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SEVENTY ONE

Chapter seventy one Christine’s POVThe morning started like any other. The air was still cold from the night, sunlight spilling gently through the curtains of the New York townhouse. The buzz of the city outside felt far away. For once, Christine didn’t wake up to the rush of emails or board messages. Instead, she woke to quiet morning the kind of quiet that felt earned.She had been feeling lighter these past few weeks. The banquet had changed something between her and Adrian. She could admit that now, even if only to herself. He had defended her in front of everyone, stood by her when others whispered. The memory of his sharp voice cutting through the chatter of other voices “You will not speak of my wife that way” still echoed in her head.And though she wouldn’t say it aloud, she had started to look at him differently since that night.Now, he was away in a virtual meeting in his office down the hall, and she was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee, trying to finis

CHAPTER 72

Chapter seventy twoAdrian’s POVThe house was quiet. Too quiet.It had been days since the smear campaign hit the news, and the silence that followed felt heavier than any of the noise that came before it. Their house which once filled with Christine’s laughter, the echo of her voice from one room to another it felt like a museum now. Beautiful. Immaculate. But lifeless.Adrian sat in his study, the dim glow of the lamp stretching shadows across the walls. His laptop was open in front of him, the same page still on the screen for the past hour. He hadn’t typed a single word. The reports, the company statements, the PR team’s updates none of them mattered right now.All he could think about was her.Christine had barely spoken to him since that morning when the headlines broke. She had looked at him, her eyes wide and hurt, and then walked away without a word. It was like she blamed him for all that happened. She’d locked herself in her office for hours, taking calls and sending ema

CHAPTER 73

Chapter seventy threeChristine’s POVThe morning begins with chaos.Christine’s inbox is flooded with urgent messages, her phone vibrating nonstop with missed calls from DreamSpace’s board members. The rival company’s smear campaign what only started as whispers of financial instability has turned into a full blown corporate assault. Articles questioning her competence as CEO trend on every major business site.She stands by the window of her office, fingers trembling around her coffee cup as she watches reporters gather outside the building. Through the glass, the city feels very distant like she’s watching someone else’s disaster unfold.“Christine.”Angela’s voice breaks through the noise. “ Adrian is here.”Her heart reacts before her mind does. It takes one sharp beat, then silence. She turns just as Adrian steps in, tall and composed, his usual confidence shadowed by something heavier. His suit is immaculate, but his eyes, those steady gray eyes they carry a weight she can’t n

CHAPTER 74

Chapter seventy four Christine’s pov The storm has passed. At least, on paper.The headlines and blogs have quieted, DreamSpace’s shares are climbing again, and Christine’s days are back to a fragile routine of meetings, deadlines, and late nights at her desk. From the outside, it looks like victory.But inside, she feels hollow.Every time she walks through the mansion, she’s reminded of Adrian’s absence from the company and his office is now a quiet echo of restraint. He doesn’t talk about it, doesn’t show regret. Instead, he spends his mornings in the garden or by the study window, reading through papers that no longer concern him. Always calm. Always distant. He has mostly left work of his own company to Mark.And that calmness unnerves her more than his temper ever did.On Friday afternoon, after a grueling board call, Christine shuts her laptop and leans back in her chair. Her eyes burn from exhaustion. She closes them for a moment and when she opens them again, Adrian is stan

CHAPTER 75

Chapter seventy fiveChristine’s povThat weekend felt like a dream she wasn’t meant to have.For two days, Christine forgot the chaos of the city. She and Adrian shared breakfasts by the lake, they had quiet walks beneath olive trees, and conversations that don’t begin or end with business. For the first time in months, she laughed without caution. She almost lets herself believe they could work.Almost.But dreams have a way of ending.By Monday morning, the villa feels too still. Adrian’s phone buzzes relentlessly on the table, but he ignores it, still watching her as she packs. His hand lingers against her back when he murmurs, “We could stay another day.”She smiles faintly. “If we do, the board might stage a coup and another round of headlines will come up again..”“Let them.”His tone is teasing, but the look in his eyes isn’t. It’s tender. It’s so tender she has to look away before it breaks her. “We’ll be late,” she says instead.The drive back is quiet. Comfortable, but fra

CHAPTER 76

Chapter 76 – ChristineSleep refused to come.The city outside the mansion hums faintly, but inside, everything feels hollow. It’s all too quiet, too still. The moonlight pours through the curtains, silvering the edge of the bed where she’s has sat for hours, staring at the file Brian dropped into her hands.The Emails. Transfers. Timelines that line up too perfectly.Adrian’s name again and again on different signatures, authorizations, silent movements that all lead back to one truth she can’t bring herself to accept.He’s always been the one person she trusted most. Since childhood, since every scraped knee and whispered secret in the garden of their families’ adjoining estates. Even when life pulled them into different worlds all their times of bickering, he’d always found his way back to her because she had never given up on her childhood crush for him.And now, he feels like a stranger wearing a face she’s known all her life. He was familiar but different.Christine closes the f

CHAPTER 77

Chapter 77 Adrian KellerhamThe sound of the rain is relentless.It’s been hours since she walked out of my study, yet her scent still lingers in the room. The scent of faint jasmine and something that feels like home. I’ve stared at the door so long my vision’s blurred around the edges.I’ve faced hostile boards, acquisitions worth billions, men who would ruin empires and others to win. But nothing has ever terrified me more than the way Christine’s silence does.I hurt her. Again.I drop into the chair behind my desk, drag my hands through my hair, and breathe out the truth I’ve been carrying for a long time now and the one that’s been rotting inside me.I did everything because I loved her.Not the kind of love that asks to be returned, but the kind that consumes quietly. It’s in that sacrifices itself for a smile, a laugh, a glimpse of light in her eyes.The night I discovered what Brian was planning, I saw the full picture.The hidden accounts. The shell company under his cou

CHAPTER 78

Chapter 78 Christine The rain hasn’t stopped since last night.It’s as if the sky itself refuses to let go, mirroring the weight pressing down on my chest. I’ve been awake since dawn, staring at the ceiling, listening to the steady rhythm of water against the windows. Every sound feels amplified in the silence of the guest room, the tick of the clock, the faint creak of the old floorboards, my own unsteady breathing.I should feel angry. Betrayed. Vindicated.Instead, I just feel tired. The stress of all the years and with all the surrounding office drama has completely drained me.Everything I believed about the past few years has been turned inside out completely ,my engagement, my marriage, even the man I thought I knew better than anyone.Adrian Kellerham.My childhood friend. My now husband.And the man who shattered me with the truth I’d begged him to keep hidden.I push the blankets away and sit up. The air is cool, heavy with the scent of rain soaked earth. For a long moment

CHAPTER 79

Chapter 79 AdrianI’ve been called ruthless more times than I can count.Calculated. Cold. Strategic. Scheming.But none of those words feel big enough to describe what it takes to stand still when the person you love looks at you like she doesn’t know you anymore.Christine’s voice has been echoing in my head since she walked away this morning.“You never trusted me enough to fight beside you.”She’s right so much and that truth burns more than anything Brian ever did.So when Mark told me where Brian was meeting his “investors” this afternoon at a high-end restaurant downtown, the kind that thrives on secrecy and ego. I didn’t hesitate. Some truths have to be confronted face to face, without lawyers, without press, without anyone to clean up the mess.Because this time, I’m not protecting her.I’m ending this.The restaurant is quiet when I arrive. Rain drizzles against the tall glass windows, the sun light cutting through the modern steel interior. Brian is already seated in a p

CHAPTER 80

Chapter 80 Christine The world always seems to find out before I do.By the time I reach my office that morning, the headlines are already everywhere in the company flashing across news feeds, investor bulletins, social media threads that dissect every word like blood in the water.“Brian hale exposed; Financial sabotage within Dreamspace uncovered.”“Whistleblower inside source; Christaina Paige’s husband company Adrian kellerhams Adove protect Dreamspace assets . Is this declaration of love ?”“Christine kellerham formerly Paige ; The woman at the center of corporate scandals.” My name again. Always my name.Angela comes to her office she looks pale as she sets a stack of newspapers on my desk. “I tried to stop the reporters, Christy but they’ve been calling nonstop since sunrise. They’re saying—”“I’ve seen it,” I interrupt softly, fingers tightening around the paper. “Thank you, Angela. You can take the rest of the day off.”She hesitates, worry clouding her eyes. “Are you sur

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