Todos os capítulos de His Wrong Wife, His Right Obsession : Capítulo 171 - Capítulo 180

Vivian's POV Everything I built is gone. Gone, like it never existed, like thirty years of my life amounted to nothing more than ash, a server wreckage and a leg wound that still hadn't stopped aching like crazy. I sat in the dark of a safehouse I hadn't used since I was twenty-six years old, watching the rain hit a window that hadn't been cleaned since then either, and I let myself feel it for exactly one minute. One minute to mourn the empire I just lost. Then I was done mourning. "Talk to me," I said, without turning around. Marco shifted behind me. Marco, who used to run six ports and now ran nothing, because there was nothing left to run. "Half our accounts are frozen. The ones that aren't, everyone knows about now, thanks to that dead man's little upload. Three of our people in the Council already reached out to Cross's lawyers, offering testimony in exchange for immunity." "Which three." "Does it matter? By tomorrow it'll be six. By next week, everyone who ever took a pay

Vivian's POVThe cathedral had been abandoned for thirty years, and it still smelled like incense. I liked that about it. Fitting, in a way, for this conversation I was about to have.I heard them before I saw them. Careful and rhythmic footsteps against the floor. Julian came in first, through the broken doors, yhen Lauren a step behind him, her eyes sweeping the whole place like she expected an ambush.She wasn't wrong to expect one. She just wouldn't find it."No men," Julian said, scanning behind the pillars. "No guards. No trap.""I told you I wanted to talk." I stepped out from behind the altar, I spread my hands open at my sides, empty and unarmed. "Just you and me, Julian. I meant it.""And me," Lauren said, her eyes trained on me."And you." I let my eyes settle on her, "Fitting, actually. You should hear this too.""Hear what?" Julian's voice had gone flat, like he was losing his patience. "You called this meeting, Vivian. Talk.""I will." I walked to the edge of the broken

Julian’s POV Vivian's hand moved. One second her arms were folded, the next her fingers were diving into her coat, and I already knew what she was reaching for because I'd seen that exact motion a hundred times in my life.Without thinking twice or hesitating, I fired.The shot echoed through the cathedral like the building itself would split open. Birds I hadn't even noticed roosting in the rafters exploded upward, screeching, their wings hammering against stone. Lauren flinched beside me, her hand flying to her mouth. She also hadn't expected me to fire at that point.Vivian staggered back into the altar, her hidden pistol clattering out of her coat and skidding across broken tile. She hadn't gotten close. She never had a chance against me. She thought I would hesitate before shooting her because I wanted to be careful.Her hand went to her stomach. When she pulled it away, her palm was dark red and glistening under the moonlight bleeding through the roof."Julian–" Lauren's voice

Lauren's POV I almost didn't go.I stood outside the county correctional facility for a full five minutes before I made myself walk through the front doors, my ID already sweaty in my hand from how tight I'd been gripping it in the car. Julian had offered to come with me. I'd told him no. Some things you have to do without the person who'd happily put a bullet in the other party if she so much as raised her voice at you.The visitation room was exactly what I expected. Walls painted a very depressing gray. A row of small tables bolted to the floor, each with two plastic chairs facing each other, close enough to talk and far enough that a guard standing by the door could see both your hands at all times.They brought Serena out ten minutes after I sat down.She looked smaller than I remembered. Not physically, she was still Serena, still had my exact face staring back at me like a mirror, but something in the way she held herself had changed. The designer posture was gone. She shuffle

Julian's POVThe call came in at six in the morning.I was already awake. I hadn't slept much since the raid, since Vivian's blood on the cathedral floor. Lauren was curled against my side, her breathing was slow and even, and I was staring at the ceiling.My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I almost let it ring out. Then I saw the prison's area code and picked up."Mr. Cross." The warden's voice was flat and professional. "I'm calling about inmate Serena Vance.""What did she do now." I kept my voice low so I wouldn't wake Lauren."She's dead, sir. A guard found her during the four a.m. check. It looks like she took her own life."I didn't say anything for a long moment. I felt Lauren stir beside me, some instinct in her probably picking up on the stillness in my body."Understood," I said finally. "Thank you for the call."By the time I hung up, Lauren's eyes were open, watching me in the dark."Julian? Who was that?""The prison." I set the phone down carefully. "Serena is dead."La