All Chapters of Don’t Beg for Love : Chapter 191 - Chapter 200

"We've lost another two partnerships this week alone," one director said, sliding a report across the table with enough force that it nearly skidded off the edge. "The Qureshi Group, and now Vantage Logistics. Both citing the same reason. Reputational instability at the top.""At this rate," another added, voice tight with barely restrained panic, "we won't have enough active contracts left by quarter's end to justify maintaining our current headcount. We're talking layoffs, Mr. Hale. Real ones. Hundreds of employees.""The stock's down another four percent since this morning's opening bell," a third chimed in, tapping his tablet for emphasis. "Investors are spooked. I've had three separate calls this week asking whether the company's leadership is stable enough to weather this."I sat through it all, jaw tight, watching the same five or six faces trade variations of the same panic back and forth across the table, each one convinced their particular crisis deserved priority over every

Annalise's POVI opened my mouth, then closed it again. I had no answer. I did not even have the energy to chase the question down to its root. My mind simply refused to carry one more thing.I let the phone slip from my fingers. It landed on the cushion with a dull thud, and I stood up quietly, my legs moving before my thoughts could catch up, and I headed toward my bedroom.But I never made it that far.I passed the kids' room first and my feet stopped on their own. The door was half open, a thin strip of light from the hallway falling across the floor, and for a moment I only stood there with my hand against the frame. Then, without deciding to, I pushed the door wider and walked inside.The room still smelled like them. Like baby shampoo and crayons and the faint sweetness of the strawberry lotion they fought over every night.It was a large room, and I had arranged it so that each of them would have a corner of their own, though in the end each corner had arranged itself.Liam's

Courtney wiped her tears with the back of her hand so fast that I almost missed it, and by the time she turned toward my mother, her face had rearranged itself into something soft and shy. Her cheeks even held a little color, the way a bride's should."It's nothing, Mom," she said, with a small, embarrassed laugh. "We were only talking."She lowered her lashes and let a blush bloom across her face, and I stood there and watched the performance with a kind of numb fascination. She was good at it. Better than good. A stranger walking in would have believed every second.My mother looked from her to me, and then something in her expression shifted, as if she had stumbled into a moment that was not meant for her eyes. A pleased little chuckle escaped her."Oh, I see," she said, waving a hand. "I'm sorry for interrupting. Don't mind me. You two will have plenty of time for this after the wedding." She stepped forward and looped her arm through Courtney's. "Come, dear. Come downstairs with

Felix’s POVI stood there with the cigarette burning between my fingers, mouth hanging open, completely speechless. It was a speech worthy of a doctor's convention, delivered in a voice that barely cleared the height of my belt. Somewhere inside me, a small, cold fear began to creep in. What kind of child talked like that? What kind of child stayed awake after bedtime to deliver a health lecture to the adult paid to babysit him?Arya swiveled around in her chair, and to my horror, she was smiling at the boy. A sweet, warm, motherly smile I had never once seen on her face. She even clapped her hands."That was wonderful, sweetheart," she cooed. "Where did you learn all that?""I read it in a health magazine," Liam said."You can read?" She gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest."I'm not a baby," Liam replied flatly.Then he turned his attention back to me, and I felt my insides twist. "When are you going to take us to Andrew Hale? We're already in L.A."I let out a nervo

Find them before the day is over.I exchanged a confused glance with Tania, and in the same second I understood that something was terribly wrong here. This was not a family gathering. It was a search party. Whoever Xander was looking for, the whole mansion had been turned upside down for them.Then a voice cracked through the noise from somewhere in the crowd."Big Sis? Is that really you?"I turned toward the sound, and Cassandra came rushing across the lawn, her heels abandoned somewhere behind her, her hair loose and tangled. Her face was red and swollen, as though she had been crying for hours, and fresh tears spilled from her eyes as she threw her arms around me and held on with surprising strength."Where have you been all these years?" she sobbed against my shoulder. "We searched everywhere for you. Everywhere! We couldn't find you, Big Sis, not a single trace. What happened to you out there? Why are you so thin?"I did not have time to answer. A hush had swept across the lawn