جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 64

Chapter 61Bailey's POVThe vaulted ceilings of the grand hall at Crest Tower echoed with a soft, respectful murmur. Sunlight streamed through the towering stained-glass windows, casting long, golden shafts across the polished marble floors where history had once been written in cold ambition, corporate blood, and fear. For decades, the walls of this monumental room had displayed severe, unsmiling portraits of past executives—men who valued power above human life and treated a family name like a balance sheet. Today, we were rewriting the entire legacy.A sharp, familiar flutter of self-consciousness tightened in my chest. Standing near the center of the vast hall beneath a massive, cloth-draped canvas, I smoothed down the fabric of my emerald silk dress. Even now, holding fifty-two percent of the conglomerate and having survived every trap laid for us, standing before an assembly of our employees felt raw. Part of my mind whispered phantom warnings—what if the cold ghosts of the past

Chapter 63Bailey's POVThe private jet touched down smoothly on the sunlit tarmac. As the cabin door opened, warm tropical air filled the plane, carrying the scent of hibiscus and salty ocean breeze.For months, our lives had been filled with corporate boardrooms, security details, legal battles, and the sleepless nights that came with caring for a newborn. Stepping onto the private island felt like entering another world. Here, everything was quiet, and life seemed to move at the same gentle pace as the waves.Still, a small part of me remained on guard. Standing at the top of the mobile staircase, with the bright sunlight reflecting off the white sand runway, I remembered when open spaces had made me nervous and every distant horizon had seemed like a place where danger could be waiting.Raven noticed my hesitation. He stood beside me, holding our four-month-old daughter, Clara, in a light cotton carrier against his chest. He shifted closer and slipped his free hand into mine, gent