ログインChapter 243Ethan's POVI was feeling better.Not good, exactly— my body still ached from the fall when I fainted, my head still felt too heavy, and the IV drip in my arm was a constant reminder that I'd let myself fall apart so completely that my own body had shut down.But better.Better enough to sit up properly in bed.Better enough to have my laptop balanced on my lap, reviewing the preliminary restructuring plans Margaret had sent over.Walker Industries without Anna running day-to-day operations.Walker Industries without Grace leeching resources, manipulating board members, pulling strings behind the scenes.It was… strange to imagine.Like trying to picture a building after you'd demolished half the foundation.But it was also necessary.Essential, even.If the company was going to survive, it needed to be rebuilt from the ground up.New leadership structure. New accountability measures. New safeguards against the kind of corruption and manipulation that had nearly destroyed
Chapter 242Cynthia's POVI stood in the kitchen doorway for a moment, watching the scene unfold in the dining room with a mixture of disbelief and growing concern.Nikolai sat at the head of the table — the seat usually reserved for Nathaniel as the eldest son — looking both honored and slightly overwhelmed. He was indeed honored.And my mother, Victoria…Victoria was fawning over him.There was no other word for it.She'd seated herself right beside him, her hand resting lightly on his arm as she spoke, her expression warm and animated in a way I rarely saw anymore."You simply must stay for Christmas," Victoria was saying, her voice filled with maternal warmth. "I know you've lost your father recently, Nikolai. And with no siblings, no other family… you shouldn't be alone on a day like this."Nikolai smiled, clearly touched but also uncertain because of how awkward it is to spend Christmas in the Laurent mansion."Mrs. Laurent, that's very kind of you, but I don't want to impose…"
Chapter 241 Anna's POVI felt like the ground beneath me was crumbling.Everything I'd believed.Everything I'd built my life around.Everything I'd used to justify the terrible things I'd done.It was all a lie.My parents weren't heroes.They weren't brave police officers who'd died trying to save innocent children.They were criminals.Corrupt.Selfish.Accomplices to kidnapping.And I'd spent my entire life believing the opposite.My chest felt tight, like I couldn't get enough air, like the walls were closing in around me.I'd been walking in rebellion all these years.Against God. Against morality. Against everything decent.I'd told myself it was justified — that I was angry because my parents had died saving Cynthia, that she owed me something, that she was the reason they were gone.I had rehearsed that story so many times it had stopped feeling like a story at all. It had become truth. My truth. The lens through which I saw everything.I'd mistreated her for years because o
Chapter 240Cynthia's POV"OH MY GOD!"Victoria's scream was so loud it probably woke half the neighborhood.I turned to see my mother practically running down the front steps of the mansion, her elegant composure completely abandoned as she rushed toward the truck full of flowers."Nikolai!" she exclaimed, her face lit up with genuine delight. "Did you do all this?"Nikolai smiled, clearly pleased by her reaction."Merry Christmas, Mrs. Laurent," he said warmly.Before he could say anything else, Victoria pulled him into a hug.An actual, full-bodied hug.I stood there, frozen in shock, watching my usually composed, dignified mother embrace Nikolai like he was family."This is absolutely wonderful!" Victoria said, pulling back to look at him. "So thoughtful. So generous. You must come inside! We're about to have breakfast, and you simply must join us.""I wouldn't want to impose…" Nikolai started."Nonsense!" Victoria interrupted, looping her arm through his and already guiding him t
Chapter 239Anna's POVGrace rolled her eyes, the gesture so dismissive and contemptuous it made my stomach turn."You really thought your parents were heroes, didn't you?" she said, her voice dripping with mockery.I stared at her, my hand still pressed against my scalp where she'd yanked my hair, my cheek still burning from the slap."What?" I whispered.Grace's smile widened, cruel and satisfied."You actually believed they were the brave police officers who died trying to save precious little Cynthia and Ethan?" she continued. "Were you really that dumb as a child? That naive? That you couldn't see what kind of people your parents really were?"My chest tightened painfully."My parents were heroes," I said, my voice trembling. "They died in the line of duty. They were trying to rescue kidnapped children…"Grace laughed like a witch.A sharp, bitter sound that echoed through the room."Is that what they told you?" she asked. "Is that the story you've been clinging to all these year
Chapter 238Ethan's POVThe hospital room was quiet except for the steady beeping of monitors and Amber's soft breathing.My son was curled up on the uncomfortable hospital chair that the nurses had converted into a makeshift bed, his small body bundled under a blanket they'd brought, his face peaceful in sleep.He looked so innocent.So unaware of the chaos swirling around him.And here I was, keeping him in a hospital on Christmas Day.What kind of father does that?I stared at the ceiling, my chest tight with a familiar ache that had nothing to do with the malnutrition or the IV fluids still dripping into my veins.This was guilt.Pure, unfiltered guilt.And I was drowning in it.I'd spent these few days blaming everyone else for what had gone wrong in my life.Cynthia for leaving me.Bryan for pursuing her.Kevin for existing.Nikolai for showing up at the worst possible time.Grace for lying to me my entire life.Anna for betraying me.Pascal for destroying my company.But sittin







