Married to the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me novel Chapter 127

Chapter 127 Hidden Inside The Crosshairs

“I welcome the war,” I replied. “I am done hiding.”

I turned away from the family lawyer. I walked down the sterile corridor, my heels clicking against the tile floor. I reached the steel doors, swiped my security eard, and exited into the damp air of the underground garage.

Marcus waited by the black sedan. He opened the rear door.

“Aegis headquarters, I instructed.

I slid onto the leather seat. Marcus put the car in drive. We ascended the concrete ramp and merged into the bustling capital traffic.

I stared out the tinted window. The winter sky hung low and gray over the city. My mind spun, processing the sheer magnitude of Tristan’s deception.

‘

Our entire relationship rested on a foundation of hidden intelligence. The man I loved courted me under a false pretense. He knew the legacy of the Johnston empire flowed through my veins. He tried to shield me from the monsters in his family, but he became a monster himself by denying me the truth of my own life.

Protection without trust is betrayal. It leaves a scar that time cannot erase.

The sedan pulled up to the glass entrance of the Aegis corporate tower. I stepped out into the freezing wind. I walked through the sliding doors, crossing the marble lobby. Employees stepped aside, sensing the cold, lethal energy radiating from my posture.

I entered the private executive elevator. I rode the carriage to the top floor.

The doors parted. I stepped into the executive suite.

Chloe stood behind her reception desk. My assistant looked pale. She held a digital tablet to her chest, her knuckles white from the

strain.

“Miss Hayes, Chloe began, her voice shaking. “You have an unannounced visitor. He used an old administrative code for the

elevators. Marcus is on his way up.”

I did not need to ask for a name. I knew the code. I knew the man.

“Stand down, Chloe, I ordered. ‘Return to your desk. Call Marcus off.”

I walked toward the heavy glass door of my office. I pushed it open.

The spacious room felt small. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a sweeping view of the capital, but my attention locked onto the figure standing near my desk.

Tristan Johnston turned around.

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Chapter 127 Hidden Inside The Crosshairs

He no longer looked like the polished CEO of a global conglomerate. He shed the custom suits and the silk ties. He wore a simple dark sweater and dark trousers. His face looked hollow, carved by exhaustion and grief. He resigned his position on live television. He surrendered his crown. He threw his entire life away in a desperate, frantic attempt to prove his remorse.

He stood in my office, a king without a kingdom.

“Minerva,” Tristan breathed. The name sounded like a prayer on his lips. He took a hesitant step forward. He looked at me with raw, unguarded desperation. “I stepped down. I ended the Whitmore engagement. I liquidated my accounts. I am free. We can start over.”

I stood in the doorway. I looked at the man who saved my life and broke my heart in the same breath.

I closed the glass door behind me. The latch clicked, sealing us inside the quiet room.

“You cannot start over on a foundation of lies, Tristan,” I stated. My voice held no warmth. It offered no forgiveness.

He flinched. The hope in his eyes wavered. “I told you the truth about the margin call. I told you about the Whitmore contract. I lad

everything bare.”

“You laid your excuses bare,” I corrected him. I walked past him, moving behind my glass desk. I placed my hands flat against the

cold surface, anchoring myself against the storm breaking in my chest. “You told me why you left. You failed to mention why you

arrived.”

Tristan froze. The color drained from his face, leaving his skin a sickly, pale white.

I stared at him. The ice in my veins froze solid.

“Arthur Vance opened the vault today,” I said. I delivered the words with the precision of a surgical blade. “I saw the bearer shares. I

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