Divorced, Now Watch Me Rise! のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 241 - チャプター 250

JULIAN I called David from the car on the way back to our house. Claire was beside me, looking out the window, she'd stopped crying but her face still carried the aftermath of it, the redness around her eyes. I kept my voice low when David answered. "Claire's facility was burned down last night," I said. "Arson.  It was confirmed this morning."There was a pause on the other end. "Are you serious?" David asked."Completely," I replied."Adrian," David said immediately."That's what I think," I confirmed. "But I have nothing yet, no proof, just timing and instinct.""Have the police been notified?" David asked."There's already an investigator on scene," I replied. "Detective Sarah Cole. I need you to call her and offer our cooperation. Tell her we have a potential suspect.""I'll call her this morning," David confirmed. "What are you going to do?""Find proof," I said simply.After we got home and Claire went to make her insurance calls, I went to my study and called Adrian's n

CLAIREThree weeks after the fire, things were moving again, the temporary space at Cross Industries was operational, my team had settled in surprisingly quickly.Nina had organized everything with her usual efficiency. It wasn't perfect but it was working.The insurance assessor had completed his visit, the claim was progressing, and I was looking at new facilities, permanent ones.The kind that would make the old Sunset Park space look like a starting point rather than a destination.Marcus picked me up at nine on a Tuesday morning. "Three locations today," I told him, getting into the car with my folder of property details."I know," Marcus replied. "Nina sent me the addresses last night."I smiled slightly. Nina had already briefed my driver before I'd even thought to.The first location was in Red Hook, a converted warehouse with high ceilings and good bones. I walked through it with the property agent, a young woman named Amy who spoke quickly and pointed at everything with enth

JULIANA call came at eight thirty that evening, my phone sitting on the conference room table, unknown number, everyone in the room saw it at the same time.Cole moved immediately. "Let it ring twice before you answer," she instructed, her team already moving to trace equipment. "Keep them talking as long as possible."I picked it up after the second ring. "Cross," I said.The voice that came back was distorted, electronic and deliberately unrecognizable. "Mr. Cross," it said. "I trust you've been having a difficult evening."My hand tightened on the phone. Blake was watching my face from across the table.David had gone completely still. "Where is my wife," I said, it was not a question, it was a demand."She's comfortable," the voice replied. "For now.""Let me speak to her," I said."That's not how this works," the voice replied. "Here's how this works. You listen. I talk, and then you decide whether your wife comes home."I said nothing. "The acquisition," the voice continued. "T

CLAIREThe room was cold and my wrists hurt where the rope had rubbed them raw. I'd stopped pulling against it hours ago because It wasn't helping anything except making the pain worse.I didn't know how long I'd been there, time moved strangely in complete darkness, what felt like an hour could have been twenty minutes, what felt like twenty minutes could have been longer.I thought about Julian constantly as I pressed my back harder against the wall and focused on breathing, the voices outside had quieted down considerably, it was just occasional movement.The sound of a chair shifting, someone clearing their throat, they weren't worried about me going anywhere, and they were right not to be.I wasn't going anywhere, but Julian was coming. I knew that with a certainty that had nothing to do with logic and everything to do with knowing him.He would not sleep, he would not stop, he would turn over every single stone in this city until he found me, that knowledge was the only warm thi

JULIANClaire was still sleeping when my phone rang the next morning. I'd been awake for a while already, still not quite believing she was there, reaching for her instinctively every few minutes just to feel that she was real.I picked up the phone quickly before it could wake her and slipped out of bed and took the call in the hallway. Unknown number, but I knew who it was before I answered."Ethan," I said quietly.There was a pause on the other end.n"You knew it was me," Ethan said."Yes." I replied.I moved to the living room and closed the door behind me, the apartment was still dark except for the early light coming through the windows.Blake's door was closed down the hall. "I heard what happened," Ethan said. "To Claire.""Did you," I replied."I've been in the city the whole time," Ethan said. "I heard things.""What things?" I asked."That she was taken," Ethan replied. "That they found her and that Adrian Vaughn is in custody."I stood at the window looking down at the str