جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

The heavy iron gates of our new villa slid open with a low hum as my hired driver pulled the town car into the driveway.I leaned my head against the cool leather seat and watched the armed security guards patrol the perimeter of the tall concrete walls.Carson did not take any chances when he signed the lease for this property at four o'clock this morning.High-definition cameras covered every corner of the yard so nobody could take a single step onto the grass without my security team knowing about it.The adrenaline from my successful lunch meeting with Richard Vance finally started to fade from my system.My shoulders ached from carrying the heavy weight of the corporate crisis all day long.I just wanted to take off my uncomfortable suit and forget about the millions of dollars at stake for a few quiet hours.The driver parked the car near the front steps and opened my door before I could even reach for the handle.I thanked him quietly and walked up the stone pathway toward the

HELEN'S POV CONTINUES"She was too busy trying to get good grades to care about his wealth," Teresa added."I watched him look at her in the cafeteria and I decided I would never let her win," I confessed."You played the game perfectly," Teresa praised me."I paid those girls to lock her in the school restroom and I leaked those fake photos to ruin her reputation," I listed my victories to justify my rage."We did what we had to do to secure our future," Teresa justified our actions without a hint of remorse."I spent years convincing Brian that she was a cruel monster while I played the perfect loving savior," I said while wiping a stray tear from my cheek."I paid the janitor to unlock the warehouse so I could plant the silver brooch in my own belongings," I explained my masterstroke."You made him believe you were his guardian angel," Teresa smiled at the memory."I held his hand in the hospital and I wiped his tears while Cheryl slept in the next room," I said."She never even kn

I never hit the ground.Two massive hands grabbed my waist with a vice grip and stopped my fall mere inches from the floor.The sudden halt jerked my neck and my hands instinctively reached out to grab whatever was holding me up.My fingers curled into the expensive fabric of a crisp dress shirt and felt the hard muscle underneath.The person hauled me upward with effortless strength and pulled my back flush against a broad chest.A very familiar scent of rich cedar and expensive cologne flooded my senses and froze the blood in my veins.I stopped breathing as the realization hit me.The loud chatter of the coffee shop faded into background noise while my heart hammered against my ribs.I slowly turned my head and looked up into the dark eyes of the man I spent the last two days trying to avoid.Brian stared down at me with an intense expression and his strong jaw clenched tight.He did not wear a tie today and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal the strong column o

My hands still shook as I gripped the leather steering wheel of my car, because I could not get the scent of Brian's cedar cologne out of my head.He cornered me in that coffee shop just three hours ago, and my heart rate still refused to slow down to a normal rhythm. I tried to review the catering spreadsheets for the upcoming medical expo, but the numbers just kept blurring together on my bright computer screen. Carson noticed my distraction right away and practically ordered me to leave the office early.I really needed to see my daughter. I needed to hold Mira and remind myself why I was fighting this exhausting corporate war in the first place.The drive to the elite preschool usually took twenty minutes with afternoon traffic, but I pressed hard on the gas pedal and made it there in fifteen. I pulled my car into the visitor parking lot and turned off the engine with a heavy sigh. The afternoon sun beat down on the pavement as I grabbed my purse from the passenger seat. I stepped

I navigated the quiet, empty streets of the downtown business district with a massive cup of black coffee sitting in my cup holder. The sun was barely starting to peek over the city skyline, casting long gray shadows across the pavement. Today was the single most important day of my professional career, and failure simply wasn't an option.I pulled my car into the reserved underground parking garage beneath Caldwell Biotech. My tires squeaked against the smooth concrete floors as I navigated toward my designated spot. I turned off the engine and sat in the quiet dark for just a moment, taking a slow, deep breath to steady my racing heart.I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror and pushed my wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of my nose. I spent an extra hour this morning making sure my spiral curls looked flawless, pinning a few stray strands back so they wouldn't fall into my eyes during my keynote speech.I grabbed my heavy leather briefcase from the passenger seat and walked