All Chapters of His Billion-Dollar Regret: The Forgotten Wife Returns: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

270 Chapters

Chapter 131: The Man With the Gray Eyes

POV: Yessica | EdinburghThe pediatric ward was quiet at nine at night. Yessica had been in this hospital twice — once for Rose's six-month check, once for Claire's broken wrist at age four. She knew the smell of the corridors and the specific silence of a children's ward after visiting hours.Lewis walked two steps ahead of her. She did not call him back.Regina was in the hallway outside room seven, still in her work clothes. She had a hospital-issue cup of tea she was not drinking."He is asking for his rabbit," were the first words out of her mouth."We came directly," Lewis said. "Is he settled?""They gave him something for the reaction. He is drowsy but awake." Regina looked at Lewis, then at Yessica. A look that took inventory and reached no visible conclusion. "He saw the photos I keep on my phone. He recognized you before I told him your name."Lewis said nothing."You can go in," Regina said. "He has been asking."Lewis turned to Yessica.She kept her face neutral. "Go."He

Chapter 132: Inside the House

POV: Lewis | EdinburghThe hospital lobby was quiet at this hour. Two visitors at the far end. A cleaner working a mop in slow arcs near the entrance.Catherine was sitting in a chair by the window with the posture of someone who had decided she was not doing anything wrong and had arranged her body accordingly. Dark coat, hair in order, handbag on her lap. She looked like she was waiting for a bus.She saw him before he reached her."Lewis." She rose. "I heard about the boy. I wanted to see—""Stop." He kept his voice low. "You called ahead. Identified yourself as his grandmother. Tried to access his medical records.""I am concerned. He is potentially my grandson, and—""He is not your grandson until a court says so, and even then you have no medical authority." He stopped two feet from her. "Who told you he was here?"She did not answer."Someone contacted you about Ethan's allergy reaction tonight," Lewis said. "You arrived twenty minutes after the ambulance. Who called you?""I h

Chapter 133: Controlled Burn

POV: Yessica | EdinburghThey drove home from the hospital at eleven-fifteen without discussing what they were going to do. By the time Lewis turned into the driveway, they had agreed on it anyway.The nanny's car was still in the street. She lived out three nights a week when Lewis traveled. This was one of those nights."She cannot know we found the connection," Yessica said. "Not until Eleanor's injunction is signed.""Eleanor said two hours.""Then we have two hours." Yessica looked at the house. Lights on in the kitchen. Normal. "Go in first. I need a minute."Lewis went inside. She sat in the car and ran through it.Four months. Every dinner. Every conversation at that kitchen table. Every document Lewis had left on the counter or the dining table, every call he had taken on speaker, every strategy session with Marcus. All of it observed. All of it potentially recorded.She got out of the car.The nanny — Diane, twenty-eight, efficient, good with the girls — was in the kitchen w

Chapter 134: The Boardroom

POV: Lewis | EdinburghMarcus arrived at six-twenty-eight with two laptops and a printed packet for every board seat.He set them on the kitchen table without greeting. "Sienna's Hargreaves stake was acquired twenty-two months ago. The forensic timeline shows the first contact with Whitmore Household Staffing occurred twenty-three months ago. She had your house under surveillance before she approached Catherine."Yessica looked at the timeline. "She began with the surveillance. Then used what she collected to build the legal case.""Which means everything she gave Catherine, everything in the Rose petition, came from recordings inside your home." Marcus looked at Lewis. "She did not need spies in Sterling Industries. She needed access to you personally."Lewis picked up the board packet. "What does she not know?""Eleanor's injunction strategy. The Hargreaves shareholder discovery. Anything discussed outside this house." Marcus paused. "The surveillance device was removed from your be

Chapter 135: The Access Log

POV: Lewis | EdinburghThe name had arrived without drama. No shock. Just the quiet settlement of something he had already half-known.Sienna.Eight months ago. The pre-acquisition due diligence meetings. Standard process — Hargreaves representatives requesting site access to Sterling Industries to verify operations, infrastructure, staffing.Sienna had been part of that delegation. He had shown her the boardroom personally because she was a shareholder of the acquiring company and it had seemed like courtesy.He had handed her the access."Call Marcus," Yessica said. She had been watching his face in the car outside the Hargreaves building.He called."I need the building entry log for Sterling Industries from eight months ago," Lewis said when Marcus answered. "The due diligence visit. Sienna Hargrave was in that building."Marcus went quiet for ten seconds. "I will pull it now. Come in."The Sterling Industries boardroom looked the same as it always did. Long table, eight chairs, t

Chapter 136: Breaking Ground

POV: Lewis | EdinburghHarrison Sterling was propped against two pillows looking significantly better than Lewis had expected and significantly older than he remembered.The monitors beside the bed were calm. The IV drip was minimal. The cardiologist had used the word minor so many times in the corridor that Eleanor's associate — who had called ahead — had noted it twice in her message.Lewis stood in the doorway.Harrison looked at him, then at Yessica. "Both of you came.""Yes," Lewis said."Sit down. I am not dying and I am not going to accept you hovering."They sat. The room was quiet except for the monitor rhythm, steady and unhurried."Your mother does not know," Harrison said. "She will find out through whatever channel she finds out through. I am not calling her.""What happened?" Lewis asked."I was on the treadmill at six this morning. My cardiologist has been suggesting stress reduction for two years. I have been dismissing that suggestion." Harrison paused. "I am now some

Chapter 137: What Catherine Knew

POV: Lewis | EdinburghThe family waiting room was small — four chairs, a table with a plant that needed water, a window onto the hospital car park.Catherine was in the chair nearest the window. She had her handbag on her lap and her coat folded over the arm of the chair, which meant she had removed it at some point in the six hours she had been waiting.She looked up when Lewis came in. Then at Yessica, who had followed without being asked.Catherine's face arranged itself carefully. Then she let it go, which was not something Lewis had ever seen her do."Sit down," she said.They sat."I am not here about the petition," she said. "I cannot speak to the petition. My solicitor has been very clear." She paused. "I am here because Harrison is in this hospital and I was told at noon that you were coming, and because I have been sitting with something for three weeks that I cannot keep sitting with."Lewis waited."Sienna Hargrave came to me fourteen months ago," Catherine said. "She pre

Chapter 138: After the Hospital

POV: Yessica | EdinburghLewis called Eleanor before they reached the lift.She answered on the second ring. He did not give context. "Catherine says Sienna told her there is an administrative discrepancy in Rose's birth registration from the private clinic. Filed in original documentation. Enough to force judicial review on Friday if someone raises it in court."A pause. Three seconds. "Where did Catherine hear this?""Sienna told her directly. Seven months ago. To keep her cooperative.""All right." Eleanor's voice shifted into the register she used when she was already moving. "I need the clinic name and the date of Rose's birth."Lewis gave her both."I will contact the clinic registrar tonight. If there is anything in their filing system, I will have it before nine tomorrow morning." A pause. "Is Catherine prepared to provide a written statement about what Sienna told her?""She already gave me the envelope. The written threat is in it.""Bring it to my office at eight." A short

Chapter 139: Ten AM

POV: Lewis | Edinburgh"Walsh subpoena is dead," Eleanor said.Lewis had barely reached her in the corridor. She had not waited for a greeting."Therapist-patient privilege. Duty judge ruled at seven-fifty this morning." She handed him a document. "Buchanan and Reid objected. It was overruled. Dr. Walsh will not be in that courtroom today."Lewis looked at Yessica.She exhaled."Rose's registration?" Yessica asked."Clean. No discrepancy. None." Eleanor was precise and quick. "I spoke to the clinic registrar at six-thirty. Every document is correct and properly filed. Sienna fabricated the threat the same way she fabricated Harrison's financial records. She needed Catherine controlled. It held for seven months.""And Catherine's withdrawal?""Confirmed in the court system at nine-forty-seven last night. The petition is gone." A pause. "But Buchanan and Reid filed this morning. They are trying to maintain standing independent of Catherine's decision.""On what basis?""The court's duty

Chapter 140: DENIED

POV: Lewis | EdinburghJudge Morrison returned at exactly thirty minutes.The room was upright before she reached her chair.She sat. Opened the file. Did not look at either table immediately."The Police Scotland application for a stay of proceedings," she said. "I have considered it."Lewis's hands were flat on the table."I am not granting the stay."Buchanan shifted in his chair."Instead," Judge Morrison continued, "I am ruling on the recordings now. In this courtroom."She turned to the first document in the file."The audio recordings submitted as evidence in this petition were collected through concealed surveillance devices placed inside the respondent's private residence without consent or warrant. Police Scotland's criminal referral, filed this morning, confirms active investigation into this collection as criminal conduct under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act."She looked up. "Evidence obtained through criminal conduct is inadmissible in these proceedings. The r

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