《The Woman He Buried》全部章節：第 21 章 - 第 30 章

Geneva greeted Isla with a pale autumn morning and a cloudless sky.She stood by the apartment window for a moment, watching the streets below as people began their day. The city was already awake, yet quieter than Astera. Even the traffic moved slowly, almost calmly.Today was her first day. She turned away from the window and checked herself in the mirror one last time.A black wool blazer over a beige satin blouse, paired with black straight trousers and low heels. Her chestnut-brown hair fell neatly just above her shoulders, framing a face she had kept deliberately understated.Professional. Simple. Unremarkable in the best way.She picked up her laptop bag, locked the apartment, and stepped into the quiet hallway.Delacroix Holdings’ Geneva headquarters stood along the river, a mix of historic stone and modern glass that reflected the company’s reputation, prestigious, but restrained.Inside, the lobby was calm and elegant, designed more to impress through precision than excess.

A few weeks after returning from Switzerland, life at Vega Corporation slipped back into its usual rhythm.Mornings were filled with meetings, afternoons with board discussions, and evenings often stretched late into international calls as the company finalized agreements initiated during the European trip. The Zurich negotiations were officially declared a success, and the business world treated it as another strong expansion for Vega.Everyone expected Cassian to feel the same satisfaction. He didn’t show it.He moved through each day with quiet efficiency, moving from one meeting to the next without pause. He reviewed reports, approved contracts, answered questions, and made decisions with the same calm precision as always.On paper, nothing had changed. But those who worked closest to him noticed the difference immediately.He spoke less, smiled less, and spent less time lingering in silence.It wasn’t a lack of focus, if anything, he worked even harder than before. He just no lon

“They’re talking about them again,” Agatha said as she slid the tablet across the breakfast table.Fabian lowered his coffee and glanced at the screen. A bold headline filled it:Future of Vega and Marquez?Below it were photographs from Zurich, Cassian and Sasha walking along Lake Zurich, leaving a restaurant after dinner, and arriving together at an investment conference. Carefully captured, polished images of the kind the media always loved to turn into stories.Fabian studied them without expression.“It seems the public has already decided,” Agatha said lightly.Fabian set the tablet down. “The public usually does.”Across the table, Sasha kept her eyes lowered, though the faint curve of her lips betrayed her composure. The speculation had only intensified over the past few weeks. What had begun as a simple business trip had, in the public eye, evolved into something else entirel

“Who handled the Munich acquisition?”The question cut through the conference room just as the final signature was placed on the last page of the agreement.Conversation stopped at once.The voice belonged to the oldest man at the table.Klaus Reinhardt rested both hands on the polished head of his wooden cane, his sharp blue-gray eyes moving slowly across the room. At seventy-two, the chairman of Reinhardt Industries still carried the quiet authority of someone used to shaping decisions that moved entire markets.Beside him sat his grandson, Lukas Reinhardt, thirty-two, Executive Vice President of the company and the man gradually stepping into his role as successor.Across the table, Austin glanced toward Max. “That would be Ms. Marquez.”Klaus followed the direction of his gaze and looked at Isla.A faint, approving smile formed. “So you’re the young lawyer everyone’s been talking about.”Isla met his eyes politely. “Yes, Mr. Reinhardt.”“I heard your German is quite good,” he said

Isla believed the Munich matter had ended the day before.The meeting was over. The contracts had been signed, the files finalized, and the last approvals recorded before she left the office.To her, it had been an important transaction, but a finished one. It wasn’t.Hundreds of kilometers away, Klaus Reinhardt had already made another decision.By the time Geneva began its morning, that decision was already sitting in Max Weber’s inbox.Max read the email once, then again. A faint, knowing smile formed as he stood. He printed it without hesitation and walked toward the executive floor.A short while later, Austin stepped out of the executive corridor and into the Legal Department.The usual hum of work softened almost immediately. Conversations slowed, then stopped. It wasn’t unusual for him to appear, he often discussed ongoing matters with Max, but something about a mid-morning visit, especially with a printed document in hand, drew attention.Max appeared at the doorway of his of