Lahat ng Kabanata ng Untouched for Three Years: Leaving My Billionaire Husband: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

The news had already moved on to a business segment.The dining room sank back into silence, filled only by the faint noise from the television and the cold clink of cutlery left untouched on porcelain.Vance looked at Rebecca across the table.She was still drinking water quietly, her lashes lowered, hiding whatever remained in her eyes. He had eaten only a few bites of the black-pepper cod pasta. Now it sat heavy in his stomach, like something cold and metallic.“You went back to the national team.”His voice was low, almost lost beneath the small scrape of his chair as he stood.He walked to her side and rested his long fingers on the back of her chair, leaning down slightly.Rebecca set down her glass. The base touched the marble tabletop with a clear, delicate sound.She did not deny it.“Yes,” she said. “I reported to Coach Miller today. Since there are still thirty days left, I need something to do with my time.”“So that’s why you made me wait four hours.”Vance gave a bitter

Morning light slipped through the sheer curtains of the master bedroom and scattered across the cold marble floor.When Rebecca woke, the sheets beside her were smooth and cool. Vance’s side of the bed had clearly been empty for a long time. After his awkward retreat into the bathroom last night, he must have left the bedroom before dawn.Her phone vibrated on the bedside table.Rebecca reached for it.The message was from an unknown number, but the soft, clinging familiarity in the words left no doubt as to who had sent it.Catherine: Rebecca, I’m truly sorry to bother you so early. Vance left the house last night and drank a great deal. He was in a terrible state. I was worried, so I brought him back to my apartment and looked after him all night. He has only just fallen asleep. His shirt is ruined, and he has an important meeting at the group this morning. Could you bring him a clean suit and shirt? The address is St Regis Apartments, West End, Flat 802.Not a single sentence openl

Outside the St Regis Apartments, media vans and black Land Rovers belonging to the security teams had already packed the street from end to end.After changing into the dark grey bespoke suit Rebecca had brought, Vance came downstairs with a sharp, unquestionable authority about him. He took Rebecca’s hand and led her straight into the back seat of the Maybach.The door closed heavily behind them, shutting out Catherine’s pale, wounded face and reddened eyes.Inside the car, the air-conditioning moved in cool silence.Vance lifted a hand and tugged at his tie with visible impatience. His long legs crossed beneath the tailored fabric of his trousers. His gaze seemed fixed on the street sliding past the window, yet most of his attention was locked on the unusually quiet woman beside him.“About last night.”He spoke slowly, his voice still rough from the hangover, though he was clearly trying to preserve his usual elegance and control.“I didn’t go to Catherine for a private meeting. I

The noise from the press reached its peak after Vance announced the sponsorship plan.For a few seconds, the entrance of the convention centre was almost impossible to move through. Reporters surged forward with microphones raised, camera flashes bursting one after another, turning the polished marble floor into a restless field of white light. Security moved at once, forming a human wall between them and the crowd, but even that could not entirely block the questions being thrown from every direction.“Mr Bradford, will Bradford Group be taking over the entire Commonwealth swimming sponsorship?”“Miss Perry, did you know about this arrangement before today?”“Is Captain Evans involved in the negotiations?”Vance did not answer.He turned slightly and placed his hand at Rebecca’s waist with practised ease, guiding her away from the crush of cameras and toward the VIP reception area. His palm rested firmly against her through the fabric of her hoodie, the gesture protective to anyone w

“To tell you the truth, when Rebecca suddenly vanished three years ago and I heard she had married, I was heartbroken. She was one step from the highest stage.”He patted Liam’s back with a rough, affectionate hand.“There were times I thought, if she hadn’t married so young, if the man she ended up spending her life with had been Liam here, what a pair they would have made. Talent, discipline, temperament, even the way they move in the water—they matched each other. A real shame. Life never asks us old men what we want.”Miller spoke plainly, honestly, without the slightest idea of the knife he had just put through the room.He did not know that the billionaire sponsor standing before him was the lawful husband who had kept Rebecca buried in a manor for three years. He was only speaking as a coach, grieving the path his best student had lost and the partnership he had once imagined for two athletes he loved.The atmosphere in the VIP area changed at once.Vance stood rigid.The colou