Game of Love and Deception: The Billionaire's Ex Wife
Chapter 70: June 13th

Chapter 70: June 13th

Ashley sat at her desk, her fixed blankly on the calendar. The date glared back at her — June 13th. Vanessa’s birthday.

A sharp ache intensified in her chest as memories of her little girl crashed over her in relentless waves. Each one more painful than the last.

Vanessa had been taken when she was just a year and eight months old. Now, four months later, she would have turned two. And Ashley still had no idea where she was—or if she was even alive.

She felt like a failure. A pathetic loser. She’d failed basically at everything she had attempted to do in her life. Her marriage, saving her parents, protecting her child. She was a joke to motherhood, and the crushing weight of that truth pressed heavily on her chest like a rock.

Tears welled in her eyes as she pictured Vanessa’s smile, her laughter, those tiny hands that used to cling to her. How big was she now? Did she still curl up in someone’s lap, or had she outgrown that? Did she call someone else Mommy now?

The thought sliced through her soul like a thousand invisible daggers.

Her mind drifted to the past, replaying it like a haunting movie—from the moment she first discovered the little life growing inside her, to Christian’s rejection and the day he threw them out, to the very first time she held Vanessa in her arms. A bittersweet smile tugged at her lips as she remembered how small, pure, and beautiful her daughter had been. Her whole world had shifted in that moment.

Despite the pain, despite how much Vanessa reminded her of everything she’d lost, Christian’s betrayal, her mistakes, her fears—she still loved her. Fiercely. With every love she could give.

Vanessa had been her light. With her, the darkness faded. With her, pain turned to joy, weakness to strength. Until the day she was taken away, and reverse became the case.

Why did the world feel so cruel? Why did some people get perfect lives, while hers fell apart again and again? Couldn’t she just have a piece of that happiness...just a scrap?

To distract herself from the suffocating emotions, Ashley grabbed her phone and dialed Claire. She needed to pull herself together. The quarterly report meeting was about to start, and they still had marketing plans to review.

After hearing the meeting was about to commence, she made her way to the conference room, where several employees were already seated and waiting. Maybe burying herself in numbers would dull the ache, the hollow emptiness clawing at her chest like it was trying to drag her soul into an abyss.

She forced a polite smile as she exchanged greetings along the way, but her mind was miles away.

Out of the whirlwind of thoughts, Maddy’s image flashed unexpectedly.

Several questions pricked her mind.

Was Maddy okay? Did she ever think about her—or Vanessa?

Since the day they separated, Maddy hadn’t reached out. Every attempt to reach her went straight to voicemail. It didn’t take a genius to realize Maddy had blocked her. And yet, Ashley still tried sometimes, just in case. And each time, her heart bled all over again.

She should’ve been angry. But truthfully, she missed Maddy more than she hated her.

It would take more than being thrown out of her best friend’s house to erase the years of loyalty, the battles they’d fought side by side, the way they had always stood by each other, until that one devastating day.

And truthfully, if it hadn’t been for that day, perhaps she would never had gotten the chance to discover about her grandparents, and make herself this useful. But at what cost? A voice in her head asked.

Ashley took a long, deep breath, blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay as she stepped into the large conference room.

Claire met her with a nod and guided her to the seat at the head of the table.

As the meeting commenced, Ashley tried to focus on the documents in front of her—financial statements, quarterly projections, marketing reports. She acknowledged her team’s efforts with soft praise and scanned for errors, though her mind refused to stay focused.

She had poured herself into work over the last four months, and the company was flourishing, especially after their recent partnership with Grey Group. The growth was undeniable. It was something to be proud of, and she was. She truly was. And she was grateful to her team for standing by her.

Maybe... just maybe she wasn’t a complete failure after all.

But the fragile comfort didn’t last as Vanessa’s face returned to her thoughts, haunting her.

The idea of someone else witnessing Vanessa’s milestones, hearing her first full sentences, or rocking her to sleep... it was suffocating.

And yet, at the same time, Ashley hoped that someone was indeed there for her. That she was safe. That she was loved. That she was alive. That was all that mattered most. Until she was found.

She knew Lorenzo had been working tirelessly to make that happen. Nicolas too. Just recently, Lorenzo had said he was close to something, and since then, Ashley hadn’t stopped praying, desperately hoping it would finally bring her the news she longed for.

Claire was now presenting the quarterly projections. Ashley tried again to focus, her eyes tracking the words on the paper in front of her, her fingers tapping lightly against her pen. She noticed Claire casting occasional glances her way, concern written subtly in her expression, but she said nothing.

Ashley didn’t want to talk. She wanted the meeting over so she could crawl back into the solitude of her office where she could cry freely without attracting attention.

The fragile hope that Vanessa was still alive, that someday she’d be back, was the only thing that had kept her waking up everyday. It was the only thing that had stopped her the nights she’d visited the kitchen, tempted to pick up a knife, slash her wrist, and slowly bleed to death.

She didn’t know how long she sat there staring at the papers in front of her, but the numbers began to blur—until something snapped her attention back.

A suspicious transaction.

Ashley frowned, leaning in to study it more closely.

The figures didn’t match. It didn’t correlate with the final totals. Not even close.

Her stomach slowly tightened. She double-checked. Then again. And again.

Even on the fourth review, it still didn’t add up. Her jaw slightly clenched as a thought formed in her brain.

There was only one explanation.

Someone was embezzling company funds.