Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 131 - Chapitre 140

The next morning, Vance sat in his office.The city was grey through the windows. The Horizon files were spread across his desk. Progress reports. Funding approvals. The village's hydro system was complete. Three more communities had signed on. Ashworth was pleased. The board was divided.He did not look up when the door opened.William walked in. He did not knock. He never knocked.He threw a magazine onto Vance's desk. The pages fluttered. The cover showed a photograph of the village. The hydro system. The headline: "Blackwood Heir Rejects Family Empire for Sustainable Dream."Vance looked at the cover. He did not touch it."You need to stop this project," William said.Vance said nothing."I have let you play with your mindless dream for long enough. But now you are a father. You have twins. You have responsibilities. It is time to snap out of it.""The project is profitable," Vance said."It is not profitable enough." William's voice was cold. "Ashworth's support means nothing. He

 The plain brown envelope arrived with the morning post. No return address. No name. Just a thick package slid among the bills and catalogues. Jovi's father sat in his study, the morning sun streaming through the tall windows. His wife sat across from him, reading the newspaper. He slit the envelope open. Photographs spilled onto the desk. Glossy. Clear. Damning. The park. The pond. The stroller. Zane holding the boy. Zane kissing the girl's forehead. Jovi leaning her head on Zane's shoulder. The twins between them. A family. A lie. His wife looked up. "What is it?" 

 She leaned in. Their lips almost met. Then stopped. His thumb pressed against his own mouth—against her lips, blocking her. His skin was cold. His eyes were hard. Jovi pulled back slowly. Her smile had disappeared. "You think I would let you touch me like that?" His voice was low. Flat. "You do not actually believe that you can make every man surrender to your charm just by using your body and sweet words, do you?" Her jaw tightened. "I am not trying to charm you." "Oh." He tilted his head. "So you simply wanted to sleep with me and then go play house

Jovi caught Vance's eye. She smiled. He did not smile back. The nanny led the twins away. Their eager voices faded down the hallway. "Thank you," Jovi whispered. "For doing that. For them." Vance picked up a champagne glass from a passing tray. He did not drink. He just held it. The party continued. The conversation shifted—business, investments, the Harrington merger's third-phase projections. William held court near the bar, his voice carrying across the room. "The board is pleased with the quarterly results. Horizon has been... adequate." "Adequate?" One of the board members raised an eyebrow. "The sustainable energy fund has outperformed expectations by eighteen percent." William's jaw tightened. "For a side project, yes." Ronald, Jovi's father, stood apart, speaking quietly with a senator about tax incentives. His eyes kept drifting to Vance. He looked away each time. Margaret, Jovi's mother, circulated among the guests, accepting compliments on the floral arrangements,

 The Sinclair mansion stood on the outskirts of the city, a Georgian revival with columns and iron gates. It had stood for over a century. It had survived wars, depressions, scandals. It would not survive this night. Zane parked his car at the curb. His hands were still shaking from the press conference. His tie was loosened. His collar was damp with sweat. He had not planned to come here. His lawyer had advised against it. "Let the dust settle," she had said. "Let them come to you." But Zane could not wait.