Все главы The Billionaire’s Obsession: My Ex‑Wife Became a Queen: Глава 141 - Глава 150

It happened on a Tuesday, which was perhaps fitting. The most important conversations in Victoria’s life had a habit of arriving on ordinary days, disguised as nothing special.Liam was sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework. Or rather, he was supposed to be doing his homework. Instead, he was staring out the window at the garden, his pencil forgotten in his hand.Victoria was at the counter, chopping vegetables for dinner. Nathaniel was working late, so it was just the two of them—a quiet evening, the kind she had learned to treasure.“Mom?” Liam said.“Yes, sweetheart?”“Can I ask you something?”Victoria set down the knife and turned to face him. There was something in his voice—a hesitation, a weight—that made her heart tighten. “Of course. You can always ask me anything.”Liam turned from the window. His small face was serious in a way that reminded her painfully of Margaret. “Why did my first mom die?”The knife slipped from Victoria’s hand and clattered onto the count

Victoria had never been a woman who cared deeply about dresses. She cared about fit and fabric and the way clothing could communicate power without a single word spoken. But the emotional attachment to a particular garment? That had always seemed like a luxury she couldn't afford.Until now.The vow renewal was six weeks away, and Victoria still didn't have a dress."I don't understand the problem," Nathaniel said for the fifth time, watching her pace their bedroom. "You look beautiful in everything. Pick something. Anything. I'll love it.""That's not how this works," Victoria snapped, then immediately regretted her tone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off."Nathaniel, who had grown remarkably skilled at not taking her mood swings personally, simply raised an eyebrow. "Want to tell me what's actually going on?"Victoria stopped pacing. She looked at the closet—at the rows of designer dresses, the tailored suits, the carefully curated armor she had built over a lifetime.

The wedding reception had ended two hours ago. The last guests had drifted home, the caterers had packed their trucks, and the fairy lights in the garden had been dimmed to a soft glow. Victoria stood in the kitchen of the brownstone, still wearing her ivory silk dress, a glass of champagne in her hand that she hadn't touched.She should have been happy. The threat was gone. Celeste was in custody. Her family was safe.But something was wrong.“You're thinking too loud again,” Nathaniel said, appearing in the doorway. He had shed his jacket and tie, his shirtsleeves rolled up, his hair slightly disheveled from the evening's festivities. “What is it?”“I don't know.” Victoria set down the champagne. “I feel strange. Off.”“Off how?”She tried to put words to it—the faint nausea, the headache that had been building for hours, the sense that something was coursing through her veins that shouldn't be there. “Like I drank something that didn't agree with me. But I only had one glass of cha

The moment Victoria collapsed in the kitchen, something broke inside Nathaniel.Not his composure—he held onto that with white-knuckled desperation, dialing 911, barking orders, carrying her limp body to the door. But somewhere deeper, in the place where his love for her lived, a crack formed that he wasn't sure would ever fully heal.He had failed to protect her. Again.The ambulance couldn't arrive fast enough. Nathaniel sat on the floor of the kitchen, Victoria's head in his lap, her face the color of parchment. He talked to her—nonsense, mostly, words he didn't remember later. Stay with me. You're going to be okay. I love you. Please, God, don't take her.He hadn't prayed since he was a child, kneeling beside his bed while his mother recited rote memorizations. But now he prayed—fervently, desperately, bargaining with a God he wasn't sure he believed in.Take anything. Take everything. Just leave her.The paramedics arrived in what felt like both an eternity and an instant. They a

Three months after the poisoning, Victoria woke to sunlight streaming through her bedroom window and the sound of birds singing in the garden. Spring had arrived, finally, and with it, a sense of renewal that she hadn't felt since before Celeste had tried to kill her.She was fully recovered now. The doctors had cleared her, the physical therapy was complete, and the nightmares had faded to an occasional flicker. She was alive. She was healthy. She was ready to start the rest of her life.Nathaniel was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her."You're staring," Victoria said, her voice still thick with sleep."You're beautiful.""I have bedhead and morning breath.""You're still beautiful." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I have something to ask you."Victoria sat up, pulling the sheets around her. "That sounds serious.""It is." Nathaniel took her hands. "Victoria, I want to marry you again."She blinked. "We're already married. We renewed our vows. Twice,