Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
The plane touched down in England. As I looked out at the unfamiliar landscape, it felt like a lifetime had passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the arrival gate, I saw my father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The once high\u2013spirited business tycoon now looked like an ordinary older man, with a slightly hunched back, hair graying at the temples. The moment he saw me, his eyes reddened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Years ago, the Todd Group had moved its operations overseas. But for Orlando\u2019s sake, I had stubbornly stayed behind, at the cost of defying my father and cutting ties with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had been six years since we last saw each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I threw my arms around him, voice choked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I was so foolish\u2013I turned my back on my own family for that jerk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father held me tightly. He didn\u2019t scold me for my stubbornness. He simply said, \u201cWelcome\u00a0<\/p>\n
home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears welled in my eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I finally understood- in the end, one\u2019s parents were the only ones who never left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I really had been a fool, thinking Orlando\u2013the man who divorced me seven times for another woman\u2013was my destiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the car, my father told me, \u201cI\u2019ve acquired seventeen percent of the Wagner Group\u2019s shares.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cDad, you don\u2019t have to punish him because of me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is between him and me. I\u2019ll handle it myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t about punishment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me earnestly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my welcome gift. You\u2019re back now, and it\u2019s time for you to take over the family business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:18\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
Three years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Todd, here is the earnings report for the third quarter. Net profit is up sixty\u2013five percent year\u2013on\u2013year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My secretary handed me the documents respectfully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dressed in a custom\u2013tailored suit, I stood by the floor\u2013to\u2013ceiling window, looking out over the entire financial district.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past three years, I had started from the ground up and was now the one in charge of the Todd Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s market value had tripled in that time, and even the Financial Times had declared I possessed the \u201cMidas Touch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\u00a0<\/p>\n
In contrast, the Wagner Group had been in a steady decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The plummeting stock prices weighed heavily on Orlando.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had never stopped looking for me all these years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then one day, he saw me at the Todd Group\u2019s annual press conference\u2013I was there representing my father and the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared dead ahead at the 2.2\u2013meter LCD screen on the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It had been three years. The woman on screen wore the latest Jimmy Choo heels and a sharply tailored Max Mara suit that gave her shoulder line a razor\u2013sharp edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the camera zoomed in while she signed a document, there was no trace of the wedding ring he had once custom\u2013made for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBook me the nearest flight to London.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knocked over his coffee mug as he grabbed his suit jacket. The dark liquid stained the third- quarter loss report, leaving a glaring mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, wait. File a flight plan. Use my private jet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His assistant, stunned, tried to stop him. \u201cBut you have a meeting with the bank-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of my way!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His roar instantly silenced the entire secretarial pool.\u00a0<\/p>\n
37.03%\u00a0<\/p>\n
12.18)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 7\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stared at the screen, where I was shaking hands with officials from other countries\u2018 ministries of commerce, his Adam\u2019s apple bobbing heavily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell the Finance Department\u2013increase the interest rate on the shares mortgaged to the bank by another two percentage points.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As his Gulfstream G650 soared into the sky, I was in the executive lounge of a luxurious hotel, receiving a special delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I unwrapped the shock\u2013absorbent foam, seven marriage certificates and seven divorce certificates lay inside, gleaming coldly under the light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among them was a note from Kristen, sent from back home. \u201cHe says if he collects them all, he\u2019ll get you to have a change of heart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pressed the call button. When the waiter appeared within seconds, I smiled and said, \u201cPlease shred these. Thank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
12.18\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Crater Lanterns Glimmered Over Tidelands by Axton Reed 7 Chapter 7\u00a0 The plane touched down in England. As I looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-paper-trail-of-our-failures-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23896\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}