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CHAPTER 160: THE BATHROOM DOOR
publish date:
2026-10-19 17:18:23
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The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 162: THE SAFE BEHIND THE BED
POV: Roman Ashford "Tell me what he meant," Roman said. "Right now. I don't care who is listening." He had not moved since Boyd spoke. He stood in the middle of the boardroom with his hands at his sides and the color gone from his face, a big man who suddenly looked like he was balancing on the edge of a roof. Around him the donors had fallen back, murmuring. Vivienne was at his elbow. She could feel him shaking through his sleeve. "Roman," she said softly. "Not here." "He said my father." "I heard him." "My father died in a car accident when I was eleven. Edmund Ashford. I have his watch. I have his handwriting on the back of a hundred photographs." His voice cracked. "What is that man talking about?" Boyd sat down again and arranged his cuffs. He looked, if anything, relieved, like a man who has finally put his last card on the table. "I think it would be kinder to see for yourself. Your mother kept the proof in a safe. Behind the bed, in the room with the blue curtains. The
The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 161: THE WITNESSES
POV: Vivienne Ashford "I'd like to say something before we begin," Katya said. "If the board will permit it." Her voice was clear and small in the vast conference room. It was noon. Rain streaked the tall windows, and the long table was crowded with donors, foundation directors, and three lawyers who had clearly come to take notes. Harlan Boyd sat at the head of it in a dove-gray suit, composed and faintly bored. Elspeth Crane sat on his right with her reading glasses pushed into her silver hair. Vivienne stood behind Katya with one hand on her shoulder. Both of them had been told to wait outside. Neither had. "This session is closed to non-members," Boyd said mildly. "I am a donor," Katya said. "Seven years ago my family wired eleven million dollars to this fund through a Zurich foundation. I believe that makes me a member for the purposes of this hearing." A small stir. Boyd's pen paused. "You're Ms. Volkonsky?" "I'm Katya Lindgren now. But yes." "I wasn't aware you were a
The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 160: THE BATHROOM DOOR
POV: Vivienne Ashford "Open the door, Dana," Vivienne said. "Nobody here is going to hurt you." She stood in a narrow hallway in a small brick house in Hartford, with one hand flat against a white bathroom door. The wallpaper was pale yellow, faded at the seams. Family photographs lined the wall behind her. A man with kind eyes and a printer's apron. A little girl in a school uniform, gap-toothed, holding a trophy twice the size of her head. Vivienne had been looking at that girl for ten minutes, trying to see her in the woman behind the door. From inside came the small sound of someone breathing too hard. "I don't believe you," Dana said. Her voice was muffled and raw. "I know. That's fair." "You'll call the police." "I won't. I didn't bring any." Vivienne glanced down the hall to where Roman stood with Marguerite at the kitchen table, his big hands wrapped around a mug he wasn't drinking. Priya and Thomas waited in the van outside with a clear view of the gray car at the curb
The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 159: WHAT THE WATER KEPT
POV: Vivienne Ashford "Forty seconds," Thomas said. "Somebody count." "I am counting!" Maya had both hands pressed over her mouth. She stood at the rail beside Grace, her sweater soaked to the elbows, her eyes locked on the place where the water had closed over Oliver's head. Behind them the pier was chaos, officers shouting, flashlights sweeping the boards, Gerald struggling in an agent's grip and screaming his son's name. Roman reached the rail at a dead run. Vivienne was right behind him. They had left the van abandoned in the lot with its doors flung wide. He looked down at the black water and saw only ripples. "How long?" "Forty-five seconds," Thomas said. "Where is he?" "Under." Grace's voice was a thread. "He's under. He said ninety seconds." "Then we get a rope," Roman said. "We get a boat hook, a ladder, anything..." "There's a life ring by the stairs," Thomas shouted, and was gone. Vivienne's hand closed over her daughter's. Grace didn't seem to feel it. She was gr
The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 158: ONE HUNDRED AND TWO SECONDS
POV: Grace "Don't move," Dana said. "Any of you. I would hate for this to get untidy." The light at the end of the pier buzzed and flickered. Beneath their feet the black water slapped the pilings, slow and heavy, and a cold wind carried the smell of salt and diesel across the boards. Grace stepped half in front of her husband before she knew she was doing it. "You followed us," Grace said. "I followed your van. It's a very loud van." "It's a tour van," Oliver said faintly. "Is that what it is." Dana almost smiled. "It has a bumper sticker that says My Other Car Is a Cello. I watched it park three streets back and thought, those people have no idea how to hide." "We weren't hiding." "No. You were hoping." She tipped her head. "I know the feeling." Dana came forward at an easy walk. Her long coat hung open. In her right hand, held up where they could all see it, was a small silver cylinder no longer than a finger. "That's a flash drive," Oliver said. "Very good." "What's on
The Billionaires Greatest Regret CHAPTER 157: THE PIER
POV: Grace "She said gardenias," Priya whispered. "Twice. Then nothing." The van smelled of cold coffee and cello rosin. Thomas sat at the wheel with both hands locked on it. Roman crouched behind him, one knee on the floor, staring at a laptop screen where the audio line had gone to a flat gray hiss. "How long has it been dead?" Roman asked. "Forty seconds." "She gave the signal." "She did." "Then we go." "Roman, wait." Priya caught his sleeve. "If he has a jammer, we can't hear inside, and he can't hear us. If you storm the door, you're breaking into a retired federal judge's home with no warrant and nothing but a word about flowers." "She's my wife." "I know. And she's smart enough to know we'd come." Priya's voice shook, but she held his eyes. "Give me two minutes. I have an idea." "Two minutes is too long." "One, then." Roman looked at her. Then at Thomas. Thomas nodded once. "One," Roman said. Priya spun the laptop around and opened a program. "Jammers work on spe
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