Semua Bab Once my Wife: Bab 71 - Bab 80

For Jason and Bella Reed, life after George Reed’s death and Dean Carter’s imprisonment was supposed to be their reward. They had fought for years, bled for years. And finally, they had won.Reed & Co. was thriving again, rebuilt with sweat, stubbornness, and endless faith. The Phoenix Foundation had stretched across borders, feeding children, rebuilding schools, and saving lives. Their daughter, Lila, had grown up laughing, her eyes bright, her smile untouched by the darkness that once stalked their family.From the outside, the Reeds were untouchable. Successful. Respected. A power couple draped in triumph.But behind the photographs and the speeches, their marriage had changed.Their love had once been wild, desperate, like fire in a storm. Every kiss had been stolen, every touch had carried the risk of being their last. Now their love was softer, safer. And Bella, though she would never dare say it out loud, sometimes missed the spark. She missed the sharp edge of passion that onc

Trust is a fragile thing. Once cracked, it rarely returns to its original strength.Seraphina Dubois’s phone call haunted Bella Reed like a shadow she couldn’t shake. Her smooth, cryptic and venomous words echoed in her mind at the worst possible times.“The most dangerous players are the ones you trust the most.”Bella told herself it was manipulation. That Seraphina wanted to poison her from within. That Dean Carter’s games had always been psychological, designed to corrode trust before delivering the killing blow.But the seed had been planted. And now every face in their circle carried the possibility of betrayal.Ryan Cole, Jason’s COO…the steady hand in every storm. His loyalty had never wavered. Could even that be an illusion?David Cole, head of security. Loyal. Unshakable. Quiet as stone. But hadn’t he once admitted his team missed a surveillance gap during the Reed debacle? Could that have been more than a mistake?And the Foundation board. New members Jason had personally v

The moment Bella told Jason about Seraphina’s call, something shifted between them.Jason didn’t explode, didn’t accuse, didn’t lash out. On the outside, he remained calm, trusting, composed. But inside, a small wall went up, invisible yet heavy. Seraphina had planted her seed of doubt, and even though Jason knew that was her exact intention, Bella’s delayed confession made it harder to push the feeling aside.Jason acted quickly. Within hours, he had gathered his inner circle; Ryan Cole, David Cole, and the senior heads of the Phoenix Foundation. Behind closed doors, away from Bella and the outside world, he laid everything on the table: the ongoing leaks, the strange patterns in the data, and the terrifying possibility that a traitor existed inside their own walls.He didn’t mention Seraphina. He didn’t mention Bella. That part of the truth stayed locked in his chest.Instead, Jason studied his people like a hawk. Every nod. Every flicker in their eyes. Every pause before they spok

The walls of the house felt closer every day.Bella could still hear Veronica’s voice in her head, sharp and poisonous: When a man stops confiding, when he stops seeing you… that’s when the unraveling begins. Those words had dug under her skin, and no matter how she tried to shake them off, they stayed.The Phoenix Foundation was under constant fire. Every morning brought another leak, another headline, another reason for Jason to shut himself deeper into his work. Bella tried to hold the pieces of her life together; mother, wife, protector of their family but she was breaking on the inside. She wasn’t just losing the Foundation. She was losing Jason.Martha saw it first.One afternoon, Bella sat at the kitchen table, staring at her untouched tea, her body rigid with the pressure she carried. Martha, frailer than before but stronger in spirit, sat across from her. She reached across, gently touching Bella’s hand.“Talk to me, darling,” Martha urged softly. “You’ve been walking around

Chapter 79: The Architect’s Final TrapThe room felt too quiet. Too still. The only sound was Seraphina Dubois’s voice echoing out of the speakers, calm and cruel, like someone reading a eulogy with a smile.Jason and Bella stood frozen in the penthouse, the laptop screen still glowing on the table. Ryan’s files cast a cold, pale light that made their faces look ghostly. The silence that followed Seraphina’s message was louder than any explosion.And then the sirens. Faint. Distant. Mocking. As if the city was crying out for them but too far away to help.Bella’s hand trembled on the edge of the desk. Her voice came out raw, like she’d been punched in the lungs.“He knew.”Jason turned, eyes snapping to her. “What?”“Dean knew I’d find Ryan. He wanted me to. This….” She pointed at the laptop, at the evidence that was supposed to save them. “It’s all part of the plan. He set us up. He wanted us exposed.”Jason’s jaw tightened. His face twisted through disbelief, fury, then settled into