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Chapter 23

Penulis: Bil
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-09-25 00:24:41

The map on her screen was soft and abstracted for her software’s safety settings, street names, gate locations, and service exits lightly marked.

She ran her eyes along the lines, imagining the crowd, the streetlights, the small air of complacency that always greased a highprofile public route.

Imagining was the cheap part. She spent longer on the things that couldn’t be pictured, the pattern of a man’s movements, a habit of checking a watch twice, the way a body relaxes when it thinks itself secure.

There were audio files too, a recording lifted from a phone call, laughters clipped from a speech, the target’s voice booming about deals.

Hearing someone’s cadence made him feel smaller, more mortal. She shut it off. It was a trick she used, strip away the theatre until only the human remained, and then decide if you could do what needed doing.

Jace pinged a single note into her channel.

Jace: You sure, Len? We can postpone. The wedding is this weekend, heat on you is still...

She typ
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  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 188

    Across town, Senator Vauxhaul stood in his study, jacket draped over the back of a chair, tie loosened, expression carved from irritation and ambition. He had been watching the news cycle shift all week, watching Elena Sinclair’s name fade from suspicion and begin its slow rehabilitation.He didn’t like it.His phone buzzed.Mrs. Harrow.He answered with a measured calm that didn’t touch his eyes. “You’re calling earlier than planned.”“They’re covering for her,” Mrs. Harrow said, venom sharp in every syllable. “Your precious systems. Your careful delays. It’s not enough.”The senator exhaled slowly. “We agreed on pressure, not chaos.”“My detective is gone,” she hissed. “And I will not be patient while they erase my husband.”A beat.Then Vauxhaul’s voice hardened. “What did you do.”“I moved,” she said simply. “You should do the same.”He closed his eyes briefly, already calculating the fallout. “If you’ve triggered what I think you have...”“Then you’ll finally get results,” Mrs.

  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 187

    Jace had already made peace with the ache.Not the healthy kind. The quiet, resigned kind that slid in when hope got tired of fighting.He’d told himself it was nothing new. That this was how it always went. He liked too much. Expected too much. Read warmth where there was only politeness. And eventually, he was the one left holding feelings no one had asked for.He sat on the edge of his couch, phone face down beside him, staring at the floor like it might offer answers.You’re fine, he told himself again. No one owes you anything.That was when his phone buzzed.Once.Jace flinched like he’d been caught doing something wrong.He didn’t pick it up immediately. His chest tightened first, reflexive, protective. Experience had taught him that notifications weren’t always kind.Then he saw the name.Marcus.His breath caught.“What…” he whispered, already reaching for the phone before he could stop himself.He read the message once.Then again.Then a third time, slower.An apology.An

  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 186

    Marcus leaned back in his chair, chest heaving, sweat dampening his shirt. His hands shook once before he clenched them into fists.“You’re fast,” he breathed, staring at the screen. “Faster than I expected.”A slow, humorless smile crept across his face.“But not fast enough.”He wiped his hands on his jeans and leaned forward again, rebuilding firewalls even as he spoke under his breath.“You shouldn’t have started this, Elena.”Because now he knew.She was awake.She was suspicious.And she was hunting.Marcus cracked his neck, eyes hardening as the last of the panic bled away and something colder took its place.If Elena wanted answers, he’d make sure she found exactly what he wanted her to see.And next time?He wouldn’t be reacting.He’d be ready.Meanwhile, deep inside the Thorne estate, Elena’s calm finally cracked.“Son of a...”Her fingers flew across the keyboard, screens reflecting sharp light across her face as lines of code collapsed in on themselves. One firewall fell.

  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 185

    Jace's phone stayed silent.He finally set it face down on the bed and exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stand.He told himself he’d give it time. That patience was better than pressure. That if Marcus wanted to talk, he would.Still, as he moved through his small kitchen, making coffee he barely tasted, one quiet realization settled deep in his chest, for the first time since they started talking, Jace felt like he was the one chasing.And he had no idea whether Marcus even noticed.The coffee went cold on the counter.Jace didn’t notice.He stood there, mug in hand, staring out the window at a city that was already moving on with its day, and his thoughts spiraled the way they always did when disappointment dug its claws in.This isn’t the first time, his mind whispered unkindly.It never was.He thought of the pattern he hated admitting existed. The way things always started bright. Promising. How men leaned into him when it was convenient. When he was fun. Easy. Safe. And how, th

  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 184

    Marcus’s fist slammed into the counter.“I paid for it,” he growled. “I paid in blood. In bone. In identity.”Evan’s voice softened. “And now you’re back… expecting what? Forgiveness? Recognition?”Marcus straightened slowly, the alcohol burning through his veins like fuel instead of sedation.“I expect her to remember who she was with me,” he said coldly. “Who she became. Before Roman. Before safety. Before comfort.”Evan stared at him. “You’re not trying to get her back.”Marcus lifted his gaze, something unhinged flickering there.“I’m trying to remind her,” he said. “That she was never meant to belong to a man like Roman.”Evan swallowed. “This ends badly.”Marcus picked up the bottle again, pouring another drink.“It already did,” he said. “Years ago.”He took a slow sip, eyes distant, fixed on a memory that refused to stay buried.“And I didn’t survive all of that,” he added quietly, “to watch her choose someone else.”The bottle lowered.His hand steadied.Resolve replaced the

  • The Ultimatum Wife   Chapter 183

    Roman’s jaw tightened. “Coincidence?”“That’s what I’m telling myself.”“And your instincts?”She looked down at her coffee. “My instincts don’t like coincidences.”Silence stretched between them, not strained, just heavy with unspoken understanding.Roman reached across the table, covering her hand with his. Solid. Present. Real. “We’ll look into him,” he said. “Quietly.”Elena nodded. “For Jace,”Roman’s thumb brushed her knuckles once. “ For Jace.”She breathed out slowly, tension easing just a fraction.Roman didn’t let go of her hand.He stared at the surface of the table for a moment, jaw set, the way it did when he was assembling pieces he didn’t like the shape of.“I felt it too,” he said finally.Elena looked up.“Last night,” Roman continued, voice low, careful, “something was off about him. The way he watched you before we even sat down. Not curiosity. Not admiration. Recognition.”Her fingers curled slightly under his.“That’s why Hale called this morning,” he added.Elena

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