Semua Bab His Forgotten Love Returns: The Return of the Ex-wife: Bab 1 - Bab 10

|| Rachel ||I lay on the bed as the doctor pressed the ultrasound wand against the cool gel on my abdomen. On the monitor, the grainy black-and-white swirls shifted. She moved the wand slowly as I closed my eyes, a single, hopeful tear tracing a path to my ear."Congratulations, you're having twins," the doctor announced.My eyes snapped open as she pointed a stylus at the monitor where, now clearly visible, were two perfect, distinct sacs nestled close together — rapid heartbeats pulsing side by side, undeniable proof of two lives."The babies are healthy. They’re both securely in there and developing right on schedule. Everything looks good."Tears prickled my eyes, blurring the sight of the two lives inside me. I couldn’t believe I was not only having one baby but two. Twins."Where is the father?" the doctor asked, looking at me over the rim of her thick, dark-rimmed glasses. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun."He's busy," I said, managing a sad, weak smile.She held my gaze

|| Slade || I stared at the engagement ring in my hand. The diamond glistened and burned with a blinding light, its brilliant-cut facets catching the sun. It reminded me of Rachel—of her eyes, the softest blue I’d ever seen. I couldn’t wait to go home and see her. I was going to propose to her, to marry me for real this time, once the contract ended, and finally show her to the world—and more importantly, to my family. I already had the papers ready: a new contract that bound us for life, not just for three years. My family had chosen someone else for me to marry, but I didn’t care. I never even asked who she was, because the one I wanted was Rachel. I loved the way she was—fiercely independent and capable at work, yet soft and vulnerable when she let her guard down with me. Even her jealousy was adorable, like when she asked if I had a fiancée and I said yes. I saw the message she sent me yesterday, saying she had signed the divorce agreement. I only told her yes because I c

|| Slade || It had been six painful years without Rachel, and when I lost her, she took a part of me with her. She didn’t just take my future; she took my ability to feel anything beyond cold, relentless ambition.Life moved on; my life moved on, but my soul didn’t. It stayed frozen in that apartment. Not once have I stopped blaming myself for leaving her—for choosing that trip to save my family’s company.Because that’s exactly what I did. My family’s company was failing, and I had to save it—and I did. For the past six years, I’ve used the pain of losing the only woman I’ll ever love to fuel my expansion, growing the company into one of the wealthiest in the world. Every new billion-dollar deal became another cold, empty monument to her absence.But no one ever replaced Rachel at the office as my secretary. I keep firing them, just like no one ever replaced her in my life.Because, just like always, everything is on my fucking shoulders. That’s what I was born for — to carry the we

|| Slade ||"Carissa has thirty-five percent of the company," Cale said, setting the laptop in front of me. The screen displayed a detailed, real-time breakdown of the company’s equity distribution—just what I'd asked him to dig into.Damn it. My mother had transferred a large portion of her shares to Carissa, leaving herself with only five percent. Beatrice had not only defied me, she had done it in a way that jeopardized my control.I still had more shares than Carissa, but thirty-five percent was enough to sway the board if she allied with other minority shareholders. That could give her effective control over key decisions. I couldn’t allow that. I had saved this company from the ground up, and I wasn’t going to be a puppet in my own empire.I had to find a way to get those shares back, but Carissa wouldn’t part with them willingly. She was too calculated, too aware of the leverage she now held over the Pierce family. And her insistence that I marry her daughter made it clear she

|| Rachel ||We arrived at the company. As I looked at the building, a jolt of dizzying familiarity hit me. For a split second, the bright colors of the night drained away, replaced by a flash of stark black and white—a phantom memory of a hurried, familiar entrance in daylight.Rick came to my side, opened the car door, and held my hand as I stepped out.Why does this place look so familiar, like I’ve been here before? Have I?I straightened my fawn dress, its soft color perfectly matching my skin tone. The simple, elegant cut made me feel both exposed and beautiful. With Rick’s hand resting lightly at the crook of my elbow, we entered the hall.It was a breathtaking spectacle of wealth and power: soaring ceilings glittering with chandeliers, tables in crystal and silver, and hundreds of sharply dressed guests mingling. The air buzzed with laughter, low chatter, and the delicate hum of a live orchestra.Almost immediately, people began looking at me strangely. Some stared outright, t