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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Divorce That Made Me A Billionaire : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

235 Kabanata

Chapter 31

VICTORIAI didn’t move for a long time. I just stared at the cufflink like it was some kind of trap. My heart started beating way too fast, thumping against my ribs like it wanted out. The name inside the cufflink was the only thing on my mind at this point.Rhodes. But not in Trent’s handwriting. Trent wrote in smooth, lazy loops, like he didn’t care about anything. This handwriting was sharp, clean, and older.I knew the second I saw it that it was Daniel Rhodes.Trent’s father. The man who had vanished before I got married into the Rhodes family. The man who was supposed to be dead. The man they said died in a yacht accident that was so quiet and so strange that I always thought there was more to it. Trent never talked about him. Not really. Not unless he had a drink in his hand and a bad night behind him.I ran my fingers over the letters again, slowly and carefully, like they might cut me. My stomach twisted. My mouth felt dry. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want another ghost from

Chapter 32

VICTORIAI didn’t feel my hands for a moment. They just sat on my lap while I stared at the screen like it wasn’t real. Daniel Rhodes was alive walking somewhere in the world, breathing and wearing the same symbol that showed up in my Paris dressing room. It made no sense. My mind tried to grab onto something steady, but nothing stayed still long enough.Clark cursed under his breath the second he saw the photo. His voice came out sounding very hard like even he couldn’t believe it. “He’s been dead for almost ten years,” he said.But the picture was right there. It looked clear and recent. It was the kind of picture one got when walking past a security checkpoint without paying attention. He didn’t look older, maybe a little thinner with sharper eyes. But he was alive. Very alive.My knees just stopped working, and I sat down before I fell. The chair felt like it came out of nowhere. I gripped the sides of it and tried to breathe. Everything inside me felt numb, cold, and wrong.Elio

Chapter 33

VICTORIAI didn’t wait for anyone. The second Elio showed me the bullet, I grabbed my coat and stormed out of the studio like the whole building was on fire. My feet hit the floor hard with every step. I didn’t care who stared at me. I didn’t care who moved out of the way. I just needed to get home. I needed to see the place where I slept. I needed to know what else had been touched.Clark and Elio just followed right behind me. They didn’t even try to talk. They just moved with that same hard look on their faces, both armed and ready to tear the world apart if they had to. I could hear the tension in their steps. They were angry or the loud kind, but the quiet and dangerous kind.My penthouse door flew open the moment I reached it. I didn’t even remember punching in the code. I just walked in quickly even though my chest felt really tight and my hands were shaking a little. If someone had been inside, and they wanted to scare me, or wanted me dead, this was the place they’d go. Thi

Chapter 34

VICTORIAI stared at the screen, my stomach twisting into a hard knot. Diana was still there, tied up, shaking, a gag over her mouth. Daniel Rhodes sat beside her like he was inviting me over for tea. His smile was calm, polite, casual even, and it made my skin crawl. Every inch of him screamed control. Every motion he made said he was used to having people like me follow his rules. And right now, I felt the pull of the world he wanted me to step into, the one where he wrote the rules and everyone else obeyed.Clark grabbed my phone fast, moving like he didn’t trust a second of what I might do. He barked orders at the guards, telling them to sweep the building, check every network connection, and every security feed. Elio bent over his laptop, already tracing the video’s origin, typing fast, and muttering numbers and locations. But I wasn’t thinking like a victim anymore. Not now. My mind switched gears instantly. I was thinking like a woman who had built an empire out of ashes. I w

Chapter 35

VICTORIAI staggered back, coughing as the smoke settled around us. The heat of the flames still lingered in the air, though the fire itself was slowly dying. Sparks floated around the hallway, and the acrid smell of burnt metal and dust filled my lungs. I forced myself to breathe slowly because panicking now wouldn’t help. I had to think. Every part of me screamed to run or collapse into Clark’s arms, but I refused. I was Victoria Hale, CEO, survivor, and a woman who had gone from being a naive wife with nothing to being untouchable. I wouldn’t crumble now. Not for Daniel Rhodes or for anyone.Clark reached for me immediately, his hands moving over my shoulders and waist, checking for injuries. His touch was careful, but I noticed it was lingering longer than necessary. There was tension in his shoulders, and I could feel his heartbeat thudding too fast through the thin fabric of my blouse as he pressed his palms slightly against my sides. My skin prickled under his touch, and I ha

Chapter 36

VICTORIA I swallowed hard, aware of the electricity running between us. “I don’t belong to anyone,” I whispered, though my breath hitched when he ran a finger along my jaw, tilting my face toward him. His touch was light, almost teasing, yet still deliberate. My body responded despite my mind, and my heart thundered. He leaned closer, and I could feel the heat of his chest against mine, and how intoxicating his scent was. Suddenly. I could feel the desire in the space between us. My pulse quickened, but before anything could happen and the moment could become more, Elio’s voice cut in, filling the room. “Victoria, Clark. We have new intel.” His tone was urgent and clipped. My heart sank, and I stepped back, shaking off the sudden tension with Clark. He glanced at me, his green eyes filling with both relief and frustration. Elio spun his laptop around, the screen displaying live feeds and various angles from the industrial district. My stomach tightened as he spoke. “Daniel hir

Chapter 37

CLARK The footage froze on Daniel dragging Diana by the wrist. Her cries were sharp even through the speakers. But it wasn’t her voice that made something violent snap inside my chest. It was him. Daniel Rhodes, looking completely sure of himself. And worst of all, he was daring Victoria to chase him.My eyes moved to her. She leaned closer to the screen, her jaw looking tight, while her eyes burned with the kind of focus that made everyone step back. Victoria in this mode was dangerous. She looked like a hunter who wouldn’t stop until she got her answer. It scared me sometimes, how she walked straight into danger as if she was immune to it. I knew she wasn’t. I knew how much she could lose. And the idea of Daniel pulling her into his games made something cold settle deep inside me.“Clark,” she said quietly. “Get the car.”I didn’t argue. I didn’t ask what she was planning. I only grabbed her bag and walked her out, with bodyguards trailing behind us. As she moved I knew her mind w

Chapter 38

VICTORIAThe second the guard said someone was in my closet, my whole body snapped into motion. I didn’t even wait for Clark to speak. I headed straight for the private garage with fast steps, my heart banging hard but not from fear. I was angry. Really angry. I hated the idea of someone walking into the one space that felt like mine. The thought of any strange person tampering with it made something sharp twist itself inside me.Clark kept pace behind me with long strides while guards rushed around us. The car ride felt slower than usual, like the air was too thick. My hands curled into fists as I watched other cars speed by. Clark was beside me, his jaw looking tight, his chest rising fast like he was trying not to punch the wall.When the doors opened, I didn’t wait. I quickly took the elevator to the penthouse, and when the guards opened the door for us, the living room was dark except for the lights from the security screens. A guard held up an iPad with the closet feed, and I s

Chapter 39

VICTORIADaniel spun the silver scissors slowly, letting the metal catch the light like he was proud of it. He looked too calm, and too sure of himself, and that alone made something hot rise under my skin. Diana shook in the chair behind him. Her wrists were tied, her mouth was covered, and her mascara was running all over her face. She kept trying to talk through the gag, but it only came out as little cries. I didn’t feel sorry for her. I only felt angry that Daniel used her as another way to get to me.I leaned closer to the screen. The background looked plain at first, but the more I stared, the more things jumped out at me. There was a rough brick wall behind her. Thick rusted pipes ran along the ceiling. I could hear a low hum, like weak generators struggling to stay alive. The place wasn’t big, and it wasn’t polished. It looked old, like an abandoned factory or storage unit. I made myself note every detail, every sound, and every shadow.Clark tried to turn the screen away fr

Chapter 40

TRENTStanding in front of Victoria felt like standing in front of a mirror that showed every bad choice I had ever made. I felt her anger hit me before she even spoke. It came off her in waves. She crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and looked at me like I was something she had already beaten and left behind. It felt like I wasn’t worth chasing or worth fixing.She looked powerful, calm, and sharp, nothing like the woman I once controlled with silence and raised voices. Nothing like the woman I hurt.If I could go back in time, I would stop myself. I would stop the slaps. I would stop the lies. I would stop the night I told her I never loved her. I would stop choosing pride over decency. Over her. But regret couldn’t save anyone. And right now, this wasn’t about my guilt.This was about survival. Hers and mine.I told her Daniel was coming for her because of something I did years ago. Something she never knew. Her eyes narrowed just a bit, though they still looked sharp and focused,

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