Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO novel Chapter 423

Chapter 423

Astrid’s POV

I stretched my legs across the fancy bed, watching the news with a frown.

Ryan sat beside me peeling an orange, his fingers working methodically as he watched my reactions.

‘Rich people are so weird,” I said, shaking my head. “Someone in their family just died, but all they care about is who gets to run the business next.”

Ryan laughed and handed me an orange slice. “That’s life. When I die after we’re married, you might end up doing the same thing.”

He winked, but his eyes stayed cold. Our Hartford family money isn’t Parker Group level, but it’s nothing to sneeze at.”

I stopped mid-chew. “Wait – you’re a Quinn. Why are you saying ‘our Hartford family’?”

“Because I’m a bastard,” Ryan said matter-of-factly. “I took my mom’s last name.”

He leaned back against the headboard. “My father’s a Hartford. Big name in New York. Pretty handsome when he was younger too – that’s what caught my

mom’s eye.”

His voice hardened. “Three months into the pregnancy, when she wanted to get married, she found out he already had a wife and an eight-year-old son.”

“She left the country pissed off, with me in her belly. That’s why I’m a Quinn.”

I studied his face, trying to connect this story to the fragments floating in my memory. “So if your mom left to cut ties with your dad, why are you – *

“Why am I back in New York claiming Hartford money?” Ryan finished, his smile not reaching his eyes. “I might be illegitimate, but I’ve got Hartford blood.

I’m still his son.”

His expression darkened. “My mom got tricked by him and had to raise me alone in a foreign country where we struggled. Meanwhile, the Hartfords lived it up in New York…”

Ryan’s voice shook with anger. “Why should they get everything? I came back to make them pay! I’m taking everything that should have been mine from my father’s precious other son!”

“But your mom chose to leave,” I pointed out carefully. “However hard your life was… that was her decision.”

His face tightened as I continued. “This might be about your dad, but why go after the whole Hartford family? Your half-brother… he didn’t steal anything from you, did he?”

Ryan’s eyes turned dangerous. I definitely hit a nerve.

Ryan shoved the half-peeled orange into my hands and stood up.

“Get some rest,” he ordered, walking to the door. “You’re still recovering.”

The door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with the TV droning on.

I sat on the bed finishing Ryan’s abandoned orange while the news continued covering Blake’s death and tomorrow’s wedding.

“According to Rachel Hayes,” the reporter said, “tomorrow’s wedding at the city center chapel will still happen despite Blake Parker’s death.”

“All Mr. Parker’s close friends are expected to attend.”

“We’ve obtained a guest list for the ceremony from Miss Hayes…”

7/2

Chapter 423

The broadcast scrolled through paired names for the procession. I sat up straight when I spotted mine – paired with Henry Hartford, not Ryan Quinn.

A sharp pain shot through my temples. The name Henry Hartford felt familiar, tugging at something buried in my mind, but whenever I tried to focus on it, my head throbbed worse.

I pressed my fingers against my throbbing temples. Flashes of memory a woman laughing, a stern man in an expensive suit, myself at some fancy event appeared and vanished before I could grasp them.

When the headache finally eased, I got out of bed. I needed answers, and Ryan was my only source.

I walked carefully down the hall, still unsteady on my feet. The mansion was quiet except for occasional staff footsteps. Turning a corner, I ran into a maid carrying fresh linens.

“Where’s Ryan Quinn?” I asked, rubbing my forehead.

The maid immediately stepped back, almost bowing. “Mr. Quinn is in his study, Miss Wilson.”

I noticed how she tensed at Ryan’s name, fear flashing across her face. I couldn’t place why.

I nodded thanks and headed toward the study, following the signs on the walls.

Standing outside the heavy oak door, I raised my hand to knock but stopped when I heard Ryan talking. He had someone on speakerphone.

“Is Henry Hartford really showing up tomorrow?” Ryan asked skeptically. “His best friend’s dead, his girlfriend’s missing – he’s still in the mood for a wedding?”

“I guess,” Ryan replied. “How else would he get justice for his friend? Never thought someone like Blake Parker would get killed by his own fiancée.”

His laugh was cold. “And dying to save his ex-wife’s sister’s kid? So dedicated you’d think the girl was his own…”

“Birds of a feather,” Ryan continued. “If Henry Hartford was friends with an idiot like Blake Parker all these years, he can’t be too bright either.”

“You’re coming tomorrow, right Vincent?”

“Of course,” a man’s voice – Vincent – replied. “Blake would’ve been my brother-in-law, wouldn’t he?”

“Right,” Ryan said, “You were at the press conference today, tomorrow you’ll stand with Thalia at the wedding.”

“Reporters will be asking who you are by tomorrow afternoon. We’ll fan those flames, cement your position as the Parker family’s golden boy…”

“Soon you’ll control the whole Parker empire.”

“Exactly,” Vincent replied smugly. “We help each other. You take Hartford’s stuff from Henry, I get Parker Group.”

“Then New York belongs to us brothers.”

I stepped back, heart racing. Henry Hartford must be Ryan’s half-brother the legitimate son he hated. And Blake Parker wasn’t killed by kidnappers, but betrayed by his fiancée?

Just as I turned to leave, a voice behind me made me jump.

‘Miss Wilson, would you like to go in?”

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