Semua Bab THE BILLIONAIRE WHO STOLE MY FIRST NIGHT: Bab 21 - Bab 30

The investigation took three days.Three days of being separated from Liam by corporate policy and legal protocol, three days of whispered speculation following me through the office, three days of sitting in HR interviews explaining how I'd gotten my job while lawyers took notes and security guards monitored my every move.Three days of morning sickness, escalating panic, and the crushing weight of Richard's ultimatum hanging over everything like a guillotine blade.By Friday afternoon, I was exhausted, terrified, and completely alone—because the one person who might have helped me navigate this nightmare was forbidden from even speaking to me until the investigation concluded."Evelyn, hey." A voice I vaguely recognized pulled me from my spiral. I looked up to find Tyler Chen from the Analytics department leaning against my desk, a sympathetic smile on his handsome face. "You doing okay? This whole investigation thing must be brutal.""I'm fine," I lied, because what else could I sa

I didn't sleep that night.Instead, I sat in Liam's penthouse—soon to be former penthouse, since marrying Richard meant moving back under his control—staring at Richard's contract spread across the dining table like a death warrant. Twelve pages detailing exactly how my life would be structured, controlled, dictated for the foreseeable future.Page three, clause seven: The wife agrees to resign from all employment and focus exclusively on household management and social obligations.Page five, clause twelve: All financial decisions require the husband's approval, including but not limited to purchases over $500, investments, and charitable donations.Page eight, clause nineteen: The wife acknowledges that the child to be born shall be legally recognized as the husband's legitimate offspring, with all rights and privileges thereof.That last one made my stomach turn. Richard wanted to claim my baby—Liam's baby—as his own. Wanted to erase the truth and rewrite reality to suit his narrat

The press conference changed everything.Liam stood at the podium in the Hawthorne Industries lobby at precisely eight o'clock, with me beside him—visible, present, undeniably his wife—and told the truth with devastating precision. He told them about Sara, about his guilt and grief. He told them about our night together before I was hired, about the accidental pregnancy, about Richard's blackmail and manipulation. He told them everything, stripping away every weapon Richard could have used.And then he looked directly into the cameras and said: "I love my wife. I loved her before she worked for me, and I'll love her long after this scandal fades into irrelevance. The only crime here is a bitter man trying to destroy two people because he couldn't control them."Richard's press conference an hour later was anticlimactic, his revelations already old news, his accusations defanged by our preemptive honesty. The media, sensing blood in the water, turned on him instead—questioning his moti

The hospital corridors smelled of antiseptic and desperation.I ran through them with my heels clicking against linoleum, my breath coming in gasps that had nothing to do with exertion and everything to do with the panic clawing at my throat. My mother was dying—or at least, that's what my father's devastated expression suggested when I found him in the ICU waiting room, his face gray and aged a decade since the gala."How is she?" I asked, even though I could read the answer in his eyes."Critical. The stress triggered a severe cardiac event. They're doing everything they can, but—" His voice broke. "Evelyn, if she doesn't make it, if this is the end—""It won't be." I forced conviction into my voice despite the guilt crushing my chest. "She's strong. She'll fight through this.""Will she?" His eyes met mine, accusatory despite their redness. "Or will she give up because her daughter chose a man over her family? Because the stress of your choices proved too much?"The words were kniv

My mother was dying, and she wanted to talk about my baby."How far along?" she whispered as I sat beside her hospital bed, her hand papery-thin in mine, the machines beeping their steady warnings around us."Six weeks now." I touched my still-flat stomach. "Morning sickness is brutal. The doctor says it might ease up after the first trimester.""It won't." Her smile was weak but genuine. "I was sick with you until month seven. Worth every moment though." She paused, gathering strength. "Does he know? Your husband?""Yes. He knows everything.""And he stayed." It wasn't a question. "That's how you know it's real. When they stay after seeing all of you—the messy, complicated, difficult parts."I thought of Liam in the parking garage, catching me as I collapsed. Liam running me a bath and washing my back with tender care. Liam promising to stand beside me regardless of the cost."He stayed," I confirmed quietly."Good." My mother's eyes drifted closed. "Your father never stayed. Not rea