His Billion-Dollar Regret: The Forgotten Wife Returns의 모든 챕터: 챕터 201 - 챕터 210

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)Yessica woke up at 6:47 AM and didn't move.No solicitor's call. No court notice. No notification from Eleanor. No news alert about Lewis.Just the sound of Edinburgh going about its Tuesday morning outside the window, and her husband's breathing beside her, slow and even, for once actually asleep.She lay still and let herself feel it. Real quiet. Not the quiet of waiting for the next disaster. Just quiet.Lewis stirred beside her. "Stop thinking so loud.""I'm not thinking anything.""You're thinking everything." He didn't open his eyes. "What time is it?""Almost seven."He reached for his phone. Checked it. Set it back on the nightstand face-down."Nothing?" she asked."Nothing."They lay there for another full minute without speaking. It was the most peaceful sixty seconds Yessica had experienced in eight months."I don't know what to do with this," Lewis said finally."With what?""Normal." He stared at the ceiling. "Catherine's sentenced.

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)Lewis made the call to Nadia at 4:17 PM.Yessica stayed at the desk across from him, pretending to review a manuscript, but she was listening to every word."Ms. Voss." Lewis's voice was measured. "I understand we've been on opposite sides of a negotiation for six months without knowing it."A brief pause on the other end. Then Nadia Voss said, "I found out at eight this morning. I considered waiting until next week to contact your firm. Then I decided that was cowardly.""I appreciate you not waiting.""I want to be direct with you, Mr. Sterling. I don't know how to navigate this. Professionally, the acquisition should proceed or not proceed on its merits. The fact that your father is my biological father has no bearing on whether the deal is sound.""I agree.""However," Nadia continued, "I'm also aware that my firm's previous legal counsel was someone Catherine Sterling recommended to our counterparty eighteen months ago. That referral was not

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)"I'm seeing someone."Yessica stopped stirring her coffee. Of all the things she'd expected Regina to say, that wasn't one of them."Okay," she said carefully."It's serious." A pause. "He's going to be around Ethan regularly. I thought, as co-parents, you should know before Ethan gets attached and starts asking questions you don't have answers to."Yessica set down her spoon. "That's thoughtful of you, Regina. What's his name?""David Harper."She wrote the name on the notepad she kept by the kitchen counter — a habit she'd developed during the worst months of the fraud investigation. Write everything. Trust nothing you can't verify."How long?" she asked."Three months." A beat. "Almost four. It moved quickly. I didn't expect it to.""Does Lewis know yet?""I'm calling him next. I wanted to tell you first." A brief silence. "I'm not sure why. I just did."Yessica thought about that after she hung up. Two years ago, Regina calling her first abou

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)The investigator's text sat on Lewis's screen between them like a lit fuse.Subject: Sienna Hargrave — early release confirmed."Good behavior," Eleanor said on the phone twenty minutes later, her voice tight. "She applied for early release six weeks ago. The application went through a duty solicitor — different name, different firm from her original defense team. I believe that was deliberate. My office wasn't notified because we're not her legal representatives. We had no standing to object.""She's been out for how long?" Lewis asked.A pause. "Forty-eight hours. Based on the release date in the system."Yessica looked across the play center. Ethan was at the foam pit, oblivious, laughing with a boy from his preschool class. Rose had fallen asleep in a corner chair, her red dress twisted sideways. Claire was eating birthday cake with the focused dedication of someone who took dessert seriously.Forty-eight hours. And the first thing Sienna did

[POV: Yessica] (Location: Edinburgh)Nobody moved.Patricia Lorne's name glowed on the screen for four rings. Then it stopped.Lewis looked at Sienna. "Answer it.""No.""Answer it on speaker, right now, or this meeting is over and we go straight to your probation officer with a full account of your contact since release."Sienna's jaw tightened. She picked up the phone."Patricia." Her voice gave nothing away. "I'll call you back.""She filed it." Patricia's voice came through clearly, tight with urgency. "This morning. Catherine gave the instruction two days ago through her solicitor and I didn't — I couldn't stop it in time, Sienna. It's already with the court."Sienna closed her eyes."Which court," Lewis said.Silence from the phone."Patricia." His voice was quiet and completely controlled. "Which court was it filed with?"A long pause. "Edinburgh Family Court. Judge Morrison's docket."He stood up.Eleanor was already on her feet, reaching for her own phone. "I need the room.