Semua Bab The Billionaire's Forgotten Bride : Bab 121 - Bab 130

Chapter 121The boardroom of the Pierce Banking Group was located on the eightieth floor of a towering glass spire in the heart of the financial district. It lacked the refined, old-money elegance of the Sinclair penthouse. It was stark, hyper-modern, and smelled aggressively of cold espresso and ozone.At 8:00 AM sharp, the heavy glass doors hissed open.Alexander Pierce sat at the head of a massive, stainless-steel table. He was a broad-shouldered man in his late fifties, with thinning sandy hair and cold, predatory hazel eyes that Julian had unfortunately inherited. But where Julian’s eyes held empathy, Alexander’s held only a terrifying, ravenous hunger."Ms. Frost. Mr. Cole," Alexander greeted, not bothering to stand up. He gestured lazily to the empty chairs opposite him. "I see my son delivered the paperwork."Ethan didn't sit. He walked slowly toward the table, buttoning his tailored navy suit jacket. He projected an aura of such overwhelming, lethal dominance that the two jun

Chapter 123The subterranean tech lab of the Frost Estate was bathed in the harsh, blinding glow of dual monitors.It was 2:00 AM.Ethan sat in the leather chair, his fingers flying across the mechanical keyboard with blistering, uninterrupted speed. He was writing the exploit code to breach the physical biometric locks of the Pierce Banking Group's offline vault. He had less than fifteen hours before Alexander Pierce called in the lien on the South Bay port."The sequential firewall rotates every twelve seconds," Ethan muttered to himself, his eyes tracking lines of red code. "I need a localized ping to mimic the master server..."Suddenly, his left hand froze over the keyboard.A sharp, violent spasm locked his fingers into a rigid, painful claw.Ethan gasped, dropping his hand into his lap. He grabbed his left wrist with his right hand, trying to forcefully massage the cramping muscles. It wasn't a normal cramp. It felt like a line of liquid fire had been injected directly into his

Chapter 125At 4:00 PM, the executive boardroom of the Pierce Banking Group was eerily quiet.Alexander Pierce stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the bustling financial district. He checked his Rolex. One hour until the lien on the South Bay port became legally actionable. Frost Industries had remained entirely silent all day. No desperate settlement offers. No legal injunctions filed.It was a total capitulation. He had beaten the great Ethan Cole.The heavy glass doors hissed open.Alexander didn't turn around, assuming it was his assistant bringing the final filing documents. "Are the federal marshals on standby for the port seizure, Diane?""I cancelled the marshals, Alexander."The voice wasn't his assistant’s. It was cold, melodic, and rang with absolute, titanium authority.Alexander spun around.Zara Frost stood at the head of his boardroom table. She wore the obsidian pantsuit, looking every inch the untouchable queen of the corporate underworld.But she w

Chapter 127The subterranean lab fell absolutely, terrifyingly silent.Zara stared at the screen, her heart executing a violent, sickening drop. She grabbed Ethan’s uninjured shoulder. "Ethan, what are you doing? He’s a syndicate boss. We just put him in that cell!"Ethan didn't look at her. His storm-gray eyes remained locked entirely on the Russian billionaire through the encrypted video feed. "I need an asset on the ground in London, Zara. And I need them right now. Nikolai is the only man with the infrastructure to pull this off."Nikolai Rostova leaned back in his sterile metal chair, steepling his fingers. The bright orange jumpsuit did absolutely nothing to diminish the sheer, aristocratic menace radiating from him."You want to hire me, Ethan?" Nikolai chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Last month, you dropped twenty tons of steel on my men and handed me over to Interpol. Forgive me if I doubt the sincerity of your sudden diplomatic outreach.""It’s not diplomacy, Nikolai. It’

Chapter 129The screen of the encrypted monitor faded to absolute black. Ethan Cole stared at the dark glass for exactly three seconds. The monumental, geopolitically terrifying standoff was over. He had won. Arthur Sinclair was neutralized, the Pierce Banking Group was firmly under Julian’s control, and his family was finally, definitively safe. Then, the adrenaline evaporated. It didn't fade slowly. It ripped out of his bloodstream like a retreating tide, leaving behind the catastrophic, agonizing reality of his damaged nervous system. Ethan let out a ragged, wet gasp. His broad shoulders collapsed forward. His right hand, which had been flying across the keyboard with godlike precision just moments prior, slid uselessly off the desk. He slumped heavily into the oversized leather chair, his chin dropping toward his chest as a violent, uncontrollable tremor racked his entire left side. "Ethan!" Zara cried out, dropping to her knees beside his chair. She didn't care about the bi