Todos los capítulos de The Billion Dollar Revenge For Lucia Hale: Capítulo 121 - Capítulo 130

Amelia watched the press conference for the third time with the sound turned down.She had seen it live, then again on the news, and now she sat curled in the corner of Raphael’s leather sofa with a glass of wine she hadn’t touched, watching Elara say the same few sentences.Without the sound, they looked even more composed. The straight shoulders, the steady voice, and the way she turned from the cameras without any hurry at all.I won’t accuse anyone publicly without evidence.Amelia pressed the remote, and the screen went dark.“You’ve been glaring at that woman for an hour,” Raphael said from the desk across the room. “I’m starting to feel neglected.”“She was supposed to attack me.”“Was she?”“Of course she was.” Amelia set the glass down harder than she meant to. “I gave her the perfect opening. I stood in that ballroom and said she was suspicious of the people closest to her, and I said it so gently that anyone could see I was only worried.”Raphael chuckled.“If she’d shouted

The garment bags arrived at the studio a little after ten, and Elara made herself wait until the courier had gone before she unzipped the first one.Mina hovered at her elbow, pretending to straighten a stack of fabric swatches. Neither of them said anything while Elara lifted out the charcoal coat, the ivory wrap dress and the long camel skirt, and hung them in a row on the forms by the window.It was the first full set from Varela, and she walked around it slowly with her hands clasped behind her back, the way she used to circle a gallery piece.“Well?” Mina finally burst out.“Give me a minute.”The coat was almost exactly what she had drawn. The wrap dress fell cleanly from the shoulder and the seams lay flat, just as she had asked. It was good work, better than good, and she felt something loosen in her chest that had been tight for weeks.Then she found the flaws. The lining of the coat sat a quarter inch too low at the hem, and when she turned the skirt inside out, a zipper t

Atlas stood in the study long after her footsteps had faded.When he finally walked out, he found himself in the dining room doorway. The table was still set for two, the candles waiting for a match he had been saving for her arrival. He went into the kitchen instead, turned off the oven and scraped the blackened fish into the bin without looking at it.Then he went back to the study and called Dean. He needed to hear someone else say it, and he hated that he knew what the answer would be.“She found out,” Dean said by way of greeting.“Curt told her.”Dean let out a low whistle. “How bad was it?”“Very.” Atlas sighed. “Said I decided everything for her.”“She’s right, you know.” Dean’s voice was dry.“Dean.” Atlas pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t call you for a verdict.”“You called because you wanted me to tell you she was being unfair, and I can’t do that, as you didn’t tell her when you had the chances.”“I was trying to be sure first.”Dean paused. “Boss,

Curt found her in the breakfast room a little after seven, and the way he stood in the doorway told her something was wrong before he said a word.“Ma’am, one of the service doors on the east side was found unlocked this morning.”Elara set down her cup. Across the table, Atlas looked up from his tablet and went still, and she watched him glance at her before he spoke.“It’s your house,” he said quietly. “Ask what you want to ask.”“Unlocked by whom?”“Nobody that we can tell.” Curt kept his eyes on her. “The camera on that side also went dark for about four minutes around two o’clock, and none of the men on that side saw anything.”“Plus, Mrs. Ames, who locks that door every night, swears she did it as usual.” He added.“Was anything taken?”“Not that we’ve found, but I’d like you to check your own rooms.”She went through the east wing with Atlas a step behind her, and at first nothing seemed out of place. Then she reached the small desk in the east sitting room and stopped. The to

Atlas was out of the car before it stopped rocking.He remembered the engine, the windshield full of white light, and the shape in front of the hood, but he did not remember deciding anything before flooring the car.The man lay twenty feet down the drive at the edge of the headlights, one leg bent wrong, and Atlas ran past him without a glance.“Elara!”She was on the grass at the side of the drive, curled on one hip, a dented brass lamp still in her fist. Mud streaked her nightgown, and gravel clung to her bare feet.Her eyes slowly drifted upwards from the ground as she shook like a leaf.“I’m all right,” she said, breathless, before he could ask.She most definitely wasn't.He dropped to his knees beside her. “Don’t move, let me check—”“Atlas.” Her free hand closed around his wrist, and he felt it shaking. “I’m all right.”He pressed his forehead against her shoulder for exactly one second, because he could afford nothing more.Then boots hammered across the gravel as four guards