Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire's Ex-wife Is a Brilliant Lawyer: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

Bella’s POV Mr. Ashford stared at the woman for a moment before his mouth curved into a smile that did not reach his eyes. “Hello, Agnes.” Her fingers remained wrapped around the edge of the door. “Mr. Ashford.” “May we come in?” Agnes looked at him, then at Mrs. Ashford behind him, then at Chloe and finally back at me. For a moment, I thought she might close the door; instead, she stepped aside. “All right.” We entered one after another. Agnes closed the door carefully behind us, then stood with her back to it as if she needed the support. “You can sit.” Mr. Ashford did not move immediately. His wife touched his arm. “Please.” He looked at her, then followed us into the sitting room. Agnes took the chair nearest the wall. Mrs. Ashford sat beside her husband on the sofa opposite. Chloe chose the chair near mine and placed her bag at her feet. I remained standing for a moment. Agnes watched me. She had not taken her eyes off me properly since opening the door. Peopl

Bella’s POV“What happened to him?”Mr. Ashford remained seated, one hand still covering his wife’s. His anger seemed to have nowhere obvious to go.“He lost almost everything,” he said.I looked at him. “What does that mean?”“It means exactly what it sounds like. The company deteriorated after he lost several major contracts. Creditors began circling. Investors withdrew. There were allegations about how he had been moving money between subsidiaries, and once those stories became public, more people started looking.”Agnes lowered her eyes.Mr. Ashford continued. “He had debts everywhere. Banks, private lenders, former business partners. For a while, it seemed as though every financial paper in London had his name in it.”“Was any of it connected to you?”His gaze moved to mine. “I knew you were going to ask that.”“It is a reasonable question.”“I did not ruin him.”“That is not what I asked.”His mouth tightened.Mrs. Ashford looked between us. “He and your father had been fighting

Bella’s POV Her eyebrows rose slightly. I rubbed one hand over my forehead. “But Mum asked you to stay, and I am not going to argue with her about it while she is unconscious.” Sophie gave me a look. “She would enjoy hearing that.” “She would make me repeat it.” “She absolutely would.” The doctor waited until we had settled before he spoke. “Your mother lost consciousness because her blood pressure dropped significantly.” “What caused it?” I asked. “There are several contributing factors.” “That is not specific.” “I understand.” He moved closer to the end of the bed. “Her cancer is advanced. Her body has been under considerable strain for some time, and the treatments she has received have become increasingly difficult for her to tolerate.” “We already know that.” “Yes.” “Then what changed today?” “The episode today is not happening in isolation.” I stared at him. “What does that mean?” “It means the blood-pressure drop is one part of a broader

Bella’s POV Sophie immediately stood. Evelyn withdrew her hand. “I’ll be outside.” Neither of them moved straight away. Sophie looked at Mum first, as though she wanted to make sure she was truly being dismissed and not simply being polite because she knew I needed a moment. Evelyn’s eyes moved to me, then lowered before I could decide whether I wanted to acknowledge her. Mum noticed both of them hesitating. “I am not asking either of you to leave the hospital,” she said. “I just want five minutes with Bella before she starts finding another doctor to argue with.” Sophie gave me a look that said Mum had described me accurately. “I’ll make sure she stays out of trouble.” “That has never worked before,” Mum replied. Sophie almost smiled. Evelyn stepped closer to the door. When the door closed behind them, Mum looked at me. “You are angry with me.” “I am angry with everyone.” “That sounds exhausting.” “Please do not make jokes.” “I was not joking.” I folded my arms. “Yo

Bella’s POVDr. Reeves held the folder against his chest for a moment before opening it.No one spoke.Mum was awake now, though she had shifted slightly against the pillow as if even sitting up enough to listen required more strength than she wanted us to notice.Evelyn stood beside the chair she had been using.Sophie remained near the end of the bed.I stayed where I was, close enough to Mum to reach for her if she needed me.Dr. Reeves looked at Evelyn first.“The laboratory completed the maternity comparison between you and Mrs. Hart.”Evelyn’s fingers curled around the back of the chair.“And?”“The result supports a biological mother-daughter relationship.”Dr. Reeves continued carefully.“The probability of maternity is greater than ninety-nine point nine percent.”Evelyn stared at him.Sophie looked at Mum, then at Evelyn.I looked at Mum; her eyes were on Evelyn.Dr. Reeves lowered his gaze to the second page.“We also ran the sibling comparison using Sophie’s sample, as req