All Chapters of His Rejected Billionaire Wife : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

86 Chapters

Chapter Sixty one

Lena's POVThe restaurant was called The Ledbury.I'd found it three years ago when a surgery had gone badly and I'd needed somewhere quiet to sit with the failure. The patient had survived, but barely, and I'd spent four hours at a corner table working through what I could have done differently.Adrian and I arrived at seven exactly. The same corner table was available. The server recognized me and didn't comment on the fact that I had someone with me this time.We ordered wine and food and sat across from each other."I came here twelve times in five years," I said. "Always alone. Always after something difficult.""What was the last time?""The day I got the call about your surgery. I sat here for two hours trying to decide if I should come back to New York." I picked up my glass. "I almost said no.""What changed your mind?""Hayes sent me your scans. I looked at them and knew I was the only person who could do the repair cleanly." I paused. "I told myself it was just a surgery. O

Chapter Sixty Two

Adrian's POVWe told Sophie at breakfast.She'd suggested meeting at the hotel before our afternoon flight. Lena and I came down to the restaurant at nine and she was already there with coffee and a newspaper she wasn't reading."You're both smiling," she said when we sat down."We're getting married," Lena said. "September. Diana's garden. Twenty people."Sophie set down her cup very carefully. "You're serious.""Completely serious.""September as in four months from now.""Yes."Sophie looked at me. "You asked her?""She asked me," I said."Of course she did." Sophie's eyes were bright. "Tell me everything."Lena walked her through it. The timeline, the prenup, keeping her apartment for another year, the small ceremony. Sophie listened without interrupting until Lena finished."Children?" Sophie asked."Eventually. Two or three years.""And you're keeping the Mount Sinai position.""Obviously. I'm not giving up my career.""I wasn't suggesting you should. I'm confirming you're build

Chapter sixty three

Lena's POVThe prenup was finalized in three weeks.Dana reviewed Adrian's attorney's draft and said it was the cleanest separation of assets she'd seen in twenty years of practice. Everything I owned before the marriage stayed mine. Everything Adrian owned stayed his. Anything acquired during the marriage would be split equally unless otherwise specified."This is fair," Dana said. "More than fair. He's protecting you as much as you're protecting yourself.""That's the point."I signed it on a Tuesday. Adrian signed it on Wednesday. By Friday it was filed and done."One thing checked off the list," Adrian said that night at dinner."Marriage license is next week. Then we're legally cleared to actually get married.""Diana wants to meet about the caterer.""I know. She texted me this morning. Saturday at eleven."He picked up his wine. "Are you nervous about any of this?""No. Should I be?""Most people get nervous before their wedding.""I'm not most people. And this isn't most weddi

Chapter Sixty four

Adrian's POVChen presented the Singapore expansion final numbers on a Monday.The board meeting ran ninety minutes. He walked them through facility readiness, hiring timeline, projected revenue growth. Eighteen months ahead of the original plan, twenty-six percent above initial projections.Harland tried to poke holes in the staffing model. Chen had anticipated every question and had answers prepared. By the end Harland had nothing left to push back on.The vote passed unanimously.After the meeting Marcus caught me in the hallway. "Chen's ready for more.""I know.""The European restructure could use his oversight. Not full ownership, but strategic input.""Set up a meeting with him for Thursday. Let's see if he wants it."Marcus nodded and left. I went back to my office and looked at my calendar. Eight weeks until the wedding. The Singapore expansion would be Chen's project through implementation. That freed me for September.Diana called at two."The florist wants to meet with bot

Chapter sixty five

Lena's POVThe JAMA commentary was accepted on the first submission.Ademi called me on a Tuesday morning. "They want to publish it in the August issue. Fast turnaround. Two weeks.""That's fine.""The editor said it was the clearest articulation of clinical protocol changes they'd received this year.""It's five hundred words about screening intervals.""It's five hundred words that will change how cardiologists approach early detection." He paused. "You're being cited in grant applications now. Three institutions have referenced your study in their NIH submissions."I hung up and went to surgery. A mitral valve repair that took three hours. Clean, routine, exactly the kind of work I could do without thinking too hard.At two I had coffee with Cara.She was ten minutes late, which was unusual. When she arrived she looked tired."Rough week?" I said."Bad case. Client was evicted while we were still building her file. Landlord moved faster than we expected." She sat down heavily. "We'

Chapter sixty six

Adrian's POVI wrote my vows on a Wednesday morning at five.Lena was still asleep. I sat at her kitchen island with coffee and my laptop and typed three sentences that said exactly what I meant.Not poetry. Not performance. Just the truth.I saved the file and closed it and didn't look at it again.Five weeks until I'd say them in Diana's garden.Chen called me at nine. "The Singapore facility is operational ahead of schedule. We're ready to start hiring.""How far ahead?""Three weeks. The contractor finished early and the permits cleared faster than expected.""That's good work.""It's your timeline that was conservative. I just executed it." He paused. "There's something else. The European restructure Marcus mentioned—I've been reviewing the numbers. There's an opportunity there if we move in the next six months.""Send me the analysis.""I'll have it to you by Friday."He hung up. I looked at my calendar. Five weeks until the wedding, which meant four weeks until I needed to be c

Chapter Sixty seven

Lena's POVChicago was hot in late August.I arrived Monday afternoon. The conference hotel was downtown, close to the convention center. I checked in and went straight to my room to review the presentation one final time.Sixty minutes. Case studies. Implementation barriers. Q&A after.My phone rang at six. Sophie."How's Chicago?""Hot. Humid. The presentation is tomorrow at nine.""You're ready.""I know.""Then why are you in your hotel room reviewing slides you've already reviewed fifty times?"I looked at my laptop. "Because that's what I do.""Lena, go get dinner. Walk around. Do anything except stare at that presentation."She was right. I closed the laptop and went out.The restaurant near the hotel was adequate. I ate alone and thought about tomorrow. Three hundred people. The keynote for the clinical applications track. The largest audience I'd presented to yet.I wasn't nervous. I knew the material. But I was aware of the visibility—Ademi had been clear about that. This wa

Chapter sixty eight

Adrian's POVThe dinner with Marcus and Rachel was on Thursday at seven.Lena and I arrived at the restaurant first. She'd had surgery until five and looked tired but present. We ordered wine and waited.Marcus came in at seven-oh-three with a woman who looked exactly like Marcus had described—professional, composed, slightly nervous."Rachel, this is Adrian and Lena," Marcus said.We shook hands. Rachel's handshake was firm. She sat down and immediately picked up her menu like she needed something to do with her hands."Marcus said you're a corporate attorney," Lena said."Yes. M&A mostly. I work at Whitman & Ross.""How did you two meet?""Mutual friend. Dinner party three months ago." Rachel set down her menu. "Marcus spent twenty minutes explaining why the Singapore expansion timeline was aggressive and I told him he was wrong about the risk assessment.""She was right," Marcus said."Of course I was right. I read the prospectus." Rachel picked up her water. "He asked me to dinner

Chapter sixty nine

Lena's POVThree weeks before the wedding Diana called about the dress."You need to decide what you're wearing," she said."I have a suit.""Lena.""What? It's a garden wedding with twenty people. I don't need a wedding dress.""You need something. Not a traditional wedding dress, but something that looks intentional."I thought about it. "I'll find something this week.""Do you want help?""No. I'll handle it."I hung up and looked at my calendar. Surgery Monday and Wednesday. Research meetings Tuesday and Thursday. The Chicago follow-ups were ongoing—three institutions had sent formal collaboration proposals that I needed to review with Ademi.Friday I went to three stores and found nothing. Saturday I tried two more and found a dress that worked. Simple, ivory, no train or veil or any of the traditional elements. It fit correctly and looked intentional without being performative.I bought it and texted Diana: Dress acquired.She replied: Good. Shoes?I looked at the dress. Texted

Chapter seventy

Adrian's POVTwo weeks before the wedding I cleared my calendar completely.Chen had Singapore running independently. Marcus had Q3 projections locked. The European expansion was approved and scheduled for October implementation. The board was satisfied.I called Chen into my office on a Monday morning."I'm out from September fourteenth through the twenty-second," I said. "Eight days total. You're running everything.""Understood.""If something critical happens, call Marcus first. If he can't handle it, then call me. But only if it's actually critical.""Define critical.""The building is on fire. The board is staging a coup. The Singapore facility explodes. Those are critical." I looked at him directly. "A delayed shipment is not critical. A client complaint is not critical. Normal operational issues are not critical.""Got it. Don't call you unless the company is actually ending.""Exactly."He left. Marcus came in ten minutes later."You told Chen not to call you unless the compa

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