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All Chapters of The CEO Abandoned Hiress : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

50 Chapters

Chapter 21

Callie's POV"They are removing me."Vanessa said it standing in my kitchen with her arms wrapped around herself. She did not sit down. She did not look at me."Who is removing you?""The board. Derek." She laughed once, and it cracked in the middle. "Tomorrow is not about reconciliation, Callie. That is the story for the cameras. There is a motion already filed. They are voting to push me out as a liability.""You are not on the board.""I am the reason his name has been in the news for two months." Her eyes finally met mine. "The video. The text in the courtroom. They think I cost him the quarter. And he knows. He has known for a week."I leaned against the counter."Why are you telling me this?""Because I am tired of being the only one who gets used." Her voice shook. "He told me I was the woman he wanted. He moved me into that penthouse. And the moment I became inconvenient, he started making plans around me.""You did the same to me.""I know."She said it so plainly that I had

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 22

Callie's POV"It is not about Lily's insurance."Derek's lawyer said it in the back of the car, and I heard it through the half-open door as Derek stood on the curb outside the ballroom, still in his tuxedo, with the cameras long gone."Then what audit?" Derek asked."The board's own review. Of your discretionary spending." The lawyer swallowed. "Private investigators. Two NDAs. Legal fees tied to your wife and Dr. Reyes. All of it was paid from company funds.""I approved those as security expenses.""The board does not agree."I was holding Lily against my shoulder, her pink dress wrinkled, her breathing slow. Nobody had noticed me standing in the shadow of the doorway.Derek had.He looked at me across the dark pavement. For one second he looked like a man falling and searching for something to blame.I turned and carried my daughter to the car.---He came to the house at midnight.Not three slow knocks this time. A fist against the door, over and over, until I opened it before he

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 23

Callie's POV"Mummy. Am I going to die?"I got out of the driver's seat and climbed into the back beside her. I did not plan it. My legs just moved.I took both her hands.For twenty-two chapters of my life I had said the same things. You are fine, baby. Mummy will fix it. Do not worry about that. I had said them so many times they had stopped feeling like lies and started feeling like habits.She was looking at me. Waiting.And I could not do it again."Lily," I said. "I am going to tell you the truth. Okay?"She nodded once."You are very sick. Sicker than most children." My voice shook and I let it. "The doctors are working very hard. Dr. Michael has a new medicine and it is helping. But I do not know how long you will have. Nobody knows. And that scares me."Her eyes widened a little."It scares Mummy?""So much."She thought about that. "You always say you are not scared.""I know. I was wrong to say it." I pressed her hands against my cheek. "I am scared. But I am also hoping. B

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 24

Callie's POVThe phone rang a third time.Derek looked at the screen. Then he looked at me.He picked it up, pressed one button, and set it face down on the table. The ringing stopped."I am not answering," he said."I did not ask you to.""I know." His voice was rough. "That is why."Neither of us said anything else. He sat in my dark kitchen for another ten minutes. Then he stood, walked to the sofa, and looked at Lily for a long time.He did not touch her. He just looked."I will come tomorrow," he said at the door.I did not answer. I had heard those words too many times.But I watched him walk to his car, and I noticed he did not check his phone once.---Vanessa did not take it quietly.She called Derek eleven times that night. Then thirty the next day. Then nothing at all, which was worse.On Friday morning, my phone lit up with a message from Michael.*Have you seen the news?*I opened the link.**ASHFORD INDUSTRIES: INTERNAL AUDIT REVEALS EXECUTIVE SPENDING ON PRIVATE SURVEIL

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 25

Callie's POV"I have already scheduled it."Michael said it the moment I picked up. No greeting. His voice was calm, but I could hear a door closing behind him."Scheduled what?""The procedure. Tomorrow morning at seven. The surgical team is confirmed and the payment is cleared."I sat down on the edge of the bed."Michael. I told you I could not take your money.""You did not take it." He paused. "I gave it. To the hospital. In Lily's name. There is no contract, no paper, nothing for any lawyer to hold up in court.""They will find out.""Then let them." His voice dropped. "Callie, she has seventy-two hours. I was not going to let her spend them waiting for a man to find his conscience."I pressed my fist against my mouth."I will pay you back," I whispered. "Every cent.""We will talk about that when she is home."He hung up before I could say anything else.I sat there, holding the phone.Michael had paid for my daughter's life without being asked, without a speech, and without a

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 26

Callie's POV"It worked."The surgeon said it first. Two words, and my knees went out from under me.Michael caught my elbow before I fell."The fluid is drained," the surgeon went on. "Her lung is clear. Her breathing is steady. She is in recovery, and she is asking for a rabbit."I laughed. It came out as a sob."But I need you to hear the rest," he said.I nodded."This bought her time. It did not fix the leukemia." He glanced at Michael, then back at me. "The trial is helping, but her body will need more than it can give her alone. A matched donor. Or a restricted compassionate-use drug, which takes approvals we do not have yet.""How long?" I asked."Weeks," Michael said quietly. "Not months."I held Mr. Rabbit against my chest and said nothing.Weeks.---Lily woke up at noon with a tube in her nose and a very serious face."Where is Mr. Rabbit?"I put him in her arms. She sniffed his ear, checked him over, and nodded."He did not say anything," I told her. "Like you asked.""Go

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 27

Derek's POV"There is one condition."Vanessa said it softly, standing in the hospital corridor with her phone held against her chest. She had been on the line with the investor's people for twenty minutes before I even finished my own call."What condition?""They want to see stability. A family." She looked at me. "Me. Noah. You. In the press, in public, together. And not her.""Callie.""They do not want the lawsuit. They do not want the video. They do not want a wife who fights him in court." Her voice was gentle. "They want a clean picture, Derek."I stared at the wall.The debt would be gone by morning. The stock would climb. The board would take their votes back. Everything I had lost in three weeks, returned in one phone call."It is only strategy," I said."Of course.""It does not change anything.""Of course not."I said it again in my head, walking back toward Lily's room.It is only strategy.I signed the agreement that night.---**Callie's POV**He came every day that w

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 28

Callie's POV"Your Honor, there have been no recent violations."Derek's lawyer said it smoothly. He had said it three times already."Lily is in the middle of a trial treatment," my lawyer argued. "Her condition is unstable. A weekend away from her medical team is a risk.""The petitioner is her father," the judge said. She looked tired. "He has a clean record since the courthouse review. I cannot deny him time with his own child without cause."My heart dropped."However." She tapped her pen. "The weekend will be supervised by agreement. A third party named by both sides will be present at all times. Medication schedule followed exactly. Is that understood?""Understood, Your Honor," said Derek's lawyer.I looked at Derek.He did not look at me. He was reading something on his phone.---The supervision was gone by Friday morning.I found out in the lobby of the hospital. The supervisor we had agreed on, a quiet woman from the family office, stood holding a letter."I have been rele

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 29

Callie's POV"Ma'am, you cannot go up there!"The doorman got one hand on my sleeve. I pulled free so hard I nearly fell."My daughter is on the thirty-ninth floor. Locked in a room. Move.""I need to call Mr. Ashford first.""Then call him from the elevator."I did not wait for an answer. I ran past the fountain, past the desk, and slammed my palm against the elevator button until the doors opened. He followed me inside, talking into his radio, but he did not stop me.Thirty-nine floors.I counted every one.---The penthouse door was not locked. Someone had left it on the latch.I pushed it open and went down the hallway, past a long white sofa and a wall of photographs I did not look at. A small lamp glowed under one door at the end.I turned the handle.It would not move."Lily!" I pounded with both fists. "Lily, baby, it is Mummy!"A weak sound came from inside. "Mummy?""I am here. Stay away from the door."I stepped back and drove my shoulder into it. Once. Twice. Pain shot dow

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

Chapter 30

Callie's POV"Put her here. She can have my bed."Michael pulled back the blanket on a bed that was too big for her. His apartment was small and quiet, with one lamp on and a stack of medical journals on the floor.I laid Lily down with Mr. Rabbit beside her. Michael had already given her fever medicine and a cold cloth. Her breathing had slowed. Her fingers were curled around Mr. Rabbit's ear."Mummy, are we in trouble?""No, baby. You are not in trouble. Go to sleep.""Mr. Rabbit is not in the river?""Mr. Rabbit is right here. He is not going anywhere. I promise."She sighed and closed her eyes.I stood over her for a long time.---I could not sleep.At two in the morning I sat on Michael's sofa with my phone and opened the photo I had not looked at in weeks. My daughter, asleep, taken through the blinds. No caption.I had been too afraid to look at it properly. Tonight I was too angry to be afraid.I opened the file details. Date. Time. Device. A string of numbers I did not under

Last Updated : 2026-11-02

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