Chapter 81: Daring Adrien

Elena's POVTwo Hours LaterI heard them arrive. Miguel's car pulling up. Doors closing. Footsteps on the stairs.I composed myself. Arranged my expression. Sat in the chair by the window.The door opened.And there he was.Adrien Sterling. My ex-husband. My former partner. My betrayer.He looked better than in the motel. He'd showered. Shaved. Changed into clean clothes Miguel must have brought him. But something in his eyes had changed.They weren't broken anymore.They were calculating.Assessing.The CEO was back.He saw me. Stopped in the doorway. Studied me for a long moment."Elena." His voice was steady. Controlled. Nothing like the broken man Miguel had found."Adrien." I stood slowly. "It's been a long timE.He walked into the room. Not hesitant. Not afraid. Just... observant. "You look different. Harder.""Exile does that.""Does it?" He moved to the window. Looked out at the city. "Or is this who you always were underneath? And I just never saw it?"I felt a flicker of som

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Chapter 82: The Deal

Elena's povAdrien continued: "Here's the truth. You need my testimony to guarantee Morgan's conviction. Without me, she might fight her way out. Might find a defense. Might survive." He sat down finally. "With me, she's done. But only if I testify the way you want. If I testify my way she has a chance.""You're threatening me.""I'm negotiating." He leaned back. "Take it or leave it. Either you agree to my terms real immunity, Morgan gets a defense narrative or I don't testify at all. I take my chances with prison. And Morgan fights this without my testimony hanging over her.""You'd go to prison for her?""Without hesitation."And I believed him.Because that's what love did to people. Made them stupid. Self-sacrificing. Weak.ExceptExcept Adrien didn't look weak right now.He looked like a man who'd calculated his leverage and was using it perfectly."You've thought this through," I said slowly."I had two years undercover to learn how to think strategically. How to play multiple

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Chapter 83: The message

Morgan's POVI woke up at 6 AM to vomit. I woke up with body pain and "morning sickness."It's been days since I noticed my pregnacy but the father is yet to know about it. How do I even raise my brows to tell him about the child after making him feel i dont love him? This is so difficult for me. How did I let my guard down to this point that I got defeated?Elena is hunting me so badly that I didn't see it coming.I cleaned up. Brushed my teeth for the third time. Looked at myself in the mirror.I was looking pale and exhausted.There were dark circles under my eyes that no amount of concealer could hide.A lot of things are happening to me in a short period of time.Pregnant with Adrien's child.Removed from my own company.Under federal investigation.Alone. Just alone.Completely, utterly alone.My phone buzzed from the bedroom.I ignored it. It had been buzzing nonstop since yesterday. Board members. Lawyers. Investors. Journalists.Everyone wants a piece of the story. How man

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Chapter 84: The War Room

Morgan's POVThe conference room at Whitmore & Associates occupied the entire forty-second floor of their Manhattan tower. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Marble table that could seat twenty. Every surface polished to perfection.The best legal defense money could buy.And I needed every dollar of it."Ms. Carmichael." Richard Whitmore stood as I entered. Senior partner. Sixty-three years old. Had defended three Fortune 500 CEOs through federal investigations. Won two cases. Negotiated a favorable plea for the third. "Thank you for coming."Like I had a choice.I nodded. Took my seat at the head of the table.Around me: six lawyers. The A-team. White-collar crime specialists. Constitutional experts. Former federal prosecutors who knew how the government built cases.This meeting was costing me fifty thousand dollars.Per hour."Let's begin," Whitmore said. "We've reviewed the federal complaint. The SEC warrant. The evidence summary. And I'll be frank it's extensive."He pulled up documents

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Chapter 85: Term Accepted.

Elena's POVI didn't sleep.Not because I was worried. Not because I was afraid.Because I was thinking.Calculating.Replaying every word of Adrien's negotiation. Every argument. Every counter. Every moment where he'd outmaneuvered me.He was good.That I had always known.I lay in bed. Staring at the ceiling. Listening to the safe house settled around me. Miguel is sleeping down the hall. Adrien in the room next to his.The man who'd been my very precious thing. My partnerNow my most valuable asset.And my most dangerous variable.Because Adrien Sterling with his mind fully engaged was unpredictable. Strategic. Capable of moves I hadn't anticipated.Like last night.He'd walked into that room broken. I'd expected desperation. Gratitude. Easy manipulation.Instead I'd gotten a negotiation.A brilliant one.He'd identified the trap in the immunity agreement within minutes. Had deduced my real plan the takeover from nothing but observation and logic. Had found his leverage and used it

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Semua Bab My Ex, My Ruin: Bab 81 - Bab 85

Chapter 81: Daring Adrien

Chapter 82: The Deal

Chapter 83: The message

Chapter 84: The War Room

Chapter 85: Term Accepted.