Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 211 - Chapitre 220

Sienna’s POV I watched Desmond’s father step into my home like he already owned it.He didn’t rush. He didn’t look around in curiosity. He simply entered — composed, deliberate, expensive. His silver hair was perfectly styled, his suit cut with quiet authority. He carried power the way other men carried briefcases.Desmond stood beside me, close but not touching.“Father,” he said evenly.“Desmond.”His father’s gaze shifted to me.So this was the man who once decided I would be leverage.He studied me in silence — not rudely, but clinically. As if assessing an acquisition.“You must be Alessia Marino,” he said at last.“I prefer Sienna,” I replied calmly.A faint smile touched his lips. “Of course you do.”We moved into the sitting area. I dismissed the staff with a look. No audience.No weakness.“I didn’t expect you until tomorrow,” Desmond said.“I prefer to see things before they are staged,” his father answered.Meaning he wanted to catch us unprepared.He folded his hands over

Sienna’s POVI didn’t sleep.Desmond did.Or at least he pretended to.His breathing had been steady beside me, his arm heavy around my waist like nothing in the world was threatening to split us apart. But I could feel the tension in him even in the dark. It sat in the room like a third presence — quiet, patient, waiting.Seventy-two hours.That was what he had.Which meant that was what I had too.The sun had barely risen when I slipped out of bed. The penthouse felt colder this morning, even with the golden light stretching across the marble floors. I wrapped my robe tighter around myself and walked toward the balcony.From up here, the city looked harmless. Cars were just tiny moving pieces. Buildings were just glass and steel.You couldn’t see betrayal from this height.You couldn’t see manipulation.You couldn’t see the fact that I had somehow fallen for a man who might destroy my past and call it strategy.I heard the bedroom door slide open behind me.“You left,” Desmond said.

Sienna’s POVThe news spreads faster than I can breathe.By 12:07 a.m., Desmond’s name is trending. By 12:10, the narrative has already shifted from corporate rivalry to compromised leadership. By 12:15, they’ve turned him into a man ruled by emotion.Ruled by me.I’m still standing in the living room when the second alert flashes across his phone.Board Accuses CEO of Withholding Evidence for Personal Relationship.The word relationship feels like a spotlight.Desmond doesn’t react immediately. He just stares at the screen, jaw tight, eyes unreadable.“They moved fast,” I whisper.“They were prepared,” he corrects.Of course they were.This wasn’t retaliation born from anger.It was retaliation born from expectation.They knew he might choose me.And they built a punishment for it.My chest tightens.“This is my fault.”He turns to me sharply.“No.”“If I hadn’t—”“No,” he repeats, firmer now. “This was inevitable the moment I hesitated. You didn’t cause that.”“But I am the reason y

Sienna’s POVThe elevator ride down feels longer than it should.No one speaks.Desmond’s phone remains in his hand, the screen dark now, but the headline burned into both our minds.Anonymous Financial Backer Linked to Roth Holdings Under Investigation.It wasn’t subtle.It wasn’t random.It was surgical.Gabriel.I feel it in my bones.When the elevator doors open into the lobby, flashes hit us immediately. Reporters weren’t here for the board meeting. They were here because someone tipped them off about internal instability.They didn’t expect us to walk out together.“Mr. Roth! Is it true you withheld evidence?”“Miss Hale! Are you influencing corporate decisions?”“Are you aware of the investigation into Roth Holdings?”Desmond’s hand slides to the small of my back.Steady.Protective.We don’t stop walking.Outside, the car is already waiting.Once inside, the doors shut out the noise, but not the weight of it.“That wasn’t your father,” I say quietly.“No.”“You’re sure?”“Yes.

Desmond’s POVGabriel didn’t just strike.He calculated the tremor point.Three subsidiaries under immediate review. One shell structure flagged. Regulatory attention redirected not at me — but at my father’s foundation.It’s precise.Annoyingly precise.I stand in my office while the legal team briefs me through a secure call. Words like compliance inquiry, forensic audit, and temporary freeze float through the air like controlled explosions.“Is there exposure?” I ask.“Not criminal,” my chief counsel replies carefully. “But aggressive structuring could be interpreted as concealment.”Concealment.That’s the word regulators love.“Who initiated the inquiry?” I ask.“Unofficially? It appears linked to documentation submitted anonymously.”Gabriel.He didn’t guess.He had something.“Trace the source,” I say.“We’re trying.”The call ends.I don’t move immediately.Behind me, I hear Sienna’s quiet footsteps.“Worse than you expected?” she asks.“No.”That’s the truth.It’s exactly as