A RUTHLESS PROPOSAL

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• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   FACING THE SHADOW

  Damien leaned back in his leather chair, the weight of Scarlett’s voice still echoing through his mind.“We need to talk.”It wasn’t a request it was a declaration. And that, more than anything, intrigued him.He stood, slowly buttoning his suit jacket as a soft knock echoed on the door. One of his guards poked his head in.“Sir, Miss Hayes is here.”Damien’s lips curled into a calm, collected smile. “Send her in.”The moment Scarlett stepped into the room, the air thickened with tension. Her presence was no longer the vulnerable girl Damien once remembered. She moved with purpose, fire flashing behind her emerald eyes. Her hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, her posture rigid, unshaken. Sebastian was right behind her, his expression stone-cold, protective.Damien gestured to the seats in front of his desk. “To what do I owe this... intense visit?”Scarlett didn’t sit. Neither did Sebastian.“I know you were involved with my mother,” Scarlett said, her voice steady. “Emily remember

• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY

  Scarlett’s fingers fidgeted with the edge of her cup, the warm porcelain doing little to calm the icy fear crawling up her spine.Emily’s eyes were lowered, lashes trembling, as if the truth weighed heavily on her tongue. The café’s background noise blurred into a hum, each second stretching painfully between them.Sebastian placed a reassuring hand on Scarlett’s back, anchoring her as she whispered, “Emily… what is it?”Emily inhaled shakily, her eyes glistening when she finally looked up. “Scarlett, I never told you the whole truth about Mom.”Scarlett’s breath caught, her pulse hammering in her ears. “What truth?”Emily swallowed, her lips trembling. “The day she disappeared… it wasn’t because she wanted to abandon us. She… she was trying to protect you.”Scarlett’s brows furrowed. “Protect me? From what?”Emily’s eyes flickered to Sebastian before returning to Scarlett. “Mom was involved with people who wanted you, Scarlett. She used to get these calls, and she’d cry in her room a

• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   SHAKEN ROOTS

  The rain had stopped by the time they reached the penthouse, but the storm inside Scarlett’s mind raged on.She sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the floor as Sebastian paced across the room, his hands in his hair.“Scarlett, talk to me,” he urged, his voice strained.But she couldn’t find the words. Everything felt like a lie—the childhood memories, the moments with her mother, the identity she had clung to all her life.You were never meant to be a Hayes.Damien’s words echoed relentlessly in her head.She pressed her palms against her ears, shaking her head as if she could force them out.“I don’t know who I am,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “If I’m not Scarlett Hayes… who am I, Sebastian? Who am I?”Sebastian knelt in front of her, cupping her tear-streaked face. “You are Scarlett. You are the woman who laughs at the rain and fights for what she loves. You are the woman who made me feel alive again.”She let out a strangled sob, collapsing into his arms as he he

• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   SECRETS IN THE BLOOD

  The rain tapped against the penthouse windows like a restless drum, filling the silence that had wrapped around Scarlett and Sebastian since she spoke of Damien Hayes.Sebastian paced, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to absorb the revelation. “Damien? You think he’s involved in whatever happened to your mother?”Scarlett wrapped her arms around herself, staring out at the city lights as her reflection quivered in the glass. “Caroline didn’t say it outright, but… her eyes said enough. She’s terrified of him. And she said I’m not who I think I am.”Sebastian stopped pacing. “What does that mean, Scarlett? Are you saying..”“I don’t know!” she snapped, tears burning her eyes as frustration cracked through her composure. “I don’t know what she meant, Sebastian! I don’t know if my mother stole me or if it was something else! I don’t know why Damien’s name keeps coming up or why Emily was left behind!”Sebastian’s expression softened as he crossed to her, pulling her into hi

• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   THE LETTER AND THE LIE

  Scarlett stood in the soft hush of the night, staring down at the letter once more. Its creased paper and hurried ink trembled in her hands as if it carried the heartbeat of a woman she barely remembered. Her mother. Her mystery.Sebastian read it again beside her, his eyes hardening with every line. “She said to stay away from him. But who? Me? Someone else?”Scarlett shook her head. “No. She wouldn’t warn me about you. She would’ve said your name. I think it’s someone we haven’t considered yet.”Sebastian tapped the paper with one finger. “Or someone you already trust. That’s how the deepest betrayals happen.”His words hung in the air like smoke.Scarlett turned to him. “What if this goes back further than either of us imagined? What if Emily’s coma isn’t just about a car crash?”Sebastian’s jaw tightened. “You think someone tried to hurt her on purpose?”“I don’t know. But I’m done pretending everything is fine.” Her voice was steel. “We dig. We dig until the truth is ugly, raw, a

• THE BILLONIARE UNWANTED SUBSTITUTE BRIDE   SECRETS WRAPPED IN SILK

  Scarlett stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, her silhouette outlined by the city's muted glow. Her thoughts stormed like the rain clouds beyond the glass. In her palm lay the locket open, silent, heavy. The photo inside, once a comfort, now felt like a riddle wrapped in sorrow.Behind her, Sebastian finished a phone call, his voice clipped and businesslike, but with a tension that hadn't faded since the hospital surveillance was revealed.“She left no trace,” he said as he approached her. “No name on any hospital visitor logs, no security pass scanned. It’s like she walked through walls.”Scarlett finally turned, her voice barely above a whisper. “Or like she never left them.”Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “You still believe it’s your mother.”“I don’t know,” she admitted, swallowing hard. “But the way she touched Emily so gently. Like she cared. And then she mouthed my middle name, Sebastian. That’s not something a stranger just… knows.”He studied her, not just