جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

Evan’s expression darkened. “So when exactly were you planning to get it done?”“I—I’ve been tied up handling the media storm around Madam Summer since yesterday…” Patrick’s voice trailed off the longer he spoke.Evan’s gaze had turned lethal. Cold. Venomous.Patrick swallowed immediately. “The inventory’s already been compiled. I’ll have the lawyers move on it right away.”He remembered something else he’d meant to report — but with Stella standing there, he decided against it and hurried out of the office.Stella struggled to break free from Evan’s arms.“If you don’t let go right now, I won’t be polite about it.”He dragged her to the sofa and forced her down into it.“You’re staying here today.”His tone was firm. Commanding. Not open to negotiation.She twisted her shoulder and shook off his hand.The way she recoiled from his touch made the bruise at his temple throb all over again.He turned away, went behind his desk, and dropped into his chair. He lit a cigarette a

On the other end of the call, Dora forced herself to stay calm.“She’s sick. She has severe depression. What exactly are you asking her to be satisfied for?“You think she actually wants to see you? She just wants to see your face. You and your brother are identical twins. That’s all it is.“Don’t give me that attitude. She hasn’t eaten since yesterday. Just come to the hospital. Sit there until she finishes a meal, then go do whatever you want.”Dora didn’t have the energy to argue about Stella right now.All she wanted was to stabilize Summer.Even that, apparently, was too much to ask.Evan’s voice turned colder.“Stop ordering me around. If she doesn’t want to eat, then let her starve. She’ll eat when she’s hungry enough.”Stella, sitting across the room, couldn’t help but glance at him again.Dora was stunned.“You—”“And stop bringing my brother into this. I’ve done more than enough for him.”Evan’s eyes lifted slightly as he stared down at the busy traffic through t

“Everything I’ve said to you is true,” Stella said evenly. “Including the part about divorce.”Evan went silent.His breathing deepened.“So what you’re saying is,” he said slowly, “as long as I don’t agree to a divorce, you’ll keep targeting her? What else do you have?”There was open danger in his tone now.Stella smiled.She understood exactly what he meant.‘What else do you have?’He wanted to buy it.Just like that day when she said she’d sue Summer — he’d tried to throw money at the problem.And now, it was the same.He was willing to spend anything to protect Summer.Even if that meant buying silence from his own wife.“You’re wrong,” Stella replied calmly. “The divorce is happening.”She paused.“But whatever’s between me and her? That doesn’t end just because our marriage does.”“Stella!”The certainty in her voice finally broke him.He was about to say more when his phone rang again.Dora.He answered.His face hardened almost instantly.“I’m coming.”

Yara looked at Dora with open disappointment.“Mom… when did your heart become this cruel?”Dora froze. “What did you just say? You’re calling me cruel? I—”“You are cruel to Stella,” Yara said bluntly. “You look down on her background. You question her. You humiliate her.”Only a daughter could speak that bluntly.Dora trembled with anger. “Cruel? Look at what she’s done!”“Sumemrjust gave birth. She has a surgical wound across her stomach. It’s reopened more than once these past two days because of her!”Yara’s eyes hardened.“And what did Stella do? Evan stood beside his sister-in-law during childbirth while his own wife lost her baby. If she didn’t fight back, what was she supposed to do? Keep swallowing your insults?”She stepped closer.“The way you’ve treated her these past six months. If it were me, I would’ve burned the whole place down.”Dora felt lightheaded with rage.“You—you— I already said—”“You said the miscarriage record is fake? Fake?” Yara let out a bit

The blueprint in the photo was unmistakable.It was the exact site that had recently gone viral.The photo was timestamped three years ago — October, right at peak fall foliage.The evidence was obvious.And somehow… he had it.Behind that photograph was a surveillance still.Summer, holding Stella’s design draft, walking into the Tourism Bureau.The footage had been enlarged. The timestamp was clearly visible.Everything was laid out.Stella had assumed Felix’s “evidence” would be something minor — maybe a recording or two.She hadn’t expected this.This detailed.This airtight.There were multiple key moments flagged and organized.He hadn’t just collected proof.He had built a case.Stella slid the documents back into the envelope.“Where’s Mr. Henderson?” she asked.“I’m not sure,” Simon said. “His assistant, Jack, delivered it.”Stella paused, then pulled the documents back out and photographed every page. She emailed the copies to herself before locking the ori