The Billionaire I Met On My Worst Night のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 80

The Morrison Gallery was a symphony of organized chaos. Charlotte stood in the center of the main exhibition hall, a clipboard in hand, entirely in her element. Art handlers in pristine white gloves carefully unboxed massive, heavily insured canvases, while decorators adjusted the ambient lighting to perfectly highlight the textures of the new pieces. The highly anticipated private exhibition was only days away, and the gallery hummed with an electric, bustling energy. "Move that sculpture about three inches to the left," Charlotte directed her lead curator, pointing toward a striking marble piece near the entrance. "It needs to catch the natural light from the front windows before the sun sets."She felt a deep, resonant hum of pride in her chest. She wasn't just surviving anymore; she was thriving. She was no longer just the woman who had narrowly escaped a ruined engagement, nor was she simply Edward Stewart’s wife. She was Charlotte Morrison, standing in the center of a world sh

The day before the exhibition.Andrew Hart sat motionless on the edge of his bed, the harsh glare of his laptop screen the only source of light in the dim apartment.His encrypted burner phone vibrated against his thigh.He didn't want to look at it.He already knew who it was.He pulled it out, his thumb hovering over the screen for several seconds before he finally looked at the message.“Stay entirely away from the gallery. Do not approach Charlotte. Do not go near any location connected to tomorrow's exhibition.”Andrew’s jaw clenched. The humiliating sting of being treated like a subordinate—a pawn in his own revenge—burned in his chest. He was the one who wanted her to suffer. He was the one whose life had been ruined by her husband. He wanted to be the one to look her in the eye and watch the color drain from her face. He furiously typed a response. “I want to see her. I want her to know I'm close before tomorrow. I want her to be afraid.”The response was almost immediate, c

Edward burst through the double doors onto the main exhibition floor, his chest heaving as his heart seemed to stop inside his chest.The emergency backup lights cast an eerie, sickly yellow glow across the panicked crowd. Guests were murmuring, some shouting, the glamorous atmosphere shattered into jagged pieces of confusion. His eyes locked onto the alcove. Nancy was standing there, looking around wildly, her hands empty. But Charlotte was gone. For a fraction of a second, Edward stood entirely frozen, his mind violently rejecting the empty space where his wife had just been standing. Then, the shock evaporated, replaced by an explosive, primal panic. He crossed the room in long, lethal strides, stopping directly in front of Nancy. His hands closed around her upper arms as his voice came out low and desperate."Where is she?” Nancy jumped, her eyes wide with terror. "I—I don't know! She was right beside me, Edward! When the lights went out, people started pushing and screaming.

The harsh, fluorescent light of the interrogation room seemed to flicker as the heavy silence stretched. Edward stared at the screen of Andrew’s burner phone, the words burning into his mind. "The mansion?" Kevin asked quietly, his hand instinctively dropping toward his sidearm. "Do they have someone inside the estate?""No," Edward replied, his voice a low, dangerous rasp. "It means something broader. Look at the board, Kevin. Think about what this person already knew."Edward began to pace, his mind connecting the terrifying dots. "They knew the exact date and layout of the exhibition. They knew my personal security arrangements. They knew I would refuse to leave Charlotte’s side, and exactly what it would take to pull me away. They knew we had a surveillance team watching Andrew. They even knew we brought Andrew down to this exact basement."Edward stopped, looking through the one-way glass into the dark corridor. "Andrew didn't give them that information. Someone else did. Someo

Charlotte kept the heavy wooden chair raised, her knuckles turning white. Her muscles burned, but she refused to lower it. William stood in the doorway, trembling, completely stripped of the polished corporate veneer he had worn for years. “Charlotte, please,” William begged, his voice a frantic whisper. “We have to leave. Now.” “Why would I trust you?” Charlotte demanded, her voice hard. “Because they know I’ve been trying to turn against them! The man in the mask… he never intended to let me walk away after you were taken.” William looked over his shoulder into the pitch-black corridor, raw panic in his eyes. “If we stay in this room, we are both going to die.”Charlotte lowered the chair slightly, though her grip remained iron-tight. “Who are they, William? Answer me.”William hesitated, his chest heaving. “The man controlling everything… he’s someone Edward believes is dead.”Before Charlotte could force him to say the name, a heavy, metallic clatter echoed from the far end of