บททั้งหมดของ The Wife He Never Loved : บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Kyle’s POVThe call came at 9:47 AM. I was in my office working on something when my phone lit up with her name.Aria.I let it ring twice then three times. I made her wait just long enough to feel desperate.Then I answered.“Hey, you.” I kept my voice warm,and concerned. “Everything okay?”“Kyle, I…” She stopped. Took a breath. “Are you busy? I’m sorry to bother you, I just…”She sounded frantic. Worried. Exactly how I needed her.I smiled at the ceiling.“You’re never a bother. What’s wrong?”“It’s the gallery. Everything’s falling apart.” The words tumbled out. “The Hartwell Foundation pulled its funding this morning. Three million dollars. And Daniel Voss backed out of the exhibition. And my assistant quit. All in one day.”I let the silence stretch, for a while, her anxiety was so delicious it felt like I was going to cum by just listening to her sound so worried.“Kyle? Are you there?”“I’m here.” I stood and walked to the window. “I’m just trying to process. That’s… that’s a

Jason’s POVThe cigarette burned between my fingers. I quit smoking five years ago, right after Isabelle died. I started again three days ago when the stress became too much to manage without something to do with my hands.The television flickered in the corner of my study. It seems all I watch these days is the financial news. I wasn’t really watching it..Then the headline scrolled across the bottom of the screen:“Myles Gallery in Crisis - Questions About CEO Aria Myles’s Competence”I sat forward.The anchor was talking about the article. Reading select quotes. Showing that photo of Aria from her board meeting.The irony was almost funny.“Industry insiders suggest the gallery was sustained through quiet financial support from Hartley Industries during Ms Myles’s marriage to CEO Jason Hartley…”I took a drag from the cigarette. That part was true, actually. Sort of.Hartley Industries had invested in several arts organizations over the past three years. Tax write-offs, mostly. Go

Aria’s POV A young woman in the third row raised her hand. “Ms Myles, do you believe yesterday’s crisis was someone trying to sabotage you?”I paused. If I were being honest, I felt like that is what happened. Instead, I smiled and faced her.“I believe the art world is competitive. I believe people make strategic decisions. Whether those decisions were coordinated against this gallery specifically…” I shrugged. “That’s above my pay grade. What I know is that we solved every problem. And we’re moving forward.”Kyle’s expression didn’t change, but something in his eyes looked pleased.After the press had left and Thomas was fielding follow-up calls, Kyle and I stood in the main gallery space.“You did well,” he said.“I survived. All thanks to you Kyle.”“You did more than survive.” He walked to one of the empty pedestals. “You won.”I joined him. Looked at where Marina’s sculpture would eventually sit.“I couldn’t have done this without you.”“Yes, you could have. You just didn’t ha

Jason’s POVThe office was dark except for the desk lamp casting shadows across papers I hadn’t touched in days.I lit another cigarette. The ashtray was already full…a mountain of crushed butts and ash that my assistant would definitely comment on tomorrow. Or today. I’d lost track of what day it even was.The smoke burned going down. I didn’t care. Needed something to do with my hands besides throw things or punch walls.My computer screen glowed with unopened emails. Contracts waiting for review. Deals that needed my attention. I couldn’t focus on any of it.Every time I tried to read a document, I saw her face instead. Aria on that news broadcast, confident and powerful, announcing funding for her gallery. Aria at her board meeting, firing executives and taking control. Aria is everything I’d never let her be when she was mine.I took another drag and pinched the bridge of my nose. A headache had been building for hours. Or maybe days. Time felt strange lately.The office door o

Kyle’s POVBy five PM I’d read Claire Donovan’s entire digital history three times.Her LinkedIn showed job changes. Marketing positions at increasingly prestigious firms. There was absolutely nothing remarkable there.Her Facebook was more interesting. It had photos from college with Aria. Trip to Barcelona last year. A relationship status change from six months ago: “Single.”I clicked deeper and found older posts. Photos with women that looked too intimate to be just friendly. And the comments confirmed what I’d suspected.Claire was bisexual.And she was newly single.And she was back in New York reconnecting with her “oldest friend.”I leaned back in my chair and stared at the screen.This was a problem.Not just a friend. A potential romantic threat. Someone who’d known Aria before Jason. And even before me.My jaw clenched.I closed the laptop and checked Aria’s location again. Still at the restaurant. They’d been there for four hours now.Four hours that didn’t involve me.Fou