Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Married the Man My Ex Could Never Compete With : Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

Lydia POV The break feels unreal. One second the room is suffocating with decisions, numbers, and power plays Next, people are standing. Chairs shift. Low conversations start. The tension doesn’t disappear. It just changes shape. I step out into the hallway, needing space to breathe. The glass walls of the boardroom reflect fragments of movement behind me—directors clustering, Damien speaking quietly into his phone, security holding their positions like nothing has changed. But everything has. Adrian’s move shifted something. I felt it. The doubt. The hesitation. For the first time, Richard didn’t look completely untouchable. I wrap my arms lightly around myself, not from cold, but from the strange pressure still sitting in my chest. “You handled that well.” The voice comes from behind me. Calm. Measured. Too familiar. I turn slowly. Richard stands a few steps away, as composed as ever. No security around him. No urgency in his posture. Just quiet control, as he

Adrian POV The next vote doesn’t land the way Richard expected. I can tell. Not from his expression. That remains controlled, as always. But from the room. From the way hesitation lingers just a second longer than before. From the way the directors no longer move with quiet certainty, but with caution. That’s the shift. Not victory. Not yet. But disruption. The secretary reads the result. “The fourth vote… is in support of Adrian Cole.” Balance. Two against. Two for. Three remaining. The room tightens again, but differently this time. Less inevitable. More unstable. Exactly where I want it. I don’t look at Lydia. I don’t need to. Her presence is… steady. Grounding in a way I don’t acknowledge out loud. But I feel it. And apparently— So does the rest of the board. The fifth director reaches for his tablet. Slower than the others. More deliberate. His fingers hover just slightly above the screen before he makes the decision. Another vote. Another shift.

Adrian POV The house is too quiet. Not the usual kind. Not controlled.Not intentional. Just… stripped down. Like everything unnecessary has been cleared away, leaving only what matters. And right now That’s her. Lydia stands a few steps away from me, closer than before, but not close enough to touch. Not yet. There’s no one else here. No board.No pressure.No audience. No reason to perform. Which makes this… unfamiliar. Dangerous, in a way I don’t fully understand. She doesn’t speak. She just watches me. Waiting. Not for strategy.Not for control. For something else. Something I’ve avoided for a long time. I exhale slowly, running a hand over the back of my neck. “You were right,” I say. Her brows draw slightly. “About what?” “I almost lost today.” She doesn’t soften the truth. “You did.”I nod once. “I’ve been in worse situations.” “I don’t doubt that.” “But this felt different.” She studies me more carefully now. “How?”I hesitate. Not because I don’t hav

Adrian POV The moment Damien says Richard’s name, everything becomes clearer. I take the tablet from him and scroll through the report myself. Regulatory filings. Trigger authorizations. Internal flags raised at exactly the right pressure points. This wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t reactive. It was prepared. Carefully. Quietly. And deployed at the exact moment it would do the most damage. After the vote stalled. After doubt entered the board. After I forced a delay. I exhale slowly and hand the tablet back. “He synchronized it,” I say. Damien nods. “With the board pressure.” “Yes.” “Two fronts.” “No,” I correct. “More than that.” I walk toward the window, looking out over the estate. Security is already tighter. Movement sharper. Controlled. But control doesn’t mean safety. Not anymore. “Break it down,” Damien says. I don’t turn. “First, he destabilizes the board,” I begin. “Creates division. Forces uncertainty.” “Second, he introduces external pressure. Regulatory.

Lydia POV By the time I get to headquarters, the story has already spread. Not fully. Not completely out of control. But enough. Phones are out. Cameras are waiting. The air feels… charged. Like everyone is holding their breath, waiting for something to break. And I know exactly what they’re waiting for. A reaction. Panic. A mistake. I step out of the car before the driver can come around. The moment my heels touch the pavement, I feel it—attention shifting, focusing, locking in. They recognize me. Of course they do. Not just as Lydia. As his wife. As part of the story. “Mrs. Cole!” The first voice cuts through the noise. Then another. “Mrs. Cole, is it true there’s a government investigation?” “Is Cole Group under scrutiny?” “Are the reports accurate?” Questions start overlapping, pressing closer, louder, sharper. I don’t rush. I don’t hesitate either. I walk straight toward them. That’s the first decision. Not to avoid. Not to hide. To meet it. Security