From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 262

The words hit Julian like a bucket of ice water, leaving him momentarily speechless.

The fire in his gut was extinguished by a wave of cold reality.

He felt as if a noose were tightening around his throat.

The air in the car became thin, suffocating him. He didn't even notice the cigarette burning down until the heat scorched his fingers, but he didn't move.

He was just as guilty of using her. What right did he have to blame anyone else?

If...

If he had known he'd fall for her this hard, he never would have planned this.

But there were no 'ifs' in this business.

Julian closed his eyes, then snapped them open, crushing the cigarette butt. His gaze cleared slightly.

"Who did it? Do we have a name?"

Across the line, Silas had regained his cool.

"My best guess? Lyndon and Victor. Amara was about to be exposed, so they panicked and threw a grenade into the room to distract us. They're trying to protect Amara—and a much bigger secret."

The bigger secret—Ronald Faith's murder.

Julian began to connect the dots.

"So, Lyndon used the files Amara stole from your family for his own projects. And because Jade photographed those exact files, he's accusing her of stealing them? He's framing her for the theft he committed?"

"Exactly," Silas said, his voice sounding tired.

"You know how the Faiths are. With Ronald gone, the rest of them are just vultures. They saw the core data in Lyndon's projects weeks ago, but the family is failing. They were too scared to go after the Spensers directly.

"We dragged Jade into this. It's our mess. If I have to, I'll get my father out of retirement. He can verify the files belong to us, not Lyndon.

"That would clear her name. But my father is a stubborn old man. Getting him to help after the way we left things... it won't be easy."

Julian knew the history. If Arthur Faith wasn't a brick wall, Silas never would have been kicked out.

Arthur hadn't even shown his face during this crisis; it was the family matriarch who had reached out to Silas.

In short, the father route was a long shot.

Julian lit another cigarette, finished it, and crushed it.

"I remember something from the recordings Jade took at the warehouse. Lyndon mentioned Victor has a sister. He's been using her as leverage to keep Victor in line. We start there."

Silas had forgotten that detail. "I'll have my team on it immediately."

Jade, just hang on a little longer.

The door to his office swung open, and someone hurled a folder onto his desk.

"Look at this."

The sharp sound of the impact cleared the fog in Hudson's brain.

He looked up at Bert's livid face, then picked up the file. He read through it page by page.

His brow furrowed deeper with every line. By the end, his fingers were gripping the paper so hard his knuckles were white.

Bert watched him closely.

"This is the 'help' your wife provided. What's your move?"

"It wasn't her fault," Hudson said, slamming the folder shut. He fought back the sharp, suffocating pain in his chest.

"It was a lapse in my judgment. If I had been more thorough, this wouldn't have happened."

"You—"

Bert pointed a shaking finger at him, then let it drop, his face a mask of bitter disappointment.

"You are a total disgrace!"