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หน้าหลัก / Romance / Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret / บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

บททั้งหมดของ Love, Lies, and a Billionaire's Regret : บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

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Chapter Sixty-One: Mrs Park statement

PENELOPE "You don't have to sit here." Mrs. Park said this from her hospital bed without opening her eyes. She had an uncanny ability to sense when someone was in the room. "Nora needs you home." "Nora is with Adrian. She's fine." I said There was a short silence "Adrian?" she said. The way she said it made it clear she had thoughts about it. "Yes, he offered to," I explained. "He's perfectly capable." "I know he's capable." She opened her eyes. "I have thoughts about why he offered. He's in love with you?" I looked down at the tiles. "Yes, that's what he told me," I admitted. "I know he told you. I could see it from the ground floor every time he came to pick you up for a meeting. So, what did you say?" "I told him the truth," I said. "Which is?" "That I care about him very much, and Jonathan also has feelings that I can't pretend isn't there." The hospital room feels clinical and cold. The IV in her arm was doing its work. The doctor had said it was not as
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Chapter Sixty-Two: Buried

JONATHAN "She withdrew everything with no conditions or demands," Marcus said.He was already in my office when I arrived at seven, which meant he had been there earlier."I know, Marcus.""You knew she was going to," he said in a way that didn't sound like a question."I had a conversation with her two days ago," I said. "About what my team had found and what I was prepared to do with it." I opened my laptop. "She made a rational decision.""You threatened her.""I informed her," I said. "Maybe she felt threatened."Marcus sat across from me with his folder and his expression that said he had opinions he was going to keep professional."The case against her is still being built," he said. "Even without her lawsuit. The office breach, the Hartwell pressure, the journalist placement. Do you still want to pursue it?""Yes," I said. "Not for leverage anymore because what she did is documented and should be on record."He nodded. "There's something else." He opened the folder and slid
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Chapter Sixty-Three: The Photographs

PENELOPE *** "I've told you to ask Jonathan, several times. Don't just give me an order and expect me to follow up." "But I asked," Jonathan replied. "No, you just said: 'I'm picking you at eight.' That is not asking, that is informing." "And you agreed to it." "I said okay because I was standing in Mrs. Park's hospital corridor, and you caught me at a vulnerable moment." He kept driving. The road had gotten narrower in the last twenty minutes, now a two-lane, with hedgerows on the left and a cliff on the right that dropped to a grey-green water far below. The sky was overcast but not unpleasant, it was a November coastal sky that had given up being dramatic and was simply present. Nora was asleep in the car seat. She had been asleep since we left the motorway, which meant she had missed all the scenery and tension and appeared to be having the best day. "Where are we going exactly?" I asked. "Somewhere," he answered. "That doesn't answer the question."
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Chapter Sixty-Four: Nostalgia

JONATHAN ***THAT NIGHT Everywhere was dark around the water, indifferent to the boy as he sank into it. I had been here before in sleep. This dream had visited me since I was nine years old. It happened less often over the years but never fully left me. The current tugged at what felt like my legs. I couldn’t see the bank. I couldn’t see anything except the surface above, getting farther away. The light up there shrank while the dark around me grew larger and more oppressive. And then there were hands. I had dreamed this many times before, and it always featured Seraphina's hands. But tonight was a different hand. They grabbed without hesitation and pulled hard, pulling me up through the dark water and back toward the surface and the light.Then I woke up with a gasp and sat up. The room was dark, It was the estate. The sound of the sea outside the window was a constant background I had slept to my whole life. It felt familiar yet slightly off. I sat in the dark and took a m
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Chapter Sixty-Five: The Condition

PENELOPE *** "I'm not saying you're broken," I said. "I know what you're saying," Jonathan replied. "Then why are you making that face?" "You can't see my face. We're on the phone," he added. "I've known your voice for years," I said. "I can imagine the face." "What face am I making?" he asked. "The one that shows you've decided that the conversation is unnecessary even before it is done." I moved Nora to my other hip. She was awake and in that post-nap mood where she needed to be held but was also unsure about it. "I'm not suggesting therapy because something is wrong with you. I'm suggesting it because you’ve had nightmares about a near-drowning since you were nine years old, and that has never been dealt with. You told me you haven't swum in years." "Twenty-two years...Many people don't swim." He added. "Many people didn’t almost drown at nine and then spend two decades believing the wrong person saved them," I said. "That's not a preference. It is something tha
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Chapter Sixty-Six: Elena Vale II

PENELOPE "She's here." Jonathan stood in the doorway of the sitting room, holding his phone, and was clearly waiting for her car. "Already?" I asked. "She drove throughout the night," he said. I got up from the sofa where I had been feeding Nora her morning bottle. Nora protested by gripping the bottle tightly and refusing to let go, as she usually did when she was enjoying it. "Give me two minutes," I said. "Take your time," he replied. "She's waited this long." *** Elena Vale looked just as Jonathan had described her, with all the physical features that he said about her were clearly visible even her assertive personality that can't be seen but its presence was felt. She wore a dark coat and carried a document bag that looked full and heavy, held closely by her side. She stepped into the entrance hall and surveyed us, then glanced at Nora on my hip. "The child...," she stated. "Her name is Nora," I responded. "She looks like both of you," Elena commented. "In different
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Chapter Sixty-Seven: Mother

PENELOPE The phone kept ringing about four... five, was it six minutes? Didn't count."Penelope." I could feel the warmth in her voice, like when she managed something difficult. "I've been trying to reach you.""Where are you? Are you safe? I saw something online about Jonathan and a coastal property and I...""I'm safe," I said. "And it's Jonathan's estate.""Jonathan's estate," she repeated. "So you two are...""Mama." My voice was steady. "I need to ask you something directly. I need you to answer me honestly. Can you do that?"The silence was longer than the time it took to think of an answer."Of course," she answered.I glanced at Elena across the sitting room. She watched me patiently like she had waited a long time for this call."Who is Richard Hale," I asked.This silence was different from hesitation. I'm guessing she had hoped she wouldn't hear that name, not from me in particular."What about him?" my mother asked, very careful."You met with him twice," I said. "Outsid
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Chapter Sixty-Eight: Seraphina

PENELOPE "Don't go," I said. "But she's at my office," he replied. "I know where she is," I said. "I'm saying don't go this morning." "But she has something to say." "She always has something to say," I said. "That's her entire personality." I settled back on the sofa. "Whatever she has to say, it can wait twenty-four hours." "And if it can't?" "Then she'll say it anyway. Jonathan, I just found out my mother hired someone to run a car over my sister's I need one hour before I deal with anything else Seraphina has manufactured." He placed his phone in his pocket. "Okay." The files Elena left were still on the coffee table. I hadn't touched them since she walked out. I wasn't ready to look through everything yet. Some information needs a slow approach, like getting close to something hot before deciding to touch it. "My mother cried," I said. "She doesn't cry," I said. "In my whole life, I can count the times on one hand that she cried and said she was sorry, and I couldn't
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Chapter Sixty-Nine: Richard Hale Talks

PENELOPE "He's naming everyone," Jonathan said as he reads the message again.Seraphina was still at the table. She hadn't moved since I had said it out loud. 'My father wanted me dead.' Those words were still sitting in the room, occupying space, refusing to dissipate the way words usually did."Who is Hale naming?" Seraphina asked, her voice had gone very flat."Everyone," he said again."That could mean anything," she said with her hand on the table pressing down in it too hard."Marcus," Jonathan said into his phone. "Find out what Hale has said in the exact statement. Now."He ended the call."You said Papa made the first call to Hale," I said. "Weeks before Mama. What exactly did he ask him to do?""He wanted you out of the city, permanently," she said. "He wanted you to leave and not come back. He told Hale you were a threat to the family's position.""A threat?" I asked."You were getting close to Jonathan," she said. "Even then before the marriage. The two families were alr
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Chapter Seventy: Adrian

Adrian's POV "She didn't call back," Kwame said. I looked up from my desk. Kwame was my assistant. He was twenty-eight and had a gift for sensing the mood and speaking only when necessary. Right now, he stood in my office doorway with an unexpected coffee and a look that suggested he had noticed something and was giving me a chance to talk about it. "I know she didn't call back," I replied. "It's been three days now." He said "I know," I cut in. "Thanks for the coffee." He placed it on my desk and left. It had been three days since I met Penelope at the coffee shop. I had said what I'd held onto for a year. She had heard me. She had replied honestly. She also mentioned something with Jonathan that she couldn't ignore, and I told her I understood, which I did. She had reached over and touched my hand for three seconds before pulling back. Then, her phone beeped with news, and everything moved on. I drove home and sat alone in my apartment, replaying those three seconds more
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