All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE'S CONTRACT WIFE : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Ellie's POV"Mrs. Cross, I need you to breathe for me, because right now your blood pressure is telling me you are more nervous than you are letting on," the nurse said, and I laughed despite myself because she was completely right.Nathan sat beside me in the small exam room, his knee bouncing under his slacks in a way I had never once seen from him in a boardroom, no matter how high the stakes. He had cleared his entire morning for this appointment, something his assistant told me had never happened before, not even for the merger that saved the company two years ago."You do not have to be this nervous," I told him, reaching over to still his hand against his leg. "I am the one who has to lie here.""I am allowed to be nervous," he said. "This is the single most important meeting I have ever attended, and I have negotiated with men who own airlines."Doctor Patel came in a moment later, warm and unhurried, squeezing gel onto my stomach before she turned the small screen toward us.

Ellie's POV"I found him, Ellie, and I promise you, once I say his name out loud, you are going to understand exactly why this feels so personal," Vanessa said, gripping her coffee cup so tightly her knuckles had gone white.We sat together at a small corner table in the bakery, of all places, because Vanessa had insisted on meeting somewhere Gerald's remaining allies would never think to look for her. Rose had taken one look at her walking through the front door and, to my genuine shock, poured her a cup of coffee without a single word of protest, something that would have been unthinkable a year ago."Preston Vale," Vanessa said finally. "He sits on the board. Quiet, careful, the kind of man everyone forgets is even in the room until he is the only one still smiling at the end of a meeting."The name meant nothing to me, but Nathan, sitting beside me with his jaw tight, clearly recognized it immediately. "Preston has been on the board for six years," he said slowly. "He voted to rem

Ellie's POV"Something is wrong with Grandma, Ellie, she will not answer the phone and the shop lights are still on but the door is locked from the inside," Sophie said, and I was already grabbing my coat before she finished the sentence.We reached the bakery in eleven minutes, Nathan driving faster than I had ever seen him drive in his life, and my heart nearly stopped entirely at the sight of the ambulance already parked outside, its lights washing red and silent across the darkened storefront window."Rose Hartman," I said, pushing past a paramedic toward the door. "That is my grandmother, please, let me through.""She is stable," the paramedic said quickly, seeing the panic clearly written across my face. "A dizzy spell, possibly related to her blood pressure medication. We found her sitting at the counter, conscious, a little confused, but stable."I found her a moment later on a stretcher just inside the door, pale but awake, waving off the oxygen mask with the exact same stubb

Ellie's POV"I have three months of call logs, a wire transfer paper trail, and a reporter willing to testify he was paid for those leaked pregnancy details, so tell me again that we do not have enough to bring to the board," Marcus said, sliding a thick folder across the kitchen table.Sophie sat beside him, exhausted but electric with the particular energy of someone who had just spent two straight days buried in financial disclosures and finally broken through. Nathan flipped through the folder slowly, his expression hardening with every page."The reporter is willing to testify," I repeated. "How did you manage that.""Sophie found him first," Marcus said, glancing at her with obvious pride. "She spent an entire afternoon reading through his old bylines until she found a pattern of stories that only ever seemed to break right before a Cross Hospitality board vote. After that, it was simply a matter of asking the right question at the right coffee shop.""I told him I already had e

Ellie's POV"Before this board votes on anything regarding my husband's leadership, I believe every member in this room deserves to see exactly who has been manipulating this process from the very beginning," I said, my voice steadier than I actually felt as I stood at the head of the long conference table.Preston Vale's composure flickered for just a moment, quickly smoothed back into place, but I had already seen it, and so had half the board watching him closely now."Mrs. Cross, this is a company matter," he said carefully. "I am not sure your presence here is entirely appropriate.""I am the mother of the child you claimed makes my husband unfit to lead this company," I said. "I would say that makes my presence extremely appropriate."Nathan's hand found mine briefly under the table before he stood, nodding to Marcus, who rose and began distributing the carefully organized folders Sophie had spent two sleepless nights assembling."Eighteen months ago, a shell account was funded