Hell Hath no fury like a billionaire's Ex-Chapter 155: The Unforseen

Diane’s POV

I stood up slowly, my body feeling heavy, like I was moving through water. The house was quiet except for the soft sounds of Dylan and Danielle playing in their nursery down the hall. My beautiful children, who would now grow up without ever really knowing their father.

"Sarah," I called out, my voice barely above a whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Sarah, could you please get the children ready? We need to go to my father’s house."

Our nanny appeared in the living room, her kind face filled with concern. She’d obviously heard my sobbing earlier and was tiptoeing around like she was afraid I might shatter at any moment.

"Of course, Mrs. Hemsworth. Should I pack anything special for them?"

"Just... just something comfortable. We might be there for a while." I couldn’t bring myself to tell her why. I couldn’t say the words out loud again. Not yet.

Noah squeezed my shoulders gently. "I’ll help her get them ready. You should call your father, let him know we’re coming."

I nodded, grateful for his steady presence. Even in our grief, I marveled at how he always seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. He kissed the top of my head before following Sarah upstairs, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the terrible weight of what I had to do.

I couldn’t tell Dylan and Danielle last night. How do you explain to a one-year+ old that their father is dead? How do you tell them that the man they saw in prison just months ago decided he couldn’t live with himself anymore? The thought of their innocent faces made me sick.

And my mother... God, my mother. She was already so fragile, her health just gradually recovering since Sophie’s death. How could I deliver another blow like this?

As I moved through getting dressed, my hands trembled as I reached for the black dress hanging in my closet. It seemed appropriate somehow, this color that would become so familiar in the weeks to come.

I called my office, my voice barely above a whisper as I spoke to my assistant. "I won’t be coming in today. Something... something has happened."

Noah approached from the dressing room, already dressed in a dark suit too after helping out with the kids, his hair still damp from the shower. His eyes were red-rimmed, and I could see the weight of grief already settling on his shoulders.

"I’ve already called the office," he said gently, approaching me like I might shatter at any moment. "I spoke to Guerrero and the board members. They know about Liam."

I nodded, not trusting my voice. The arrangement of death seemed so strange, so trivial when compared to the severity of what had happened.

The drive to my father’s house was so swift. Dylan chattered happily in his car seat, pointing out dogs and birds, Danielle dozed peacefully, her tiny fist curled around her favorite stuffed elephant. I watched them in the rearview mirror, memorizing their faces in this moment of innocence, knowing that everything was about to change.

As soon as we arrived my father’s sprawling gate, I called Holbrook, my fingers shaking as I dialed his number.

"Richard, please I need you to come to my father’s house. I’m sending you the address now. It’s... it’s important."

"Of course, Diane. I’ll be there in 30 minutes."

Next, I called Joan. She answered on the first ring, as if she’d been waiting for my call.

"How are you holding up?" she asked immediately. freewebnoveℓ.com

"I’m not," I admitted. "Joan, I need you to come to my father’s house. And... and bring Henry with you, if you can. I’m going to need all the help I can get."

"We’ll be there in 20 minutes," she said without hesitation.

My father met us at the door, his face lighting up at the sight of his grandchildren. Dylan immediately ran to him, wrapping his small arms around his grandfather’s legs.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Look!" Dylan pulled a crumpled drawing from his pocket, proudly displaying what looked like a stick figures.

"That’s beautiful, buddy," my father said, lifting him up for a hug. But his eyes were on me, reading the devastation written across my face. "Diane, honey, what’s wrong?"

"I’ll explain when everyone gets here," I said, my voice tight. "Is Mom resting?"

"She’s in the living room. She’s been asking about you all morning." His brow furrowed deeper. "Diane, you’re scaring me."

I took Danielle from Noah’s arms and held her close, breathing in her sweet baby scent. "Just... just give me a few more minutes, Dad. Please."

One by one, they arrived. Joan and Henry came first, Joan immediately pulling me into a tight hug while Henry shook hands with my father and Noah. Then Holbrook arrived, his usually composed demeanor cracking when he saw my red-rimmed eyes.

We gathered in the living room, the same room where I’d shared lunch with my complete family, Now it was about to become the place where I delivered the most devastating news imaginable.

Mom was sitting in her favorite chair in the living room, her color better than it had been in months. She smiled when she saw the children, her face lighting up too as Dylan ran to hug her.

"Grandma!" he exclaimed, climbing onto her lap.

"Thank you all for coming," I began, my voice shaking. "I... I called you here because I received some news this morning. Terrible news."

I looked around the room at these people who loved me, who had supported me through everything. My father sat forward in his chair, his hands gripping the armrests. Joan had tears in her eyes before I even said the words.

"This morning, I got a call from Riverside Correctional Facility." I had to pause, the words catching in my throat. "Liam is dead. He... he took his own life."

The silence that followed was deafening. My mother’s face crumpled, and she began to cry, her tears falling onto Dylan’s hair as he looked up at her in confusion. She put Dylan down as she called for Sarah to take him upstairs.

Joan was crying openly now, reaching for Henry’s hand.

But it was Noah’s reaction that broke my heart. I watched as tears gathered in his eyes, tears he was fighting so hard to hold back earlier since the call.

This was his best friend, the man who had stood beside him, who had been there through every major moment of his life. Despite everything Liam had done, despite the betrayal and the pain, Noah was grieving the loss of the person he’d once loved like a brother.

"Oh, sweetheart," my mother whispered, rising from her chair. I went to her immediately, kneeling beside her as she wrapped her arms around me. "I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry."

"He left me a letter," I continued through my tears. "He... he confessed to everything. About Maxwell Richardson, about his role in Sophie’s death, about last of the money he’d hidden from me. He said he was sorry, that he wanted to make sure Dylan and Danielle were provided for. He said..." I had to stop, the words too painful to voice. "He said he wanted to leave this world with no secrets."

My father stood up abruptly, pacing to the window. "That goddamn fool," he muttered, his voice thick with emotion. "That goddamn, stubborn fool."

"There’s more," I said, looking around the room at their grieving faces.

"I don’t want this to get out to the media. I can’t... I can’t have my children growing up with this circus following them around.

I want this to be kept as secret as possible. Liam had enough media attention while he was alive. He deserves to rest in peace now even if it’s the last thing I can do for him, and Dylan and Danielle deserve to grieve their father without cameras and reporters hounding them."

I looked directly at Holbrook, Joan, and Henry. "I need your help. If this gets out, if any newspaper or media house tries to turn this into a story, I need you to take legal action. I need you to protect my family."

"Of course," Holbrook said immediately. "I’ll draft cease and desist orders tonight. Anyone who tries to exploit this will face the full force of the law."

"Count on it," Henry added, his voice firm. "We’ll make sure this stays private."

I took a deep breath. "I need to go to the prison. I need to... to handle the arrangements. To get his body released."

"I’ll go with you," Noah said immediately. "You shouldn’t have to do this alone."

"So will I," Joan added. "We’ll handle all the paperwork, all the arrangements. You just focus on getting through this."

I looked at my father, who was still standing by the window. "Dad, if you and Henry and Holbrook don’t mind, I need you to find Maxwell Richardson, i don’t care what it would take, He has done enough. I need him brought to justice. For Sophie, for my family, for Liam. This has to end."

My father turned back to face me, his jaw set with determination. "We’ll find him."

---

The next few weeks passed in a blur of paperwork, legal proceedings, and grief. True to his word, my father worked tirelessly with Holbrook and Henry to track down Maxwell Richardson.

It was Henry who finally found the connection, He had used Liam’s phone which was retrieved from among his possessions from prison, following a money trail that led straight to Maxwell.

When they finally captured him, the truth that emerged was more devastating than I could have imagined. Maxwell Richardson wasn’t just some criminal associate of Liam’s. He was the same man my father had contacted a year ago to help find Sophie’s killer.

The same man who had been working both sides, taking payment from my father to find Jackson while unknown to us, he’s being the one who had connected Jackson to Liam in the first place.

When my father realized this, when he understood that he had unknowingly been in contact with the very person who had connected Jackson to Liam, he broke down completely. I found him in his study, his head in his hands, sobbing like a child.

"We had asked him to help find Sophie’s killer," he whispered, his voice broken. "I asked him to help, and all along he was the one who made it possible."

I held him while he cried, as I watched my father being shattered completely.

"Dad, stop," I said softly. "You couldn’t have known. None of us could have known."