DEAR EX, IT'S TOO LATE FOR REGRET.의 모든 챕터: 챕터 31 - 챕터 40

​THE EUROPEAN TRIP.​Emma's POV.The morning after the Williams family was completely cleared out of Pearl’s school, the penthouse felt much lighter and quieter, but the peace was brief because Nathan walked into the kitchen while I was packing Pearl’s lunch, his face filled with that intense corporate determination that always meant a massive move was about to happen. He had a stack of travel documents in his hand and he set them right on the counter next to my coffee cup, explaining that his primary international partners had just opened a bidding window in Rome for a multi-billion dollar logistics contract that would completely absorb the remaining European shipping lines, leaving Jace’s Enterprises without a single international avenue to sustain its massive debts.​"We need to pack our bags and leave for Italy on the private jet in exactly two hours, Emma, because this summit is the final piece of the puzzle to permanently cut off Derek's

​HIDING THE FILES.​Emma's POV.Nathan set his glass of water down on the vanity table and took a slow step toward me, his blue eyes still narrowed as he tried to read my expression, and the sheer size of his frame in the dimly lit hotel suite made me feel incredibly small as I stood there holding my leather purse tightly against my side. I knew that I could not tell him the truth about Pearl yet because our original contract explicitly specifies that we will return to our separate lives after twelve months have passed, and I was absolutely terrified that if he knew I was her biological mother, he would use his massive wealth and international legal teams to lock me away from her forever to protect his own custody. I had to keep this digital file hidden behind a secure password that only Joel and I knew, so I forced my shoulders to relax and took a deep breath, trying my best to look like a supportive business partner who was simply exhausted from our long journey acro

​THE JEALOUS EX RETURNS.​Derek’s POV.The emergency flight from New York to Milan had completely drained my last remaining personal credit lines, and my head was pounding with a vicious mixture of jet lag and pure desperation as I stood on the crowded sidewalk of the luxury shopping district, watching the entrance of a high-end designer boutique where my private investigator said Emma had gone inside just twenty minutes ago. I had spent the last twenty-four hours chasing her across northern Italy because the banks back home were already preparing to seize the main physical assets of Jace's Enterprises, and I knew that my only actual chance to stop the liquidation was to corner Emma away from Nathan's security guards and convince her to drop the corporate lawsuits before Friday arrived. The heavy glass doors of the boutique finally swung open, and Emma walked out into the bright afternoon sun wearing a tailored white coat, her long silver hair caught in the wind

​THE SHARED SECRET.​Emma's POV.The heavy wooden door of our luxury hotel suite clicked shut behind us, and the room was completely silent except for the sound of Nathan’s heavy breathing as he paced back and forth across the Persian rug, his broad shoulders still incredibly tense and his fists clenched tightly at his sides as if he were still standing on that street in Milan holding Derek against the stone wall. I took off my white wool coat and tossed my purse onto the side table, watching his rigid back as he walked over to the balcony doors and stared out at the Roman rooftops with a completely dark, unreadable expression on his face, and I knew that if I didn't find a way to calm his explosive anger right now, his possessive rage would end up clouding our judgment before the final corporate signatures were finalized tomorrow morning. I stepped closer to him, my heels making a soft sound on the polished floorboards, and I placed my hand gently on his forearm

​THE CONFRONTATION IN ROME.​Emma’s POV.The steam from the bathroom was still swirling around my shoulders as I stepped out onto the cool marble tile of the bedroom, but the warmth vanished instantly when I saw Nathan standing rigid by the terrace window with my laptop gripped tightly in his large hands, his knuckles turning completely white while his face remained dangerously pale under the dim yellow light of the chandelier. His blue eyes were blazing with a raw, absolute fury that I had never seen before, not even when he was slamming Derek against the boutique wall in Milan, and my heart dropped straight into my stomach as I saw the open comparative DNA file flashing on the screen, reflecting its bright white light against his dark silhouette. I let go of the dry towel in my hand, letting it fall silently to the floor while I stood frozen near the edge of the bed, my mind racing to find the right words to de-escalate the situation before his explosive protec