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61: Walking Away
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2025-11-08 14:14:23
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Beneath His Cold Vows 61: Walking Away
Edward's POVShe stopped halfway into the hallway.Bag over her shoulder, hand reaching for the railing, then her body just quit. She pressed against the wall, head dropping forward.I watched her chest rise and fall too quickly. Watched her palm flatten against the wall to hold herself up."Alicia."Nothing. She just stood there, breathing like it hurt.Vivienne's heels clicked fast across the marble behind me. Lucy stayed by the kitchen doorway, arms wrapped around herself.Alicia pushed off the wall. Started down the stairs.Each step looked like agony. Her knuckles went white gripping the railing. But she kept descending, slow and unsteady, like her body was running on fumes and spite.I met her at the bottom.She walked straight past me toward the front door.Keys already in her hand.I grabbed her arm. "Alicia—"She yanked it away and stumbled, catching herself on the wall. Didn't look at me. Just kept moving.Vivienne rushed forward. "Alicia, enough. We have guests arriving in
Beneath His Cold Vows 60: The Betrayal Video
The video started. Sound on. No warning. No mercy.Moans. His voice. Her voice. Skin on skin. The rustle of sheets. A laugh—hers, breathless and satisfied.My throat closed. My pulse hammered so hard I thought my ribs would crack."You see?" Lucy's voice cut through, soft and venomous. She leaned closer, savoring every second of my silence. "This is what you can never, ever give Edward."The phone stayed between us, glowing. The sounds kept playing. My chest seized, hard and cold. I swallowed, tasting blood.I lifted my eyes to her."You're right," I said. My voice barely left my throat. "Maybe I waited too long. You two… You deserve each other."I turned to leave.Lucy’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm, fingers digging in hard.The movement jolted through me, a sharp pull that sent pain flaring low in my abdomen—hot, sudden, breath-stealing.I held still. I refused to fold in front of her."Oh no," Lucy said, her grip tightening. "You don't get to walk away like that. Like you're ab
Beneath His Cold Vows 59: Unwanted Guests
Alicia's POVI woke to a sound I couldn’t place at first—shapes of voices drifting upward, blurred by distance and the layout of the house. Not words. Not tones I could clearly identify. Just the low hum of conversation traveling through the open staircase, the kind that shouldn’t have existed this early in the morning.My door wasn’t fully closed. A thin gap let in a draft and the faint echoes from downstairs. In the morning quiet, the house carried sound too well, turning soft murmurs into something that prickled beneath my skin.Definitely not the staff.Their footsteps, radios, routines—I knew those by heart.This was different. Controlled. Conversational.Two women. That much I could make out. But not who. Not yet.My ribs still ached from lying too still, but something sharper pulled me forward. I slipped out of bed, the marble floor cold against my bare feet, and moved toward the hallway. The voices rose again, still muffled, still impossible to understand, but threaded with a
Beneath His Cold Vows 58: The Perfect Trap
Edward's POVI stepped onto the garden terrace, the warmth draining from the stone beneath my feet as evening settled. My chest still burned from the confrontation upstairs. Alicia had refused, cleanly, quietly, without hesitation. She hadn't flinched. Not for me. Not for the board. Not for anyone.I dragged a hand down my face, jaw tight enough to ache.She thought I'd threatened to use Lily. Of course she did. She'd spent two years learning to read me, cataloging every tactic, every pressure point. But this time she was wrong.Not that it mattered.My gaze drifted across the hedges, perfectly trimmed, ordered. The marble steps leading back inside caught the fading light. I felt my pulse thudding dull in my temples and forced everything down, compressed it into something I could use.There was only one option left.My phone buzzed. Leo."Change of plans," I said before he could speak. "Cancel tomorrow's setup. All of it."A pause. "Sir, the downstairs arrangements""I said cancel it.
Beneath His Cold Vows 57: Not a Prop
Alicia's POV I didn’t answer him. Not at first. I needed those few seconds to hold myself together. I recognized the script he’d walked in with—thirty seconds, one take, stand beside him—like everything I’d survived was just an inconvenience in the way of his world.Edward had stopped halfway into the room as if he’d rehearsed that exact distance. Crisp shirt. Not a hair out of place. He always looked like that when he wanted something handled quickly.“Alicia,” he said again, tone clipped. “We don’t have time. They’re waiting downstairs. You need to stand with me, smile, correct the narrative—”“I’ll go when I decide I’m ready,” I said finally. My voice wasn’t strong, but it held.He blinked once. Nothing dramatic—just the smallest tell that my answer wasn’t what he expected.“You’re joking,” he said.“No.” I kept my posture still, though everything inside my body felt otherwise. “I read the headlines. I know what people wrote while assuming I was unconscious and unable to defend my
Beneath His Cold Vows 56: The Five-Minute Window
I didn’t have the luxury of hesitation. The board demanded a response before evening, and only one solution remained—Alicia would speak.Five minutes. Maybe more. That was all I needed.If she dressed well, if she stood beside me, if my hand stayed firm at her back, steady enough to anchor her, no one would notice how fragile she really was. Optics first. Truth could wait.I pushed from the desk, reviewing the timeline again. Crisis posts had doubled since morning; the gala video had crossed a million views. PR kept sending drafts. None usable. The pattern was clear: nothing would land unless she appeared.I grabbed the phone. “Leo. Get over here. Finalize the setup downstairs—crew, lighting, and every detail. Neutral backdrop. Make it seamless.”A barked acknowledgment came through the line. I hung up, fingers tapping the desk. A beat of silence stretched as I pictured it: lights adjusted, crew in place, every frame under control, nothing to make her look off.Then the phone rang aga
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