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Home / Romance / From Ex-wife to his Uncle's Obsession / Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

All Chapters of From Ex-wife to his Uncle's Obsession : Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

122 Chapters

Chapter 91

(Celeste's POV) I got to the office at ten. The internal announcement system notification was already sitting at the top of my screen when I opened my laptop—a formal statement, precisely worded, the kind of language that leaves no room for interpretation. I read it twice. Serena Conti, effective immediately, has been terminated for serious violations of workplace conduct standards. I sat back in my chair. The lab was quiet around me. Silvia hadn't come in yet, and the only sound was the low hum of the incubation units along the far wall. I looked at the notification again, at the clean, impersonal formatting of it, the way the words arranged themselves into something that felt almost surgical. I'd already suspected Serena was involved in what happened last night. She was the only person in this building who was close to Tiziana and had any reason to resent me. But knowing it and seeing this—seeing her name printed in a formal company notice, attached to Vincenzo's signatur

Chapter 92

(Celeste's POV) Eleanor had already ordered by the time I arrived. She waved me toward the seat across from her and gestured at the table. Roasted chicken breast with asparagus, a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, and a salad platter arranged between us. "I hope you don't mind," she said. "Lunch rush. I didn't want us waiting forty minutes for food." I looked at the spread and almost laughed. "This is already more than I can finish. It's perfect." The restaurant was quiet for a Tuesday—white tablecloths, low ceilings, the kind of place that attracted the older money crowd who preferred conversation over atmosphere. Eleanor fit it exactly. She sat with her back straight and her silver hair pinned perfectly, wearing a cream blazer and heirloom earrings, looking entirely at ease. We talked for a few minutes about nothing in particular. The weather. A new gallery opening downtown that she'd attended over the weekend. Then she set down her soup spoon and looked at me with that

Chapter 93

(Author's POV) "Ms. Moretti!" Lorenzo quickly stepped sideways, positioning himself between Celeste and the elevator. "What are you doing here?" Celeste looked at him calmly. "I'm here to discuss the divorce settlement with my ex husband," she said. "The CEO of this company. The property division ruling came through today." The words landed in the lobby like a dropped tray. The employees waiting nearby suddenly fell silent. Then the whispers began. "He's married?" "Was married?" "I thought he and Tiziana were already engaged..." Lorenzo's jaw tightened. He pulled out his phone. "Give me a moment." "Take your time," Celeste replied pleasantly. He turned away and made a quick call. Upstairs, Stefano had just put on his coat. He was preparing to leave for a meeting with his lawyer when his phone buzzed. He answered immediately. "What?" Lorenzo's voice was clipped. "She's in the lobby. Celeste. She's telling everyone she's here about the settlement." Stefano was sil

Chapter 94

(Celeste's POV)I sat back in my chair as Stefano fell silent. For a long moment, he said nothing. I could practically see the calculations running behind his eyes. The appeal timeline. The public exposure that would come with a second trial. The Argenteri family's patience wearing thin. His mother's growing disapproval. He needed this over. He needed this chapter closed so he could begin the next one with Tiziana.That was his leverage against himself, and he knew I knew it."Fine," he said at last.I waited."Full market value asset division."His gaze shifted toward his lawyer."Structured over eighteen months. Draw it up."Sebastian spoke immediately."Bianca Conti's support."Stefano's eyes flicked toward him."Six thousand a month.""Done," I said.Forty minutes later, the preliminary agreement was signed.As Sebastian and I walked out of the private room, I felt something I had not experienced in a very long time. Relief. Not happiness. Not victory. Relief. The specific kind th

Chapter 95

(Vincenzo's POV) I accepted that with a nod and let the silence settle comfortably between us for a moment. She ate. I ate. The morning sunlight streamed through the windows, filling the apartment with a rare sense of peace. For a brief moment, it felt as though nothing urgent existed outside these walls. Then I set down my coffee cup. "So," I said, "why the rush to leave?" Celeste glanced up. "It's not a rush. It's just that I have money now. Real money. It makes sense to buy my own place." "You could do that and still stay here." "I'd want to pay back all the rent I owe you. Properly." She met my gaze. "Reset things to what they actually are. Landlord and tenant. Keep everything clean." I leaned forward slightly. "I thought we were past that." "Past what?" "The landlord and tenant thing." I kept my voice calm and unhurried. "After everything that's happened this year, I thought we were at least friends." She looked uncertain. Not cold. Just careful. The way she alw

Chapter 96

(Celeste Moretti's POV) "Thank you." I hung up. I stood there for a moment in the rain and felt something loosen in my chest. The man who had once made me feel like I was always one wrong step from disaster was now a person who had to answer my calls and meet my deadlines. The car app showed three minutes. I stepped closer to the curb. Someone's shoulder hit mine, hard enough that I stumbled sideways. My umbrella tilted. A sharp pain spread from my shoulder down my arm. I looked up. A tall, thin man in a dark jacket and a baseball cap was turning around. He had the kind of face that was difficult to read, angular, worn, with deep set eyes that caught the light from the streetlamp in an odd way. He smiled at me. It did not reach anywhere near his eyes. "Watch it, sweetheart." The word landed wrong. I did not know this man. I had never seen him before. But something about the way he said it, too familiar, too easy, made the hair on my arms stand up. "You walked into me," I sa

Chapter 97

(Author's POV) The glass slipped out of Lavinia Conti's hand. It hit the floor and shattered, and the sound of it was very loud in the quiet apartment. She had gone white. Her hands were shaking. She pressed one of them against the wall like she needed it to stay upright, and when she spoke, her voice was barely there. "You said... who came?" Luca grabbed Lavinia's hand before she could move. "What's wrong? Who is he?" Lavinia shook her head. She pressed her lips together and turned away, and for a moment she just stood there with her back to him, one hand still braced against the wall. "Mom." "I'm fine." She pushed off the wall and went to the kitchen. He heard the broom closet open, then the scrape of the dustpan being pulled out. She came back into the living room and crouched down over the broken glass without looking at him. "Mom, talk to me. Who is Neil Dawson?" "Nobody." She swept the shards into a pile, her movements too fast, too rigid. "He's nobody you need to

Chapter 98

(Author's POV) Celeste stared at the pot for a long moment after Vincenzo left. Then she picked it up and poured the entire bisque down the drain. All of it. The over salted soup, the bread she'd set out, the leftover shrimp she'd been planning to serve on the side. Eating that much salt was bad for anyone, and she couldn't in good conscience leave it sitting there for him to come back to. She found a carton of milk in the refrigerator and a brioche loaf in the bread basket. She set both on the table. Then she pulled a notepad from the kitchen counter and wrote: Sorry, Vincenzo. I was off tonight and my cooking showed it. I've cleared everything away. If you come back hungry, there's milk and bread. That should hold you. She read it over. The wording was fine. She folded it and propped it against the milk carton, then went to wash up and go to bed. Vincenzo came back to a dim apartment. One lamp on in the living room, everything else quiet. He walked into the dining roo

Chapter 99

(Author's POV) When Vincenzo came downstairs, everyone in the room looked up at once. Celeste Moretti felt the awkwardness settle over her like a second skin. She was the last one to have figured it out, yet somehow that made her the most informed person in the room. She was already starting to worry, quietly and with some discomfort, about what it meant to know something this private about her employer. Professor Romano's expression carried a faint, suppressed sadness. A man like that, he was thinking. All that capability and presence, and then something like this. Eleanor's eyes were a different thing entirely. She looked at Daniel the moment he cleared the last step, and she said his name quietly, almost carefully, the way you would address someone holding a verdict. Daniel gave a small cough. He clasped his hands in front of him and said, with the measured calm of a man who had done this before, "Things look manageable. There's no need for excessive concern." That wa

Chapter 100

(Author's POV) After dinner, Dr. North politely declined Professor Romano's invitation to stay longer, said his goodbyes, and left. Vincenzo followed shortly after, walking Eleanor to her car. That left Celeste alone with the professor, which was, she realized, exactly how it had worked out. She had spent the tail end of dinner calculating whether to leave first or wait, and then the decision had made itself. Professor Romano closed the front door and turned back toward the sitting room. "Come on. I'll make coffee." Celeste followed him into the study instead, where he poured two cups from the carafe on his desk and handed one to her without asking if she wanted it. "The money from Stefano," he said, settling into his chair. "How is that going?" "He transferred part of it already," Celeste said. "The rest is tied up in equity he's converting. If he drags his feet, Marco goes to the court for enforcement. He knows that." "Good." Professor Romano nodded, but his expression did

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