Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Fiancée Married My Sister: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

I set my sketchbook aside entirely, giving him my full attention. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Two weeks, Noah?""Because you had enough happening," he said, though something in his voice suggested he already knew the answer wasn't good enough. "Margaret, Ryan's sentencing, the foundation transition. I didn't want to add my own crisis on top of everything you were already carrying.""We talked about this," I said, gentle but firm, old frustration resurfacing from the security detail argument months earlier. "You don't get to decide what's too much for me to know about. Especially not something this significant."Something in his expression flickered with recognition, the old lesson clearly landing even through his own stress. "You're right. I'm sorry. Old habits, apparently, take longer to fully unlearn than I'd like.""Tell me everything now," I said, settling back to listen properly. "All of it. No more managing what you think I can handle."He walked me through it slowly — a pri

"What is it?" I asked, sitting up fully now, the last of my sleepiness gone entirely."The SEC pulled financial records going back almost a decade as part of the shell company investigation," Marcus said. "Ashford Group's early transactions include payments to a numbered account that our forensic accountant just traced. Jasmine, it connects to Ryan Lancaster. Payments going back nearly two years — well before Lancaster Corp's collapse."My stomach dropped. "Two years. That's before the wedding. Before any of this even started.""There's more," Marcus continued, his voice careful. "Some of the payment memos reference 'consulting services related to Voss family holdings.' We think Ashford's been circling the Voss estate for years, looking for a way in. When Ryan needed capital to prop up Lancaster Corp after Noah started dismantling it, Ashford saw an opportunity… fund Ryan quietly, keep him afloat just long enough to maintain access to information about you, about Eleanor, about anythi

I sat frozen with the phone against my ear, Noah's hand finding mine instantly as he read the shift in my expression. "Say that again," I said slowly, needing to hear it a second time before I let myself fully absorb it."Ashford's lawyer is claiming his client has information suggesting Charles Voss's death wasn't from natural causes," Marcus repeated carefully. "I want to be clear, Jasmine… this came up in the context of plea negotiations. His lawyer is trying to leverage it for a reduced sentence. That context matters.""What kind of information?" Noah asked, his voice tight with barely controlled alarm."Vague, so far. Something about an old family associate who allegedly told Ashford, years ago, that Charles's aneurysm wasn't as sudden or unexplained as everyone believed. No documentation. No named source beyond hearsay. It has the shape of something manufactured for leverage, not something substantiated."I hung up a few minutes later, my whole body trembling, the careful, hard-

"You're really doing this," Diana said, standing in the middle of my studio with a garment bag draped over one arm. "Two months out and you're already sketching vows in the margins like some kind of overachiever.""I like being prepared.""You like control." Diana dropped onto the couch. "There's a difference, but I'll allow it today."I set the sketchbook down. "Can I ask you something?""Always.""Do you think I'm the kind of person who sabotages good things? Right before they actually happen?"Diana sat up straighter. "Where is this coming from?""Noah asked me, weeks ago, if I wanted this to be permanent instead of ending with the arrangement's original timeline." I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve. "I froze. I told him I was scared he'd stop wanting me the second there was no contract left holding us together.""What did he say?""That he can't give me a guarantee. That he can only keep choosing me, over and over, and at some point that has to be enough."Diana was quiet for

"You look like something's bothering you." Diana dropped a stack of seating cards on the studio table and studied my face. "Talk.""Daniel's sentencing. Ashford's sentencing. I keep thinking about how differently those two men are going to walk out of this.""They should walk out differently," Diana said. "One of them lied about a murder to save himself. The other one stole a hairbrush because he felt invisible and then actually tried to fix it.""I know. It's not that I think it's unfair. It's that I thought — I don't know. I thought caring enough, understanding enough, would be enough to change the outcome for people. It isn't, apparently.""Since when is that news to you?" Diana raised an eyebrow. "You forgave Ryan and he still went to prison. You forgave your mother and she still has to actually rebuild trust from scratch, slowly, one visit at a time. Forgiveness was never supposed to be a magic eraser, Jasmine.""I think I wanted it to be. Lately." I picked up one of the seating