บททั้งหมดของ Bound by Contract, Freed by Love: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Dominic's POVI woke before dawn and read the overnight brief on my phone. The markets had been jittery, but the real pressure was in the creditor list that wanted answers. The CFO had called an emergency meeting. I dressed and went in with two thoughts: be clear, and do not let panic become policy.Percival met me in the conference room and handed me a cup of coffee. He did not smile. He never smiled when he had a stack of motions on his desk. I set my cup down and looked at the faces arriving: senior finance, a couple of major creditors, the audit lead. They all had the same look—people who handled numbers for a living and suddenly felt the ground move under them.“We appreciate you coming,” the chair said as I took my place at the head of the table. “We need to understand exposure. There’s talk of frozen lines abroad. We need to know how liquid we are and what contingencies you have.”I nodded. “You will get facts,” I said. “We will not speculate. We will show you what counsel has

Elena's POVI signed the affidavit with steady hands. My pen made a small sound as it moved across the paper. The final stroke felt like closing a door. I folded the document and slid it into the folder. The folder felt heavier than the paper. It held what I would say under oath.Ms. Alvarez sat opposite me and watched without much expression. Her presence was calm and exact. She had been in courtrooms longer than I had been alive. That steadied me.“Are you certain about the dates?” she asked.“Yes,” I said. My voice did not shake. “I logged them the day I found the envelope. I wrote times and file names. Corbin saw me hand over the originals. Forensics time-stamped the images.”“Good,” she said. “Keep the lines short. Do not explain. Answer questions. Do not volunteer. If they ask why you did not go to regulators first, say you followed counsel’s advice to preserve chain of custody. That is all.”Percival came in to witness the signature. He read the top line and then looked at me.

Percival's POVI arrived at the office before dawn. The city was still soft and dim. Papers waited on my desk like small tasks that would not do themselves. I poured coffee and opened my inbox. The first message was from defense counsel: emergency motion to broaden discovery, filed this morning.I read it twice. Then I called Laurent.“They asked for everything,” I said when he picked up. “All private communications, full device images, anything Elena ever touched. They phrase it as relevance to credibility. It’s a fishing expedition.”Laurent’s voice was steady. “We expected this. They will try to make process the story. They want to intimidate your witness and to force publicity.”“Then we have to act now,” I said. “Draft a short reply. Oral argument first. We keep the reply tight and legal. No performance.”He agreed. “I’ll have a draft in an hour. Ms. Alvarez will shape the oral points.”I sent a message to Ms. Alvarez with the motion attached. She called back in five.“This is ha

Dominic's POVI signed the authorization and slid it across Percival’s desk. My hand did not shake. I had done worse things in calmer rooms. He looked at the paper, then at me, then back at the paper.“You sure?” he asked.“As sure as I can be,” I said. “We will move him tonight. Quietly. No press. No paper trail outside counsel and security.”Percival nodded. He made the call to our security desk before I left the room. He spoke in clipped sentences that sounded like commands. I listened to the line and felt the machine start.I called Corbin next. He picked up on the second ring.“We need to relocate Harrow,” I said. “Safe house. Discreet transport. Lawyers present for testimony prep. Full protection.”“I already thought of that,” Corbin said. “I have a team ready. Castillo will handle movement. Reyes can meet the convoy at the border if we need to cross jurisdictions. Do you want the safe house on or off the grid?”“Off the grid,” I said. “Low profile. No branded cars. No uniforms.

Elena's POVI rode in a small black car with Ms. Alvarez and Corbin. The driver kept the windows down a crack. We did not talk much in the back. My fingers closed around the folder like it was something I needed to hold steady.“You ready?” Ms. Alvarez asked, and her voice was quick and practical.“Yes,” I said. The word came out thin. I had said it many times and meant it in the same way: I was ready to tell facts, not stories.Corbin checked his tablet. “We ran the file one more time. All exhibits are redacted where necessary. Harrow’s audio and the voucher scans are in the packet. Everything is logged.”“Good,” Ms. Alvarez said. “Remember—short answers. If the judge asks anything we did not prepare for, tell him you will need counsel present to answer. No speculation.”I nodded. The rule had become muscle. Facts only. Protect the witness. Protect the clinic.We walked up the courthouse steps in a line that meant something to people who watched: counsel, forensics, the woman who had