บททั้งหมดของ Falling for the Disgraced Heir: บทที่ 71 - บทที่ 80

Flames still clawed at the courthouse ruins when Julia and Brandon arrived, the night sky stained orange with smoke. Firefighters shouted orders through the haze, boots slamming against puddles of soot-soaked water. The air tasted bitter—burned wood, melted plastic, and the quiet death of truth.Brandon pushed past the caution tape before anyone could stop him. “My files were in there,” he said, voice hoarse. “Everything we had. Everything that could clear—”“Brandon, wait.” Julia grabbed his arm, but his eyes were fixed on the crumbling doorway like a man watching his past collapse in real time.Arthur arrived seconds later, breathless. “They’re calling it a structural malfunction,” he said. “Which means someone wanted this to look like an acci

The world narrowed to the rhythmic beep of machines and the burn of too-bright hospital lights. Julia sat frozen in the hard plastic chair, her fingers still trembling from where they’d pressed against her mother’s still body minutes earlier. Her breath came in thin, shaky gasps. Every time she blinked, she saw her mother falling, collapsing, fading.Brandon didn’t speak—he simply knelt in front of her, his hands gently cupping her arms, grounding her. His thumbs brushed her skin in slow, steady circles, as if he could hold her together through touch alone.“She’s alive,” he whispered. “She’s here, Julia. She’s still here.”But Julia stared past him, eyes unfocused. “I should’ve noticed. I should’ve known.”

Arthur didn’t bother sitting; he stood in the center of the small hospital waiting room like a man bracing for impact. “The new charges aren’t just against Brandon,” he said, voice low and steady. “They’re aimed at Julia.”Brandon froze mid-step. “What?”Arthur lifted his tablet, turning the screen toward them. “Fraud. Manipulation. Coercion. They’re accusing her of exploiting your family for financial gain.”Julia felt the world tilt—slow, sickening. “That’s impossible. They can’t—”“They already did,” Arthur cut in gently. “And they’re pushing it to the corporate board by morning.”The ro

Brandon doesn’t wait. The moment the evidence finishes printing, he grabs the papers with a trembling hand and heads straight for the Hughes tower. Julia calls after him, but he doesn’t slow, not even when Arthur says, “I’ll go with you.”He shakes his head. “This is mine.” The elevator doors close around him, sealing in a storm that’s been building for years. Mr. Hughes is already in his office when Brandon walks in—spread of morning newspapers, black coffee untouched, three screens lit with financial reports. He doesn’t look up.“So,” his father says calmly, “you’ve finally remembered where you belong.”

The hospital room is too quiet. Too still. Julia sits beside her mother’s bed with her knees pulled close, one hand wrapped around Mrs. Bailey’s frail fingers as if her grip alone could keep the world from slipping. Outside, dawn creeps in—thin, pale, trembling through the blinds—but Julia hasn’t closed her eyes once.Her mother stirs. A small exhale. A twitch of her lashes.“Mom?” Julia straightens immediately, voice cracking from sleepless worry.Mrs. Bailey blinks slowly, meeting her daughter’s face with exhaustion softened by something gentler. “You’re still here,” she murmurs.“I’m not leaving you,” Julia whispers, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. “Not tonight. Not