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Chapter 8: The Shadow of George Reed

Author: Frank J.P
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-06 04:12:02

The alliance between Bella and Jason, though born of necessity, was a fragile spark in the middle of a storm: volatile, intimate, and haunted. Each late-night meeting and whispered theory began to pull them closer, but this wasn’t about rekindled love. Not yet. It was about survival.

They dug through spreadsheets and financial audits like archaeologists unearthing a corrupted empire. Bella’s sharp instincts and Jason’s determination to right his past wrongs created a synergy neither had expected. But beneath the growing teamwork, a darker force was stirring one more dangerous than Veronica: George Reed.

Jason’s trusted CFO, Ryan Cole, joined their inner circle. After reviewing the video footage of Veronica’s deception, Ryan’s reaction was visceral. “This isn’t just corporate sabotage,” he said grimly. “It’s personal. And calculated.”

With Ryan’s help, they began connecting dots that stretched further back than Veronica’s time with Reed International. Bella found something Jason had mi
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  • Once my Wife   Chapter 50: The Betrayal Within

    The old photo of Arthur Thorne standing next to George Reed wasn’t just a photo. It was a warning and a weapon. For Jason, it felt like someone had dropped a match into a room full of gasoline. Suddenly, it was clear: Thorne hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere. He wasn’t some outsider taking cheap shots. He had been part of his father’s world all along. Maybe even his father’s chosen replacement.That meant every move Thorne made wasn’t random. It was personal. It was designed to hit Jason where it hurt most.Even though things between Jason and Bella had become closer again especially after that night they finally opened up, they couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching. Every hug, every soft moment was followed by a question hanging in the air: Who sent that photo?Was it Thorne himself, bragging? Or was it someone else, trying to warn them?Jason couldn’t let it go. The idea that someone inside Reed & Co. was feeding Thorne information kept him up at night. He started l

  • Once my Wife   Chapter 49: The Labyrinth of Power

    The quiet conversation in the living room, followed by their raw, emotional reunion, had brought something vital back to life. What happened between them afterward wasn’t wild or dramatic, it was gentle, slow, and full of meaning. They held each other like they were holding onto a lifeline. Their bodies tangled not out of lust, but out of a desperate need to feel something real. In a world full of lies, power games, and shadows, they needed to know they were still each other’s home.That night, the distance between them shrank. Not just physically, but emotionally. The silence that used to echo in the penthouse felt softer now, more like peace than emptiness. For the first time in weeks, they fell asleep in the same bed, with their fingers still laced together under the sheets.By morning, something had shifted inside them. Their love was still bruised but it wasn’t broken.With their bond renewed, they turned their full attention to the bigger threat: Thorne.They both knew by now th

  • Once my Wife   Chapter 48: A Vulnerable Confession

    Jason felt like the world was pressing on his chest. Bad people were attacking his work, but the worst part was how all the worry was pushing him and Bella apart. He suddenly saw it clearly: Thorne didn’t just want to ruin their company. He wanted to break them as a couple. If Jason and Bella stopped trusting each other, everything else would fall.One quiet evening, the house felt too big. Lila was at a friend’s place with adults watching, so it was just Jason and Bella in the penthouse. No kid noise. No meetings. Just a heavy kind of silence.Bella sat on the couch with a design magazine open, but she wasn’t really reading. Her eyes were far away.Jason walked in, stopped, and breathed like he was getting ready to jump into cold water. “Bella… can we talk? Like, really talk?”She set the magazine down and looked at him. She saw it right away that he was not hiding anything. He looked tired and scared and honest. She patted the seat beside her. “Yes. Come sit.”He sat but didn’t spea

  • Once my Wife   Chapter 47: Seeds of Doubt

    The small space that had opened up between Jason and Bella after Bella’s emotional breakdown didn’t go away. It stayed there like a shadow, it was quiet but heavy. They still stood side by side. They still fought Arthur Thorne with everything they had. But the closeness they once shared, the ease between them, had changed. Something warm and natural had started to fade under all the pressure. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other. They did. But the fight was wearing them down in ways they hadn’t expected.Thorne wasn’t attacking like a loud, obvious enemy. He was like smoke; hard to catch, impossible to pin down. His plan wasn’t to destroy them quickly. No, he wanted to stretch out their suffering, to wear them down until they broke from the inside. The lies and rumors spread like wildfire, hitting Jason’s image as a leader at Reed & Co. and chipping away at Bella’s good name in the design world. Anonymous messages kept triggering stressful audits on their charities, pulling thei

  • Once my Wife   Chapter 46: The Unraveling Threads

    The days after July 15th passed without any big event or loud attack. But what came instead was worse in a quiet way. It was like a slow-moving storm that never really hit but never left either. Jason and Bella felt it in everything, they couldn’t relax, couldn’t breathe. Arthur Thorne didn’t disappear. He just changed how he moved. He got smarter, more careful, more dangerous. His attacks weren’t the kind you could see coming. They were quiet, personal, and meant to mess with their minds.At Reed & Co., Jason’s company, nothing felt safe anymore. Every new project idea came with questions. Every email or message made him pause. Were they being watched? Was something being leaked? Meetings that used to be short and honest now dragged on, filled with side glances and hidden meanings. Jason had worked so hard to build a team where everyone trusted each other. But now, that trust was fading. People were nervous. Even Ryan, who had always been calm and reliable, was showing signs of stres

  • Once my Wife   Chapter 45: The Aftermath of the Countdown

    The morning of July 16th arrived, not with chaos, but with a strange, haunting silence. The deadline “July 15, 2025” had passed. The warning message, “Countdown Initiated,” had come and gone. Jason and Bella had stayed up all night in the penthouse, watching the news, checking Reed & Co.’s systems, reading every report they could find. They expected something loud like a crash, a hostile takeover, a public scandal. But nothing obvious happened.That quiet, however, felt worse than an explosion. It was the kind of silence that made your skin crawl, like the moment before a trap snaps shut. It didn’t feel like a victory, it felt like something had started that they couldn’t yet see.Jason was already on the phone before the sun fully rose. His voice was sharp and worried. “Ryan, anything? Any strange movements? Any news?”Ryan sounded just as anxious. “Nothing big, Jason. The stock market’s calm. Our numbers are stable. No strange press from Greenlight Ventures. But I don’t like it. It’

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