جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 190

Lisa's POV“I do not know what to do,” I admitted. I thought of calling Andre and pushing this into the open. I thought of the truth being a door I could open or slam. The idea of dragging the past into the light felt dangerous. But the alternative of living inside a lie felt worse.“We do it the cautious way,” Riley said. “You do not answer him. We see what he does. If he shows up wanting to explain, we go together. If he sends proof, we look. If he lies, we will have our questions ready.”I wanted to nod and feel relief. I wanted the structure that would give me a path back to normal. Instead, I felt raw and tender and watchful. I wanted facts. I wanted time.I stayed at Riley’s that night. I let the messages pile up. I let the calls go to voicemail. I slept badly, waking to check my phone and then holding it like something that could bite. I woke every hour and thought of the ring on my dresser. I imagined the contract Diane spoke of like a paper with terms and conditions. The thou

Andre's POVI wanted to push back. I wanted to say he did not know the pressure. He did. He was my CFO. He knew the shape of threats. He had seen the ways a family empire could throw weight around. He also knew me. He knew I could not be reckless when the stakes included a life that might belong to me. But that did not make the choices simpler.“Go with her,” he said. “If you are worried it is fake, go to the hospital with her. Check the paperwork. Talk to the doctor. If she is lying, you will find out. If she is not lying, you will know how to be there and what to do next.”I stared at him for a long time. The room felt small, like a bowl I had been dropped into. Henry spoke the way men in my circle do when they want to be practical. He stopped the drama and asked for documents. In my life, that was the cleanest demand.“I do not want to throw another thing at Lisa,” I said. “She left the condo. She moved back to Riley’s. I saw her the day she caught me. I do not know how to explain

Diane's PovThe doctor watched us in the small room with papers on the desk. He had practiced the solemn look people think a doctor should have. I had paid him extra, and he had practiced being careful. He put a folder on the desk like he was offering a gift. He opened it, and his face did not change.“This is the scan,” he said.The paper was crisp. There were charts and a little print, and a name stamp. It had the kind of marks that make a statement look official. I kept my breath measured. I watched Andre’s face while the man spoke. He read the page, and then he looked at me with a softness that made my heart lift.“It seems all right,” he said. “We should do another check in a week.”Andre’s voice had an edge when he spoke. He sounded like a man who was trying to be the right kind of man. “I will come,” he said. “I will be here. I will make sure everything is fine.”The doctor nodded and then gave us a small packet with more made-up notes. He said he would file it and keep the rec

Andre's POV Six weeks.The number did not fit. It was wrong. It was all wrong.Now I started to remember other things. Small things I had ignored. When she first told me she was pregnant, I asked her to go to the doctor with her. She refused. She said she was not ready. She said she needed time. She gave me a doctor’s note instead. It was just a piece of paper.Then, her answers were always vague. How was she feeling? ‘Fine.’ What did the doctor say? ‘Everything is normal.’ She never wanted to talk about details. She just wanted to talk about us being a family.I felt a fool. A complete fool.Henry was right. I should have been more careful. I should have asked more questions. I let my guilt and my sense of duty blind me.I could not trust her words. I could not trust the doctor she chose. I had to find out the truth for myself.I started the car again. I drove to my hotel. I went up to my penthouse. The view of the city usually calmed me. Tonight, it did nothing.I had a plan. A pri

Lisa's POV The morning started like any other. I arrived early and opened my drawer. The Carter folder sat where I left it. I wanted the quiet hours to do the deep work. The numbers and receipts gave me a place to stand. Facts were steady. People were not.I was at my desk, reviewing a witness statement. The words were familiar, a comfortable distraction from everything else. My phone buzzed. It was Mr. Kenneth’s assistant.“You are needed in the conference room. Now.”A knot tightened in my stomach. I stood up and walked down the hall. I straightened my shirt and followed her down the hall. My steps sounded louder in that corridor. The conference room door stood open, and the light inside was cool. I walked into the conference room.Mr. Kenneth was there. So was David Ross. Ross was the campaign manager for Tom Carter. He did not like me. We had met before. His face was hard when I walked in.Kenneth was at the head of the table with a stack of papers and his laptop. He looked up