All Chapters of The Broke Husband’s Billion-Dollar Name: Chapter 91
- Chapter 100
143 chapters
The physician
The London charity gala was everything the Monaco event had been, but with more history behind it. The venue was a centuries-old manor house, all marble columns and oil paintings of long-dead aristocrats. The guest list read like a directory of European old money and pharmaceutical dynasties.James felt out of place despite the tailored tuxedo. Elena seemed more comfortable, navigating conversations about art acquisitions and summer estates with practiced ease."You're getting better at this," she murmured as they moved through the crowd."I'm faking it better," James corrected. "There's a difference."They were speaking with a German industrialist about funding for medical research when James felt eyes on him. Intense, focused attention that made the hair on his neck stand up.He turned and saw her across the room.An elderly woman, perhaps in her eighties, stood perfectly still amid the flowing crowd. She wore an elegant black gown and diamonds that probably cost more than James's c
The Lost Years
The private room Lady Victoria led them to was more library than office. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves held medical texts in multiple languages, some appearing centuries old. A fire crackled in the marble fireplace despite it being summer.Two security guards stood outside the closed door. Not waiting—guarding."Sit, please," Lady Victoria said, settling into a wingback chair with the grace of someone born to command. "This will take some time to explain properly."James and Elena sat on the opposing sofa. Elena kept her hand on James's arm, grounding him as memories continued to surface in disjointed fragments."The American Ashfords—Victor's branch—were crude," Lady Victoria began without preamble. "Traffickers. Experimenters. They treated children as laboratory specimens. My family built something far more sophisticated over three centuries.""Three centuries?" Elena asked."The Ashcroft Physician Cultivation Program began in 1724," Lady Victoria said with something like pride. "We
The Memory Trigger
James made it to the car before the first wave hit. Elena barely got him into the back seat before he doubled over, hyperventilating."Drive," she told their driver urgently. "The hotel. Now."The memories weren't fragments anymore. They were a flood, overwhelming and complete, fifteen years of suppression breaking apart like a dam giving way.His uncle's face. Cold, calculating. "They'll take good care of you, James. Better than I can."Two million dollars changing hands. His uncle walking away without looking back.The transport vehicle. Locked from the outside. Hours of darkness and terror as he was driven through mountains he couldn't see.Elena got him to their hotel suite and locked the door. James collapsed on the floor, back against the wall, shaking violently."Tell me what you're seeing," she said, kneeling beside him."Everything," James gasped. "I remember everything now."The Ashcroft Estate materialized in his mind with perfect clarity. Stone walls three feet thick. Wind
The Family Meeting
The Ashcroft London residence occupied an entire block in Kensington, all Georgian architecture and centuries of accumulated wealth. Security guards stood at intervals along the perimeter wall. The gate opened automatically as James and Elena's car approached."Last chance to turn around," Elena said quietly."They have surveillance on my parents," James said. "We don't have a choice."A butler met them at the entrance, his formal manner suggesting he'd served the family for decades. He led them through marble hallways lined with portraits of stern-faced ancestors, each painting more expensive than James's clinic building.The meeting room was more boardroom than drawing room. A long mahogany table dominated the space, surrounded by leather chairs. Twelve people sat waiting, all dressed in formal business attire despite the evening hour.Lady Victoria sat at the head of the table. She gestured to two empty chairs opposite her. "Mr. Thorne. Miss Sterling. Please, sit."James recognized
The Investigation
Marcus's London hotel suite had been transformed into a war room within hours. Laptops covered every surface. Documents sprawled across tables. A whiteboard dominated one wall, already filling with names and connections.Harrison appeared on the main screen via video call from his estate. "Tell me everything."James recounted the meeting while Marcus's investigators pulled up information on each Ashcroft family member. What they found was staggering."Lord Henry Ashcroft sits on the board of three major pharmaceutical companies," one investigator reported. "Dame Margaret has connections to European parliament members across six countries. Sir Edmund has represented heads of state in international courts.""They own politicians?" Elena asked."They don't need to own them," the investigator said. "They've been doing favors for powerful families for centuries. That kind of influence doesn't require ownership—just mutual benefit."Marcus added information to the whiteboard. Lines connecti
The Coalition
Tokyo's neon-lit streets felt alien after London's historic elegance. James and Elena followed Marcus's coordinates to a narrow alley in Akihabara, down stairs that led beneath an electronics shop that blared music into the night.The clinic was hidden behind a door marked only with Japanese characters. James knocked using the pattern Marcus's investigator had specified.A man opened the door—mid-thirties, lean, with eyes that assessed them in a single glance. "You're not patients.""Dr. Tanaka?" James asked. "My name is James Thorne. I need to talk to you about the Ashcroft family."Tanaka's expression went from wary to hostile instantly. He tried to close the door. James blocked it with his foot."I escaped fifteen years ago," James said quickly. "Asset T-07. I spent three years at their Swiss estate."Tanaka stopped pushing. Stared at James with something between recognition and horror."You're bringing death to my door," he said."Or freedom," James countered. "We can end this. To
The Exposure
The press conference venue was a London hotel ballroom, but the impact would be global. Four podiums stood in a row. Behind them, massive screens displayed the Ashcroft family crest—soon to become the symbol of centuries of crimes.Media from thirty countries filled every seat. Cameras lined the back wall. The feed was being broadcast live across six continents.James stood at the first podium with Elena beside him. To his right, Tanaka had arrived from Tokyo. Silva from São Paulo, her daughter safely with Marcus's security team. Osman from Cape Town.Four survivors. One voice."Thank you for coming," James began. The room fell silent. "My name is James Thorne. For three years, I was known as Asset T-07. I was thirteen years old when the Ashcroft family purchased me from my uncle for two million dollars."He displayed his hospital bracelet on the screen. The label clear: Asset T-07."I was held at the Ashcroft Estate in Switzerland. Trained to serve as a private physician for the ultr
The Heist
Cole spread building schematics across the hotel suite table. The Ashcroft Estate blueprint showed a fortress disguised as luxury."Vault is here," Cole said, pointing to a section marked only as "Storage B." "Subterranean level, three biometric locks, reinforced walls. They built it to survive everything from theft to nuclear war."James stared at the plans. "You're proposing we break into a Swiss estate, bypass security systems, and steal records from an impenetrable vault.""Yes," Cole said simply."That's completely illegal.""Also yes."Elena stepped forward. "The legal system has failed. Lady Victoria's out on bail. The other family members fled to countries that won't extradite. Those eight children we rescued? The Ashcrofts' lawyers are already arguing for their return, claiming parental rights through acquisition contracts.""Acquisition contracts aren't legal—""They are in certain jurisdictions," Marcus interrupted from his seat. "The Ashcrofts have been building legal fram
The Escape
James pushed the filing cabinet aside with strength born from desperation. Behind it, exactly where memory promised, was a door. Not modern steel, but old wood reinforced with iron bands—centuries old, forgotten by everyone except the boy who'd been desperate enough to find it."This leads to service tunnels," James said, pulling the door open. Cold air rushed out, carrying the smell of stone and darkness. "Built for servants in the 1700s. The Ashcrofts stopped maintaining them decades ago.""Will they hold?" Cole asked, already moving toward the entrance."They held fifteen years ago. That's the best I can promise."They descended single file. Cole led with a tactical flashlight, James behind him guiding their path, then Elena, with Yuki protecting the hard drives in a waterproof bag at the rear.The tunnel was narrow enough that James had to turn sideways in places. Stone walls pressed close on either side. The ceiling dropped until they were crouching, then crawling through section
The Reckoning
The evidence hit like a coordinated strike across every major platform simultaneously. WikiLeaks published the documents. Major newspapers ran front-page spreads. Network television interrupted regular programming for breaking news.The client lists were devastating.European royalty who'd maintained their health through physicians who were children. Oligarchs who'd purchased medical care from teenagers held captive. Politicians who'd received treatments from doctors who couldn't refuse them. CEOs, celebrities, criminals—hundreds of names across four decades.James watched the news coverage from the safe house with Elena beside him. Every channel showed the same images: police raids, arrest warrants, resignations under pressure."Three governments have fallen in the past week," Marcus reported via video call. "Ministers implicated in covering up the program. More investigations launching daily. Fifteen countries have opened formal inquiries."The Ashcroft family assets were frozen wit