The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 60

Seeing the situation, Ramona didn’t waste another second. She clicked across the lobby in her heels and strode straight into the elevator.

Just before the doors slid shut, she caught sight of two security guards approaching Brianna, ready to escort her out without ceremony.

“Ding—” The elevator chimed, and Ramona stepped out on her floor.

Almost in sync, her phone buzzed with a new message. She glanced down—Jotham.

His tone had only grown sharper since last time:

“How long are you going to keep this up? Do you even care about me or the company anymore? Did you know all your subordinates have quit?”

Jotham hadn’t flooded her with calls these past few days, and Ramona knew exactly why—he was sure she’d come crawling back.

Now that everything was spinning out of control, though, his pride probably wouldn’t let him admit it.

Ramona’s lips twitched with a dry, amused smile. She remembered the wild look on Brianna’s face just moments ago; apparently, the two of them were even more desperate than she’d expected.

Just yesterday morning, Ramona had heard that Brianna was being forced to move out. Winnie really was efficient.

...

Late at night.

The vast conference room was deserted except for Ramona, hunched over her laptop, untangling endless data.

The deadlines were tight, the workload enormous. Everyone else had finally given up and gone home, but Ramona—always the workaholic—lost herself in the rush, oblivious to everything else.

She’d told her colleagues she’d leave soon, but “soon” had stretched far into the night.

Suddenly, a sharp pain twisted deep in her abdomen. She did a quick calculation—her period was probably about to start.

Ramona didn’t think much of it; she tidied herself up in the bathroom and forced herself back to work.

But the pain only worsened, a relentless, gnawing ache that soon eclipsed everything else.

By the time she realized she couldn’t tough it out anymore, her whole body was slick with sweat, every ounce of strength gone; she couldn’t even move from her seat.

Damn… The pain was overwhelming, threatening to drag her into unconsciousness.

Half-dazed, Ramona fumbled for her phone, trying to call someone—anyone—for help.

She dialed Nova first, but there was no answer. A glance at the time, 2 a.m. Of course. Everyone was asleep by now.

Outside, the sound of rain pounding against the windows echoed through the empty building.

Then, as if by accident, a message popped up on her screen from Ethan:

“What’s wrong?”

She must have tapped on Ethan’s chat by mistake while messaging Nova, accidentally sending him a ping.

Ramona couldn’t fight the pain anymore. Her fingers slipped, and she hit the call button.

“Hello?”

He answered instantly. Ethan hadn’t gone to bed yet; he’d just wrapped up a late-night video conference at home.

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