Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Billion-Dollar Regret: The Forgotten Wife Returns: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

POV: Yessica | EdinburghThe morning after Ethan's first nightmare, no one said much.Ethan ate his cereal with Button propped against his glass, the way he always did, but he was quieter than usual. He answered questions when Claire asked them and did not start any conversations of his own.Lewis got him dressed and took him to the park after breakfast. Just the two of them.Yessica put Rose down for a nap and stood in the kitchen and thought about the way Ethan had looked in that bed at eleven o'clock, sitting upright with his lips moving and no sound coming out.She thought about standing in the doorway and watching Lewis handle it.She thought about the fact that it had not occurred to her to go in.***The second nightmare came two nights later.Same pattern. No warning sound before it. She woke because Lewis woke, and she lay still with her eyes open and listened to him cross the hall and say Ethan's name quietly and then say it again.It took twelve minutes. She knew because sh

POV: Yessica | EdinburghEleanor was on a call within ten minutes.All three of them — Eleanor, Yessica, and Lewis — plus David Ng from Bellamy's board. Eleanor's corporate contact joined four minutes later."Walk me through the authorization code," Eleanor said.Yessica pulled up the FCA notification on her screen. "My executive credentials. The code is unique to me. It requires two-factor authentication through my registered device and a password that changes every ninety days.""When did you last update the password?""Six weeks ago.""Did you use a shared network at any point after updating it? Hotel, airport, an office outside Bellamy headquarters?"Yessica went through it in her head. Board offsite four weeks ago. Edinburgh Conference Centre. She had logged in on the building's WiFi to check the filing dashboard."Conference centre network," she said. "Four weeks ago."Eleanor was already typing. "Same window as the Aldermoor VPN activity. They were not just breaching Lewis's le

POV: Lewis | EdinburghHis phone was lit up before he was fully awake.Six messages from board members. One from corporate counsel. Two from the Sterling Industries communications director. One from a journalist at the Financial Times requesting comment.Five forty-three in the morning.He sat up, looked at the screen, and made himself read each message before he responded to any of them. This was something Dr. Walsh had taught him before the recusal — triage before reaction.Yessica was already awake beside him. She had her own phone in her hand."Bellamy's communications team is asking if I want to issue a joint statement," she said. "Acknowledging that both companies were targets of the same fraudulent scheme.""Does Eleanor recommend it?""She says it depends on whether we want to frame this as a coordinated corporate attack or two separate incidents. The first is more damaging to Marcus's defense. The second is less damaging to us personally.""Issue the joint statement," Lewis s

POV: Yessica | EdinburghShe went to Rose first.That was the right call. Rose was in the high chair, crying from the shock of the sound, and Yessica unclipped the tray, lifted her out, and said "it's okay, it's okay" in the voice that worked, the one she had calibrated over sixteen months.Rose's crying slowed.Ethan was still standing in the middle of the kitchen.She set Rose on her hip and looked at him."Pick up the shoe," she said.He did not move."Ethan. Pick it up.""No."She had maybe four minutes before she needed to leave to collect Claire on time. Rose was still hiccupping against her shoulder. Ethan was planted in the middle of the floor with his arms crossed and his face closed.She crossed the kitchen, picked up the shoe herself, and set it in front of him."Put it on," she said.He kicked it.The shoe hit the base of the cabinet again.Rose startled. Did not cry this time, but tightened both hands in Yessica's shirt.Yessica looked at the shoe on the floor.She looked

POV: Lewis | EdinburghHe kept his voice even."Tell me exactly what he said," he said to Regina."He said the house was too loud and the lady screamed and he does not want to go back." Regina's voice was controlled. Not triumphant — that was what he noted first. Just controlled. "I am not calling to use it. I am calling because he said it to his childminder, not to me, which means he is trying to protect my feelings about it. He is three years old and he is managing adults. That is not okay.""No," Lewis said. "It is not.""What happened?"He told her the outline. Not everything. Enough. Yessica was in the kitchen listening and he did not look at her while he spoke.Regina was quiet for a moment after."Is it going to happen again?" she asked."No." He said it without qualification. "It will not happen again.""How do you know?""Because Yessica knows it happened. She already spoke to him. She is not someone who repeats the same mistake." He paused. "And because I have not been carry