel in his own narrative, the righteous force bringing judgment to those who defied him."You forgot," he whispered, his voice carrying that familiar blend of smug satisfaction and menace that had once made boardrooms fall silent, "I taught you how to disable every security system you own."He had. In the early days of our marriage, when I had still mistaken his controll
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 60
Lane International HQ – 3 Weeks Later The boardroom erupted into startled applause as Griffin's coding demo concluded, the screens around the room displaying the elegant solution he had developed—a cybersecurity algorithm that outmaneuvered every Coleman Corp defense system our team had been able to replicate. The lines of code seemed to dance across the monitor, a digital ballet orchestrated by hands still small enough to struggle with tying shoelaces."He's ten?!" The CTO, Marcus Chen, gaped at Griffin, then at me, as if suspecting some elaborate practical joke. Marcus had joined us six months ago from Google, bringing decades of experience and a healthy skepticism about the hype that often surrounded child prodigies. That skepticism had just evaporated before my eyes as Griffin's program systematically identified and exploited vulnerabilities that Marcus's own team had missed.Griffin adjusted his glasses with his index finger, a perfect mimic of my boardroom stance—the gesture I
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 59
Griffin's Bedroom – 11:08 PM The nightlight cast shadows of rocket ships across the walls as I sat on the edge of Griffin's bed, the starscape projector James had bought him rotating slowly overhead. The room smelled of graphite and apple juice—the telltale scents of my son's peculiar combination of artistic precision and childish appetites. Griffin's small hands clutched the drawing he'd sent Michael, the paper now creased from being folded and unfolded countless times, as if he was trying to reconcile himself with what he had done."Why this one?" I asked softly, careful to keep any judgment from my voice. When Maria had called to tell me Griffin had sent something to Michael's satellite phone—against her explicit instructions—I'd expected to feel anger. Instead, watching my son's solemn face in the dim blue light, I felt only a profound sadness for what he had lost. For what we had all lost.Griffin traced the falling man with his finger, following the pixelated outline with the
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 59
Private Jet En Route to Dubai – 3:22 AM Michael Coleman pressed a bloodied handkerchief to his split lip as the jet climbed through turbulent clouds. The G650 shuddered around him, the luxury cabin's warm lighting contrasting with the darkness that enveloped both the sky outside and his prospects. The handcrafted Italian leather seat that had once felt like a throne now seemed to mock him with its opulence. The metallic taste of failure coated his tongue—worse than the blood.He glanced at his reflection in the darkened window—disheveled hair, the purple bloom of a bruise forming along his jawline, the crisp white collar of his bespoke shirt stained crimson. He barely recognized himself. Just twelve hours ago, he had stood at the podium at Coleman Corp headquarters, assuring shareholders that the SEC investigation was "a minor administrative review." Six hours ago, he had been in his corner office, watching as federal agents seized servers and hard drives. Three hours ago, he had s
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 57
Reykjavik Server Farm – Midnight The Arctic wind howled through the open door like a living thing, carrying stinging particles of ice that bit at exposed skin and infiltrated the seams of even the most technical cold-weather gear. Negative fifteen degrees Celsius according to the readout on my watch, though the windchill made it feel much colder. My breath crystallized instantly, hanging in the air before being whipped away by the relentless gale that swept across the barren Icelandic landscape surrounding the facility.James disabled the last security panel with gloved fingers, the specialized equipment he'd brought bypassing the biometric scanner that would have required Maria's fingerprint or retinal pattern. The facility looked innocuous from the outside—a low-slung concrete structure nestled against the side of a dormant volcano, its exterior designed to weather the brutal conditions of an Icelandic winter. Only the satellite dishes and transmission arrays on the roof hinted at
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 56
Lane International Safe House – 4:47 PM The brownstone in Brooklyn Heights stood unremarkable among its neighbors, its weathered red brick and black shutters offering no hint of the state-of-the-art security system embedded in its walls or the bulletproof glass behind its vintage-looking windows. The deed was held by a shell corporation owned by another shell corporation, traced through seven layers of legal separation before connecting, tenuously, to a holding company that occasionally did business with Lane International.In security parlance, it was a ghost house. In my world, it was the only place I trusted to keep Griffin safe while the storm raged.Maria's knock came in our childhood rhythm—three quick, two slow. The code we'd used at boarding school in Switzerland when one of us needed saving from a cruel headmistress or a midnight interrogation about broken curfews. A pattern I hadn't heard in fifteen years, not since the night she'd shown up at my Manhattan apartment with a
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 55
St. Luke's Hospital – 2:14 AM The heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm as Griffin slept, his small hand bandaged where the IV Michael had tried to force into his vein had torn the skin. The bruising had already begun to bloom in purples and yellows, like a watercolor painting of violence on my son's fragile wrist. His dark curls—so like mine—were matted with sweat against the sterile white pillow, and the overhead fluorescents cast his face in a pallor that made my heart constrict.Outside the room, through the observation window, two NYPD officers in rumpled uniforms took James' statement for what seemed like the hundredth time. Their faces betrayed nothing as they scribbled notes, occasionally glancing at Griffin's sleeping form with the detached sympathy of men who had seen too many children caught in adult crossfire."Third time's the charm," James muttered when he finally joined me, rolling his shoulder where the bullet had grazed him. The bandage was already seeping through wi
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 54
Abandoned Airfield – 6:59 PM Twilight had transformed into full darkness by the time we reached the outskirts of the city, the storm intensifying into sheets of water that reduced visibility to mere yards. The windshield wipers of James' SUV worked frantically, barely keeping pace with the deluge. The headlights caught droplets mid-fall, creating an illusion of moving through a tunnel of liquid silver."The signal's coming from inside that hangar," Sally said from the backseat, her face illuminated by the blue glow of her tablet. "The aircraft filed a flight plan for Toronto twenty minutes ago."In the passenger seat, I gripped the door handle so tightly my fingers ached, eyes straining to penetrate the darkness ahead. "Are we sure Griffin's on board? What if Michael separated him from the watch?"James' jaw tightened, his hands steady on the steering wheel despite the torrential conditions. "The biometric monitor shows elevated heart rate and movement. He's there, and he's consciou
My Billionaire Ex-husband Won't Call It Quit CHAPTER 53
Lane International – 3:33 PM Rain lashed against the windows of Lane International's headquarters, transforming the Manhattan skyline into a smeared watercolor of grays and silvers. I'd been in back-to-back meetings since leaving the courtroom, fielding calls from investors concerned about the media coverage of this morning's revelation. Despite the personal victory, stock prices had dipped three percent on news that Lane International's CEO had been involved in a melodramatic custody battle with the CEO of Coleman Corp.The markets hated drama. They hated unpredictability even more.I'd changed from my courtroom attire to a crisp white shirt and black slacks, my armor for the trenches of damage control. My phone hadn't stopped buzzing with messages from Elliott—who was handling press inquiries from Hong Kong—and James, who had taken Griffin for ice cream and then to his therapist to process the morning's revelations.Sally walked beside me as we headed toward the emergency board me
