Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Slept With The Wrong Man: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

~ Seraphina ~“You need to look at the liabilities column first, Seraphina,” Lucien said, his voice a low vibration that seemed to travel through the very chair I sat in.I leaned closer to the large digital tablet spread across the mahogany desk. The screen was filled with rows of numbers and legal terminology that once would have made my head spin. Now, under Lucien’s steady guidance, they were starting to look like what they actually were: weapons. We were in his private study, a room that smelled faintly of cedar and the expensive espresso he had been sipping for the last two hours.“The liabilities,” I repeated, trying to keep my voice as steady as his. I traced a finger along a line of debt. “This is the offshore account Adrian used for the ‘Vale Foundation’ contributions, isn’t it? The one from the flash drive.”“Exactly,” Lucien confirmed. He moved his hand, and for a moment, the world seemed to stop. His palm covered mine, his long fingers pressing my hand down against the gl

~ Lucien ~ The air on the glass-walled terrace of the Pierre Hotel was a blade of ice, a welcome relief from the stifling, perfume-heavy heat of the ballroom behind me. I stepped out, the heavy glass door clicking shut with a mechanical finality that severed the sound of the string quartet to a dull, rhythmic throb. I didn’t look at the view of Central Park or the glittering, indifferent skyline of Manhattan. I had no interest in the architecture of the city tonight. I was tracking a single target. I found her at the far end of the terrace. Seraphina was standing by the waist-high stone railing, her silhouette framed by the cold, electric glow of the city below. She was wearing a dark silk dress that shimmered like spilled oil, but the expensive fabric couldn’t mask the way her shoulders were pulled tight, a defensive instinct she still hadn't fully unlearned. She held a champagne glass in her right hand, her knuckles white against the stem, but the liquid remained untouched. She w

~ Lucien ~"I'm not asking for your permission, Lucien, I'm telling you what I’ve already done." Seraphina’s voice, sharp as a glass shard, echoed in my mind even as I stared at the dark, rain-streaked windows of the Blackwood Tower. She had developed a taste for autonomy that was becoming a variable I couldn’t solve. At the Pierre, we had presented the image of a united front—me, the silent anchor; her, the wronged wife finding her strength. We had walked through that ballroom like royalty reclaiming a stolen kingdom, but the moment the elevator doors had closed, she had retreated into that familiar, frigid shell.She was still looking for the bars of the cage. Even after I’d handed her the digital keys to Adrian’s destruction—the forensic evidence of his fraud and the paper trail of his infidelities—she stood in the center of the room, waiting for the lock to click. I could see it in the way she held her shoulders, the way she refused to meet my eye once the cameras were gone. She

~ Lucien ~The blue light from the monitors was the only thing illuminating my office. I sat in my leather chair, my hands folded under my chin. On the largest screen, a grainier security feed played. It showed the private boardroom at Vale Headquarters. Seraphina was there. She was sitting across from the Chairman of the Board.She looked small in that massive room, but she didn’t look weak. She looked like she owned the air she was breathing.I should have been furious. I had a team of the best lawyers and security experts in the country. We had a plan. We had a timeline. Seraphina was supposed to wait for my signal. Instead, she had walked into the lion’s den alone. She had bypassed my security and used her own clearance to strike at Adrian from the inside. She had gone rogue. She had put herself, and our child, in a position where I couldn't immediately reach her.“What are you doing, Seraphina?” I whispered to the empty room.My fingers tightened against each other. Usually, when

~ Lucien ~"Where do you think you're going, Adrian?"I didn't scream the words. I didn't have to. My sedan drifted into a sideways halt, the tires screaming against the wet pavement. I didn't wait for the car to fully stop before I kicked the door open. The smell of burnt rubber and rain-soaked asphalt hit me instantly, mixing with the sharp scent of ozone in the air.Across the narrow, dead-end alley, Adrian’s silver Mercedes was pinned against a soot-stained brick wall by two of my black security SUVs. The high beams cut through the drizzle, casting long, shaky shadows that danced against the trash bins. Adrian was already out of his car. His hand was shaking so violently I could hear the metal of the gun rattling against his wedding ring. He pointed the barrel at the black sedan where Seraphina sat, trapped behind the glass."Stay back, Lucien!" Adrian yelled. His voice was high and thin, like a wire stretched until it was ready to snap. "She’s mine! She’s my wife! You don't get t