All Chapters of The Wife He Betrayed Became His Ruin : Chapter 21 - Chapter 29

NADIA POVI checked into a hotel downtown.It was not a nice hotel. It was not the kind of place Julian would ever step foot in. It was anonymous. It was quiet. It was safe.I paid in cash. I used a name that was not my own. I did not want to be found. Not yet. Not until I was ready.The room was small. A bed. A desk. A bathroom. A window that looked out at a brick wall. It was not much. But it was mine. It was the first thing that had been mine in years.I sat down on the bed and pressed my hand against my stomach.I had almost forgotten. In all the pain. In all the rage. In all the hatred. I had almost forgotten that I was not alone.The baby.The tiny life inside me.The baby Julian did not know about. The baby I had been so afraid to tell him about. The baby I had been so excited to tell him about.I pressed my hand against my stomach."We are going to be okay," I whispered. "We are going to be okay."I did not know if I believed it.But I said it anyway.I had to say it.I had to

SERENA POVEleanor did not panic.Eleanor never panicked. That was the first thing I learned about her. The first thing I admired. The first thing that scared me. She was calm. Always calm. Even when everything was falling apart. Even when the assets were frozen. Even when Julian was crumbling. Even when the plan was at risk.She was calm."Tell me again," she said.I told her again. Julian. The hesitation. The guilt. The look in his eyes when I mentioned Nadia's name. The way he walked out. The way he did not say no."He did not say no," Eleanor said."He did not say yes either.""He will.""How do you know?""Because he has nothing else. He has no money. No company. No home. No wife. He has nothing. And men with nothing will do anything to get something back."I was silent."You are worried," Eleanor said."I am not worried.""You are worried."I did not respond."Serena." Her voice was sharp now. Hard. The voice she used when she was losing patience. The voice she used when she wan

NADIA POV I found the key three days later. It was in his coat pocket again. The same coat. The same pocket. He had forgotten about it. He had forgotten he had left it there. He had forgotten that I had already found one secret in that coat. I waited until he was asleep. I waited until I was sure he would not wake up. Then I crept out of bed and walked to the study. My hands were shaking. I did not know what I was going to find. I did not know what was waiting for me on the other side of that locked drawer. I only knew that I had to know. I had to see. I had to understand. I unlocked the door. I walked inside. I knelt down beside the desk and slid the key into the lock. It turned easily. Too easily. Like it had been waiting for me. Like it wanted to be opened. I pulled the drawer open. Inside was a folder. Thick. Black. Unmarked. I lifted it out and set it on the desk. I sat down in his chair. I opened the folder. The first page was a legal document. I did not understand it at first.

NADIA POVThe ballroom was too bright.Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling like frozen tears. The walls were lined with gold. The floors were polished marble. Everyone was dressed in their finest. Everyone was smiling their finest smiles. Everyone was pretending.I was pretending too.I stood beside Julian and smiled at people whose names I would not remember tomorrow. I shook hands with men who looked through me like I was invisible. I nodded at women who whispered behind their champagne glasses. I played the part I had been playing for years.The perfect wife.The silent partner.The woman behind the man.No one asked me what I did. No one asked me what I thought. No one asked me anything. They only asked about Julian. How was Julian? How was the company? How did it feel to be married to such a powerful man?I smiled and said all the right things.I was good at saying all the right things.I had been doing it for so long that I almost believed them.Almost.---Julian stood be

JULIAN POVThe board voted me out on a Friday.I did not see it coming. I should have. The signs were there. The missed payments. The lost clients. The frozen accounts. The media coverage. The whispers in the hallway. The looks I got when I walked into the building. The way people stopped talking when I entered a room.I should have seen it.But I did not.I walked into the boardroom that morning like I owned the place. Because I did own the place. I had built it. I had made it successful. I had made it profitable. I had made it untouchable.Or so I thought.They were all sitting at the table when I walked in. Twelve faces. Twelve people who had once trusted me. Twelve people who had once believed in me. Twelve people who were now looking at me like I was a stranger."Julian," one of them said. "Please sit down."I sat down."We have taken a vote."I looked at them. I did not understand."A vote on what?""On your position as CEO."I felt my blood run cold."What are you talking about