The CEO's Midnight Remedy novel Chapter 347

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“Miss Aria! Thank goodness you’re back. Elsa met me at the door, her normally composed face creased with worry. “There have been reporters lurking around the house all day. They’re saying terrible things about you and Mr. Kane,

1 kicked off my heels with a sigh, feeling the day’s weight settle fully onto my shoulders. ‘What people say doesn’t matter, Elsa.”

She hesitated, wringing her hands. But the things they’re implying about you being his… his sugar baby…” Her voice dropped to a whisper on the last words, her eyes darting around as if the walls might be listening.

My eyes drifted to my mother’s photograph on the wall. Elizabeth Harper’s gentle smile seemed to offer strength across the years that separated us. I thought of Devon’s face when he’d stood beside me against the reporters, the firm pressure of his hand at my back, the certainty in his voice when he’d called me his partner.

‘I’m not destroying anyone’s family, Elsa,” I said firmly. “What Devon and I have far more complicated than what the tabloids imagine, but I would never compromise my principles that way.”

The words were as much for myself as for her. Whatever Devon and I were to each other–business partners, lovers, something in between–I needed to believe there was integrity in it.

The next morning, I dressed in a simple black dress and drove to Greenwood Cemetery. The spring air carried a hint of warmth as I made my way to my mother’s grave, a bouquet of white lilies in hand.

“I did it, Mom,” I said softly, placing the flowers against the cool marble headstone. “Father is paying for what he did to you.”

I traced the engraved letters of her name, a sad smile playing on my lips. “You had terrible taste in men, you know that? Marrying a man who looked perfect on the outside but was rotten within.”

The silence that answered seemed to hold its own wisdom. I continued, “But I won’t make the same mistake. Devon is…” I paused, searching for words. “He shows me his flaws. His darkness. There’s honesty in that, at least.”

I thought of Devon’s face in the car last night, how his hand had sought mine, how his eyes had softened when I’d accepted his touch. For all his commanding presence and cold exterior, there were moments when something vulnerable slipped through.

A gentle breeze rustled through the surrounding trees, and I allowed myself to imagine it was her response–her blessing, perhaps. The knot of grief that had lived in my chest for years seemed to loosen, just slightly. Not gone, but changed.

As I turned to leave, my phone rang. My lawyer’s name flashed on the screen.

‘Ms. Harper, I have alarming news,” he said without preamble. “Your father has been released on bail. Someone posted the full amount less than an hour ago.”

My blood turned to ice. “That’s impossible. The judge set bail at five million dollars.

‘Nevertheless, it’s been paid. I’m trying to find out who the benefactor is, but-

I hung

up

and rushed to my car. Twenty minutes later, I burst into the police sta on only to be told by a bored desk officer that William Harper had indeed walked free an hour ago.

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21:11 Mon, Jan 12 T

Chapter 347

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“Someone paid the full bail amount in cash, the officer explained, not looking from his computer. Your father left immediately

Standing in the station’s sterile lobby, I felt the ground shift beneath me. My father–a man who had helped poison my mother–was free. The momentary peace I’d found at my mother’s grave evaporated, replaced by a cold, creeping fo

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