Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Billion-Dollar Regret: The Forgotten Wife Returns: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)Mrs. Brennan arrived at nine sharp, tablet in hand, the same professional warmth in her eyes that Yessica had spent months learning to read without success."Good morning. I'll be observing your normal Saturday routine. Please just go about your day as you normally would."As if they could forget she was there. As if her notes didn't determine whether a judge kept watching them for another six months or finally let them live their lives in private."Breakfast is just starting," Yessica said. "Come in."The thunder of small feet on the stairs announced the children before they appeared. Claire, already dressed in her purple unicorn shirt. Ethan in dinosaur pajamas, holding his stuffed T-Rex against his chest. Rose last, hair wild from sleep, both arms out, demanding "Mama!" before she'd fully cleared the doorway.Lewis was already at the stove. Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit cut into pieces small enough for Rose's hands. The kitchen smelled like but

[POV: Lewis] (Location: Edinburgh)He read Eleanor's text twice. Then a third time, because his brain kept trying to find a different interpretation.Victoria Brennan's parole officer attempted a scheduled check-in this morning. She was not at her listed address. She has not been at her listed address in four days.Four days.Yessica was still in the passenger seat, watching his face. She'd learned to read him well enough that she didn't ask the obvious question. She just waited."Victoria Brennan," he said. "She's gone. Four days unaccounted for."Yessica went very still. "How is that possible? She's on parole.""Apparently her parole officer did Monday's check-in by phone. Accepted her answers without a physical visit." Lewis put the phone down on his thigh. "No one has eyes on her."They sat in the car park outside Yessica's father's house, and Lewis thought about what Eleanor had said during their meeting that morning. Her pattern is escalation. Within three weeks of release, sh

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)"She's taking the deal," Eleanor said. "Eighteen months, full restitution, guilty plea on both counts. She's not fighting it."Lewis leaned back in his chair. "When?""Friday. Allocution hearing at ten AM."Yessica looked at him across the desk. "We should be there."He nodded once. That was all.The courthouse on Friday felt different from every other time they'd walked through it. No emergency motions. No panic the night before. No one trying to take something from them.Just justice, finally moving in the right direction.Sienna Hargrave entered the courtroom in a conservative dark suit, hair pulled back tight, no jewelry. She looked smaller than Yessica remembered from the conference room confrontation. Less certain of herself. The expensive confidence she'd worn that day like a second skin was entirely gone.Lewis sat beside Yessica without speaking. He watched Sienna settle at the defense table with the same focused calm he used in board me

[POV: Lewis] (Location: Edinburgh)Eleanor's office was never a place Lewis associated with good news. Good outcomes, occasionally. But not good news.She was standing when they arrived, which was unusual. She didn't gesture toward the client chairs. She waited until her assistant had closed the door, and then she said, "Sit down, please. Both of you."Lewis sat. Yessica sat beside him, their hands finding each other on the armrest between them."Before I say anything," Eleanor began, "I need you to understand that what I'm about to tell you has no impact on your current custody arrangement, your marriage, or Lewis's standing at Sterling Industries. I want that clear before you hear the rest.""That's a long preamble for good news," Yessica said."It isn't good news." Eleanor opened the folder on her desk. "When Catherine changed her will, we investigated the beneficiary. A woman named Nadia Voss, forty-one years old, currently living in Amsterdam. No public connection to Catherine

[POV: Lewis] (Location: Edinburgh)Harrison's face had gone completely white.Lewis moved closer. "Put it on speaker, Dad."Harrison held the phone between them. The solicitor's voice, careful and professional, continued:"The second document was filed with the estate court two weeks before Mrs. Sterling's sentencing. It's classified as a conditional directive, separate from the primary will. Ms. Voss's inheritance is not affected by it. This document concerns another matter entirely.""What kind of matter?" Lewis asked.A pause. "Mr. Sterling — Lewis — there is a letter. Addressed to Ethan Ravenscroft-Sterling. The directive instructs that the letter be delivered to him on his eighteenth birthday. It is sealed and has been filed with the estate court as a legal document, meaning it cannot be destroyed or suppressed. We're legally required to inform you of its existence."Lewis went very still."What's in it?" Harrison asked."We don't know. It's sealed. We aren't permitted to open