Chapter 195

Chapter 195

Elizabeth's POV

After Alexander fell asleep, I lay beside him for a long time without closing my eyes.

His breathing was slow and even, but there was still a faint crease between his brows, as if even in sleep he couldn't fully let go.

I turned onto my side and studied his face in the moonlight spilling through the window.

I had looked at this face for so long that I should have been used to it by now, but every time I watched him like this, quiet and unguarded, something in me still shifted in a way I couldn't quite explain.

Julia had already told me what he'd done today.

An emergency board meeting. Six people were replaced in one sweep. Termination letters were sent to six business partners at the same time. Legal notices delivered to the overseas companies.

Any one of those moves would have been enough to shake the business world. He'd done all of it in a single day.

It wasn't impulsive. It wasn't anger talking. It was calculated, deliberate, the concentrated force of something he'd been holding back for fifteen years.

And yet in front of me, he hadn't said any of it.

He'd only said things were fine. That everything had gone smoothly. That I didn't have to carry everything on my own.

Then he went and carried all of it himself.

I lifted my hand and brushed my fingers lightly over the line between his brows, trying to smooth it away.

The tension eased for a moment. Then he shifted closer to me, his arm wrapping around my waist on instinct.

Even asleep, he held on tight, like he was afraid I might disappear.

I didn't pull away. I rested against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, and slowly closed my eyes.

The next morning, I woke to the vibration of my phone.

It was Julia.

I glanced at Alexander, still asleep, then slipped out of bed with my phone and answered in the hallway.

"Elizabeth! Have you seen the news yet?" Julia sounded like she was trying and failing to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"No. What happened?"

"Aiden's company got raided this morning. And it wasn't The Windsor Group. It was the financial crimes unit. Someone filed an anonymous tip saying his company is involved in money laundering, commercial fraud, and contract fraud. Multiple charges. The whole company's been sealed off. And Aiden's gone missing. Nobody knows where he is."

My grip tightened around the phone.

An anonymous tip.

Alexander might not have made the move himself, but he definitely knew who did. What was in that notebook could take down more than Franklin. It could take down Aiden too.

Money laundering. Commercial fraud. Contract fraud.

There was evidence for every one of them. More than enough to bury Aiden.

"There's something else," Julia said, lowering her voice. "The overseas companies under Franklin's name got hit this morning too. Local regulators opened investigations into illegal operations and cross-border fund violations. This wasn't triggered by The Windsor Group's legal notices. The regulators stepped in on their own."

My mind started moving fast.

Alexander's legal notices were the business route.

The regulators stepping in was the legal route.

Two tracks moving at once, reinforcing each other, closing in from both sides.

This wasn't last-minute. This was a game planned long ago.

They'd just been waiting on the final piece.

The notebook.

Now that it had surfaced, the board was finally in motion.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?" Julia asked when I didn't respond right away.

"I'm fine," I said. "Julia, keep watching. If anything changes, tell me right away."

"Don't worry. I already moved all the snacks from the break room into my studio. I'm basically living there for the next few days."

After I hung up, I stood in the hallway and looked out the window.

Sunlight had already poured in. The flowers in the garden were in full bloom. Lisa was crouched by a flowerbed, watering them. Everything looked peaceful.

But somewhere beyond what I could see, a storm was tearing through everything.

Aiden's company had been shut down. Franklin's overseas companies were under investigation. The Windsor Group was being cleaned out from within. One thing after another was falling like dominoes.

And the person who'd pushed the first tile was asleep in the room behind me.

I turned and went back to the bedroom.

Alexander was already awake, propped against the headboard with his phone in hand. A news alert glowed on the screen.

His face was calm. Too calm to read.

"You saw it?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Was this you?"

"No." He set the phone down and looked at me. "This was the law."

I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, looking into his eyes. There was exhaustion there. Relief too. And something else I couldn't quite name.

"Aiden's missing," I said.

"He won't get far." His voice was steady, certain. "People are watching the airports, train stations, and ports. He has no record of leaving the country, which means he's still here. And if he's still here, he's not getting away."

"When did you start setting all this up?"

Alexander was quiet for a moment. "The day you told me you were going to that birthday banquet."

I froze.

That had been almost a month ago.

He'd started preparing back then. He hadn't waited until the notebook landed in his hands. By then, everything had already been in place.

The notebook had just been the final key. It opened the door and dragged everything that needed daylight straight into it.

"Alexander," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"If I told you, you'd worry," he said. "If you worried, you'd lose focus. If you lost focus, it would affect the baby."

I opened my mouth to argue, then stopped.

Annoyingly, he had a point.

"That logic is completely twisted."

"Twisted logic is still logic."

I laughed despite myself.

He watched me laugh, and the corner of his mouth lifted just slightly. It was so faint that most people would have missed it, but I knew he was smiling.

That morning, Alexander didn't go to the office.

He said everything had already been arranged and there was no need for him to watch it personally.

I knew that was an excuse. He wanted to stay with me.

Maybe it was because of what I'd said the night before. Maybe the news that morning made him think he should stay a little longer.

Whatever the reason, he didn't leave, and I didn't ask him to.

We sat in the garden. The weather was nice. Lisa brought us tea, then quietly made herself scarce.

"Alexander." I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the clouds.

"Hmm?"

"Where do you think Aiden went?"

"I don't know. But he won't get far."

"You're that sure?"

He turned to look at me. The light fell into his eyes, making them look paler, brighter.

"I'm sure," he said. "Because he crossed the wrong person."

"Who?"

"You."

I blinked.

"Me?"

"You're mine. If he crosses you, he crosses me." His tone was even, like he was stating something obvious.

My heart skipped.

"Alexander, was that a confession?"

He held my gaze and said nothing for two seconds.

"Yes."

I laughed, loud and helplessly.

Alexander watched me, his expression barely changing, but the tips of his ears turned a little red.

"Alexander, your ears are red."

"Sun."

"It's cloudy today."

He didn't say another word.