جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 160

[Sasha]When I reach the Lawrence residence, I put my hand on my stomach and walk carefully.When I find Caden’s mom in the piano room, discussing something with one of the maids, I enter, sniffling.Caden’s mom looks up, her expression shifting from surprise to concern as she takes in my watery eyes and trembling lips.“Oh, Sasha! What’s wrong?” she asks, rushing toward me with genuine worry etched on her face.I swallow hard, fighting to keep my emotions in check. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to act like this. But I can’t stop myself. I’m so overwhelmed with these emotions these days that even the littlest things make me cry.”The older woman chuckles as she guides me to the sofa in the corner. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s absolutely normal.” She turns to face the maid. “Bring her some water and something to eat. Quick.”The maid rushes out of the room, nodding.I roll my eyes, but just when Caden’s mom looks back at me, I manage a sad smile. “I—I just had a really tough day,” I manage

[Caden]The second we walk out of the hospital, my phone rings.I pick up as I help Sasha into the backseat.“Yes?”“Oh gosh. Thank God you answered, sir. This is Betty, by the way. I called to let you know about something very important.”“I know it’s you, Betty,” I say, rolling my eyes as I close the door and nod at the driver. “What’s so important?”She stutters. “Right. Yes. Sorry. I know this isn’t the best time, but you need to come to the office right away. All the directors are here, and they look very concerned.”I frown. “Concerned about what? And all of them?”“Yes, all of them. And concerned because… wait. You haven’t seen the news? It’s practically everywhere.”That doesn’t sound right. “What’s everywhere? And for the love of God, if you asked me another question instead of explaining to me what’s happening, I’m going to fire your fucking ass, Adams. Hear that.”“Okay, okay! There’s been a fall…in the share market…I thought you already knew…”I stop and turn around, not f

[Vivienne]To my huge dismay, Sasha decides to ride the elevator with me.And you’d think she’d get the hint and stop pestering me with her sad excuse of a love life—especially since I made it clear how little I care—but no, she doesn’t. She keeps yapping, way too close to my ear.“Are you seriously going to act like you don’t care? That nothing I said bothered you, even a little?” she scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, if that’s true, maybe it’s for the best. It’s about time you accepted none of your pathetic little games to win Caden over was ever going to work. I mean, have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? You’re not even that pretty. His dumb secretary looks way better than you.”I roll my eyes, waiting for my floor to arrive. It’s really not worth my health to engage with her toxic, desperate attempts to rile me up. Stay calm, I remind myself.“What? Cat got your tongue?” she laughs, smug. “Ha! I knew you were just pretending not to care. You’re still the

[Sasha]“This is taking too long,” Arthur—my brother—groans, running a hand through his hair. “I have places to be. I can’t waste my whole day in this shit.”I roll my eyes. “I have been coming over here for five days and you can’t survive a few hours? God, dad’s right. You’re too dumb to understand how important this is.”Calling him dumb gets me the reaction I want from him. He looks pissed once again. “Call me that again and I’ll show you who’s actually dumb here. God knows whose child you have in there. But that didn’t stop you from running to that asshole for help.”“Oh, please!” I growl under my breath, my patience snapping like a tight wire. Now he’s turning his temper on me, and that’s not going to fly. “At least I’m doing SOMETHING to help the family. What the hell have you done? Nothing but party, drink, and screw around like you’re living in some reality TV show. Do you even know what day it is? Or are you too busy chasing tail to notice how close we are to losing everythin

[Sasha]My mouth hangs open. I don’t know what to say.She’s not wrong to point out that we got the biggest loan, but most of it my family ended up spending on personal bills. Ever since then, we’ve only been paying our employees a quarter of what we promised. Because of this, many of them ended up resigning. But Dad didn’t mind. He figured the fewer mouths to feed, the better.I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Well, our business was also hit the hardest, which explains the biggest loan,” I try to reason, cursing this bitch to the moon and back.Mr. Yardley sighs. “All I’m hearing is an excuse, Ms. Clarkson. Do you have something else to say?”Vivienne stands there like she couldn’t be enjoying this more.Or maybe it’s all in my head. But I can’t help it. I hate that she’s here, holding the fate of my family in her hands. All because this man doesn’t seem to have a mind of his own; he seems too dependent on her opinion.I try to think. “It’s not an excuse, Mr. Yardley. It’s the truth