All Chapters of THE WIFE HE BETRAYED, THE WOMAN HE FEARS: Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

209 Chapters

Ignacio’s POV

Last Card to PlayThe cell smelled of rust, sweat, and old water.I had never noticed how loud silence could be until they locked me inside it.Every few seconds, some distant metal gate slammed shut. Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Men shouted from other cells. Someone laughed like a madman somewhere far down the block. Another cursed until his voice went hoarse.Animals!They had thrown me in with animals. I stood at the bars gripping the cold steel so hard my knuckles whitened. My jaw ached from clenching it through the night.I had not slept for even a minute. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it again.The conference hall, the screens, my face on camera, and my own voice offering Hayes money.The gasps!Sofia standing there with that smug, victorious expression while police officers closed in around me, then the handcuffs.My chest tightened so violently I had to force air into my lungs.No!This was temporary, a mistake. Men like me did not stay in prison. Men like me used

The Courtroom Trap

Sofia’s POVThe following week arrived with rain over the city, gray clouds hanging above the courthouse like even the sky wanted to witness what was coming.I stood at the top of the courthouse steps with Matteo beside me, my mother on one side, and Julian on the other. Cameras flashed the second we stepped out of the car. Reporters shouted my name from behind barricades, microphones raised high, voices crashing over one another like waves.“Miss Estaban, do you believe Ignacio will be convicted?”“Are you still CEO of Estaban Global?”“Is it true there was an attempted takeover?”“Did your uncle steal your inheritance?”I did not answer any of them. Today was not for soundbites, it was for war.Matteo’s hand brushed the small of my back as we climbed the steps. It was light, almost casual, but I knew what it meant. My mother looked pale, dressed in black despite the daylight. Julian had not shaved in days and looked like he wanted to tear the courthouse apart brick by brick.Insid

The Dead Return

Sofia’s POVThe courtroom was already in flames before Santoro even spoke.When he stepped through the side doors under police escort, every head turned so sharply it felt like the room itself had shifted. Reporters surged from their benches. Camera shutters exploded in frantic bursts. Whispers rose like smoke from every corner.Some people recognized him immediately, some needed a second, but once the realization spread, it moved like lightning.Santoro.My ex-husband. The disgraced golden heir who vanished after Lucia discarded him. The man many believed had fled the country, overdosed somewhere, or simply disappeared into the gutter where gossip said he belonged.Instead, he was here. Alive, thin, rough around the edges, but standing.He wore a clean suit that did not quite hide how hard the last months had been. His cheeks were hollow. His eyes carried shadows I had never seen when he was rich and adored, but there was something else in them now.Humility.He crossed the courtroo

The Last Descent

Isabella’s POVI stood in the witness box with every eye in the courtroom fixed on me, and for the first time in a long time, I understood what it meant to truly be seen.The room buzzed with disbelief, reporters whispering into microphones, cameras flashing so fast the light looked like lightning.Men and women leaned forward in their seats as though I were some ghost dragged back from the grave.I looked at Sofia first. She stood beside Matteo, calm and sharp in a cream suit, her chin lifted, her expression unreadable. She had once been the woman I wanted destroyed more than anyone else in the world.Now she was the reason I had enough courage to speak.“Order in this courtroom. State your name for the record.” The judge struck his gavel twice.“Isabella” I inhaled slowly.Another wave of murmurs tore through the room. Lucia stumbled backward into her chair. Mayor Eduardo’s face lost all color. Ignacio gripped the defense table so hard I thought his fingers might snap.“You were re

The Cost of Redemption

Sofia’s POVThe gunshot split the courtroom apart. For one suspended second, I saw nothing but white light and motion. Then something hot splashed across my face and chest.Gasps erupted around me, followed by screams so loud they seemed to shake the walls. I staggered backward, my hands flying to my body.Blood!There was blood all over me. It stained my blouse, splashed on my neck, and soaked my hands. My breath vanished, and my heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it would break through.I had been shot!That was the only thought my mind could form. I looked down wildly, expecting pain, expecting torn flesh, expecting my legs to collapse beneath me.But there was nothing, no burning wound, agony, or weakness, only shock.The courtroom had descended into madness. Reporters were diving behind benches, officers shouted commands over one another.Chairs were overturned, and people crawled across the floor trying to get away from the center aisle.“Sofia!” Matteo’s voice tor

What Remains in the Dark

Sofia’s POVBy the time we reached Matteo’s villa, I felt hollowed out. The crying had stopped somewhere during the drive, not because I was healed, but because grief had exhausted itself into silence. My body still shook in small bursts, the kind that came without warning. My hands were stiff with dried blood. My clothes clung to me, cold and stained. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Santoro falling. Matteo said nothing as he led me inside. The house was quiet in a way I had never heard before. Even the staff moved like shadows, speaking in murmurs, and stepping lightly. My mother had gone upstairs with Julian the moment we entered. Neither of them looked steady enough to speak. I barely noticed them pass.All I knew was Matteo’s hand at my back, guiding me forward.He took me to his bedroom, and I stood in the center of the room without moving, staring at nothing while he quietly opened drawers and cupboards. I heard water running in the bathroom, the clink of glass bottles,

The Fall into Filth

Lucia’s POVThe rain had stopped hours ago, but the cold had not. It clung to the dumping site like something alive, settling into every heap of trash, every broken appliance, every puddle of black water. Rotting fruit mixed with diesel fumes and damp earth. Flies drifted over torn bags of waste, and somewhere nearby a dog barked over scraps with another animal hidden in the dark.I sat on an overturned plastic crate and wrapped my arms around my knees. My body trembled so badly that my teeth clicked together each time the wind changed direction.My dress was destroyed. The red silk that had once turned heads and silenced rooms was now ripped along one side, stained with mud, courtroom dust, and the filth of the ground where I had fallen while running. The hem was torn. One shoulder strap hung loose. My hair, which had taken hours to perfect that morning, clung in wet knots around my face, and my makeup had become streaks beneath swollen eyes.My phone glowed weakly in my hand. Six

Justice at last

Sofia’s POVA month had passed since the courtroom turned into chaos, since gunfire shattered the air, since Santoro died in front of me with my name still on his lips.Thirty days of funerals, court filings, board meetings, interviews, damage control, sleepless nights, and trying to remember how to breathe like life was normal again.Some mornings I woke up thinking I was still in that courtroom with blood on my hands. Some nights I woke hearing Lucia scream that I ruined her life. Some afternoons I caught myself staring at empty spaces, expecting ghosts to walk through them, but time had moved anyway.The company had stabilized faster than analysts predicted. Estaban Global’s stock had dipped during the scandal, then surged once evidence became public and confidence returned. I worked twelve hours a day rebuilding divisions Ignacio had tampered with, replacing compromised executives, reopening stalled projects, and reassuring employees who had spent weeks afraid for their jobs.Ju

Ask for Her

Matteo’s POVThe morning after sentencing felt different.For the first time in months, I woke without urgency clawing at my chest. There were no emergency calls waiting, no legal disasters unfolding before sunrise, no fresh betrayal to contain. The city had finally exhaled, and with it, so had I.But peace did not mean I had nothing to do.In truth, I had never been more nervous in my life.I stood in front of the mirror in my dressing room adjusting the cuffs of a charcoal suit I had changed twice already. I had gone through three shirts before deciding on white. I had considered a tie, removed it, then put it back on again. By the time I finished, my valet had wisely disappeared so he would not have to witness a grown man lose composure over a woman.I looked at my reflection and almost laughed.I had negotiated multimillion-dollar acquisitions, faced armed men, dismantled corporate enemies, and walked into rooms full of people who wanted me ruined. None of that had made my hand

Say yes

Sofia’s POVBy six in the evening, my bedroom looked like a luxury boutique had exploded inside it. Garment bags hung from wardrobe doors, shoes in tissue paper lined the floor. Makeup cases stood open like treasure chests. Hair tools, brushes, perfume bottles, pins, powders, and palettes were scattered across every surface. Two stylists moved around me with urgency.And in the middle of all of it stood my mother, supervising like a queen preparing her daughter for coronation.“Sit still,” Mom said, swatting my hand away from my hair. “You keep touching everything.”“I would be calmer if someone explained why Matteo has turned me into a hostage.” I frowned. “You are not a hostage.” She glared at me. “I have been waxed, painted, polished, curled, and sprayed for three hours.” I complained.Sylvia, seated by the window sipping tea while getting her own makeup done for reasons she refused to explain.“You deserve this. You terrorize enough people daily.” she said.“Why are you dress

...

16 17 18 19 20 21

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP