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Chapter 20

Author: Six Cats
last update Last Updated: 2025-01-17 15:37:49

Ava’s POV

The air seemed to thicken as I looked at Oliver, standing there as if he hadn’t fractured my world years ago. My chest felt heavy, and my throat tightened with the weight of the questions I had buried for so long.

Memories I had worked so hard to suppress flooded back, sharp and unrelenting. My father, sitting at the dining table late into the night, stacks of papers and blueprints scattered before him. The excitement in his voice as he spoke of bidding on a property— Ridgewood Estate a deal that could have changed everything for our family.

I remember the pride in his eyes when he said, “This is it, Ava. This is our future.”

But the future never came.

Instead, everything fell apart.

I balled my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I fought to steady my breathing. Oliver had been there, right in the middle of it all. As one of the key employees in the company managing the bidding process, he had worked closely with my father. My father trusted him. We trusted him.

And th
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