جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 139

SEBASTIAN'S POVThe word exploded from my throat before I could even think about it."NO!"My mother's face went rigid with shock. Isabella's head slowly snapped up from where she sat on the bed, her tear-stained face twisted with confusion and betrayal."What did you just say?" "I said no." I took a step back from my mother, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I'm not killing anyone. And neither are you.""Sebastian—""Are you out of your mind?" I couldn't stop myself now, the words pouring out in a rush. "You're talking about MURDER, Mother! You're talking about killing a woman who's done nothing wrong except—""Done nothing wrong?" My mother's laugh was sharp and filled with bitterness. "She's stolen eight hundred and fifty million dollars from this family! She's allied herself with Nicholas—that bastard son who has no right to the Lancaster name—and together they now control fifty percent of the company shares! How is that NOTHING?""Grandma Mae gave her that money! Those shares

VANESSA'S POVThe next morning, I suddenly woke to the insistent buzzing of my phone on the nightstand.Groaning, I reached for it, squinting against the morning light coming in through the curtains. The screen was lit up with notifications—dozens of them, maybe hundreds, all pinging at once.What the hell?I unlocked my phone and my stomach dropped.News articles. Social media posts. Text messages from numbers I didn't even recognize. All of them about the same thing:"Nicholas Lancaster's Wife Inherits $850 Million From Family Matriarch""Vanessa Lancaster Almost Becomes A Billionaire Overnight: Mae Lancaster's Shocking Will""BREAKING NEWS: Nicholas Lancaster's Wife Receives 20% of Lancaster Global Industries"My hands trembled as I scrolled through the headlines, each one more invasive than the last. But it was the comments that made my blood run cold."The gold digger finally hit the jackpot. I bet she was counting down the days until the old woman died.""Vanessa married into th

VANESSA'S POVThe boardroom doors swung open, and my breath caught in my throat.This was it.The moment we'd been working toward for seven years.The massive room was exactly as I remembered from months ago—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, a gleaming mahogany table that could seat twenty, leather chairs that probably cost more than most people's cars. Ten board members were already seated around the table, their eyes turning toward us as we entered.But Sebastian wasn't there.I felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. Part of me had been bracing myself to see him, to face him in this same space where he'd built his empire on my broken back."Mr. Lancaster, Mrs. Lancaster," the board chairman—a distinguished man in his sixties with grey hair—stood to greet us. "Thank you for coming.""Of course," Nicholas said smoothly, his hand still warm on my lower back.Then the chairman's eyes shifted to Nicholas, and something in his expression changed."Mr. Lancaster

VANESSA'S POVThe sun had already set by the time we left Lancaster Global headquarters.Nicholas's hand rested on the small of my back as we walked through the lobby—a gesture that had become so natural over the past seven years that I barely noticed it anymore. Except tonight, I noticed everything. I noticed the warmth of his palm through the fabric of my dress. The subtle scent of his cologne. The way people's eyes followed us as we passed.We'd won.After seven years of careful planning, of playing our roles, of building this elaborate revenge plot brick by brick—we'd finally won.Tomorrow, the board would officially announce Nicholas Lancaster as the new CEO of Lancaster Global Industries. Sebastian would be stripped of everything he'd taken for granted, everything he'd thought was his birthright.It was everything we'd worked for.Everything I'd wanted since the day Sebastian destroyed me. So why did I feel like something was ending instead of beginning?Nicholas's driver pulled

VANESSA'S POVI woke up to sunlight coming in through the curtains and Nicholas's arm wrapped across my waist.For a moment, I just lay there, enjoying the warmth of his body against mine, the steady rhythm of his breathing, and the weight of his arm holding me close.Last night had been so perfect.After Nicholas had slid that beautiful ring onto my finger, after we'd kissed until we were both breathless and dizzy, we'd slept off.And I'd slept better than I had in years.I lifted my left hand, watching the diamond ring catch the morning light.It was beautiful.A smile slowly spread across my face.My late father would have loved this.He had been killed in a hit-and-run accident when I was twenty-three—just two years before I'd met Sebastian. A drunk driver had run a red light and left my father dying in the street before fleeing the scene. They'd never caught the person responsible.I wished my father could have been here to see how my life had turned out despite everything. To kn