جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 130

Elijah's POV I stared at the financial spreadsheets on my monitor, it was all blurring into a meaningless gray wall. I forced my eyes down, trying to map out the final asset distribution for the northern corridor, but my mind kept slipping backward. Every time the air conditioning hummed, I heard her voice in the boardroom. Every time I reached for my pen, I felt the electric brush of her fingers on that dropped report.  "You look really good," I had told her. Why did I say that? It wasn't professional. I was supposed to be the Robot CEO, was that not what people liked to call me? And yet a single look from her had dismantled my routine. The office had grown dark, and the fluorescent lights overhead had switched off automatically to leave only the soft glow of my desk l

Kassidy's POVI was sitting at the small desk in my temporary apartment, sorting through a fresh stack of tax forms. My phone started to vibrate against the wood, and I picked it up to see the name of Arthur Pendleton. A sudden spike of alertness hit me as I saw the name, remembering how the man had practically bullied me into taking this job and being forced into a situation with my college ex that I had no desire to be in.I picked the call, feeling a tiny sliver of apprehension. Arthur rarely called directly unless a case was either secured or falling apart at the seams."Arthur," I said, putting the phone to my ear. "I was just reviewing some files for the Ashford signing.""Forget the files for a second, Townsend," Arthur's deep, gravelly voice sounded serious. "Our receptionist received a um... a very unusual, very pointed phone call from the Ashford Holdings executive line late last night. Apparently, Elijah Ashford himself was making inquiries. He was asking some unsettling qu

Elijah's POVThe dining table felt miles wide, but my attention never really left the little girl sitting with Marcus. While Celeste passed the salad bowl and Marcus kept the wine glasses filled, the rest of us danced around each other in a minefield of strained small talk. But Kassidy's daughter didn't care about all of that. She slid down from her chair, her small bare feet padding across the hardwood floor until she stopped right beside my seat."You have shiny buttons on your shirt," she announced, pointing a small finger at my silver cuff links.I froze in surprise for a second—was she really talking to me? I looked up at Celeste and Marcus, who were smiling hesitantly, then at Kassidy, who was staring straight ahead like she hadn't heard her daughter.Then, slowly, I relaxed and turned in my chair to face her properly. "They keep my sleeves from rolling up," I replied, a little stiffly. I didn't have any experience with children."Are they magic buttons?" The little girl asked,

Kassidy's POV Still reeling from the dinner that we'd had, I knew that I could no longer keep making excuses for Eli's behaviour. Whatever kindness I had glimpsed from him over the past few days was overshadowed by the reminder that he was still capable of hurting me when he felt cornered. Watching him talk softly to an intern or hold a door open for staff meant nothing. The second he felt backed into a wall, the old, bitter Elijah will return, ready to snap and drag everyone down with him. I couldn't afford to let a few polite moments from Eli trick me into forgetting what he was truly capable of. It had been a whole week after the dinner fiasco. I was trying—and failing—to order some Doordash food for myself and Summer, back at our apartment. I tapped my thumb against the phone screen for the fifth time, watching the ti

Kassidy's POVPiper's words kept looping in my head like an endless, tormenting echo, even after we left the deli. Every time I looked at Summer playing with her wooden blocks on the rug, my throat felt like it was closing up. The secret I had held to myself like a shield for four long years was suddenly killing me. Now I was keeping a niece from her aunt. Her aunt who was running out of time, who could die at any time.I didn't leave the apartment for the rest of Saturday or Sunday. The blinds stayed drawn, and I kept the front door locked. My phone kept buzzing and lighting up with messages and calls. Celeste's name popped up on the screen over a dozen times, followed by frantic text messages asking why I had sprinted away from the deli and if Piper had said something to upset me. I couldn't answer her. I didn't have the energy to explain the wreckage inside my head, so I turned the ringer off and let the notifications pile up in silence.By Sunday night, the silence in the apartme