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CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE ESTATE
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2025-12-08 20:01:15
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Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — LIANA’S FIRST PUBLIC STRIKE
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — LIANA’S FIRST PUBLIC STRIKE (Liana’s POV)The afternoon after Charlotte’s first humiliation was too quiet.Eleanor had vanished into her study. My aunt had taken to her room with a “headache.” Even the maids moved like ghosts.Adrian and I spent the hours with Liam (quiet, careful hours). He was colouring again, humming under his breath. Every time Adrian leaned over to help tape a new page to the wall, the cold in his eyes melted completely.By seven o’clock, a maid appeared with a silver card.“Madam Eleanor requests the family join her for dinner at eight. Formal dress.”Adrian looked at me.I smiled.Trap.I chose a black silk gown (high neck, long sleeves, slit to the thigh). Modest until I moved. Then it was a weapon.Adrian wore black tie (old habits, perfect fit). We walked into the dining room together.Eleanor sat at the head, diamonds flashing.Charlotte was already there, in ice-blue chiffon, hair swept up, neckline plunging. She looke
Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER FIFTEEN — CHARLOTTE’S ARRIVAL
CHAPTER FIFTEEN — CHARLOTTE’S ARRIVAL (Liana’s POV)The morning light filtered through the heavy curtains of the guest suite like it was afraid to wake us.I opened my eyes to find Adrian already dressed (or half-dressed): black trousers, white shirt unbuttoned, tie loose around his neck. He stood at the wardrobe, staring at his reflection in the mirror, fingers frozen on the top button.I sat up slowly, sheet pooling around my waist.“Adrian?”He turned, the cold mask cracking just a little when he saw me.“Just glimpses,” he said, voice rough. “The wedding. A dinner where I… left you sitting alone. Nothing more.”I nodded, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.“Get dressed,” I said. “Liam’s waiting, and Eleanor won’t let us forget we’re under her roof.”He finished buttoning his shirt with mechanical precision, the old Adrian’s habits bleeding through.I slipped into a black dress (simple, severe, armor), tied my hair back, and slid on heels that clicked like warnings on th
Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE ESTATE
CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE ESTATE (Liana’s POV)The Jin family estate looked exactly the same as it had the night Adrian’s car crashed: marble steps, iron gates, manicured gardens hiding poison. Only this time, I walked through the front doors with my head high and Adrian at my side instead of in a body bag.Eleanor waited in the grand foyer.She had aged ten years in three weeks. The woman who once looked like polished ice now had cracks.She didn’t look at me.She looked only at her son.“You came home,” she said, voice thin.Adrian’s hand tightened on mine.“I’m not staying,” he answered. “We’re here for Liam. That’s all.”Eleanor’s gaze finally slid to me.Cold. Calculating.Then she stepped aside.The staff had prepared the entire east wing for Liam: hospital bed, monitors, a private nurse on twenty-four-hour call. Money had moved mountains again.Liam was already there, sitting up in bed, eyes wide as he took in the room.“Lia!” He held out his arms.I went to him, hugged
Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER THIRTEEN — THE FIRST CRACKS IN MEMORY
CHAPTER THIRTEEN — THE FIRST CRACKS IN MEMORY (Liana’s POV)Three days after the hospital visit, the first crack appeared.I came back from a modeling meeting (my first in this life, a small test shoot that felt like reclaiming a piece of myself) to find Adrian in the penthouse study, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and sharp.“—I don’t care what my mother said. Transfer the funds now. The account is in my name. If you delay, you’re fired. Understood?”He ended the call and turned, the tension in his shoulders melting the instant he saw me.“Liana.”I stopped in the doorway.The desk was covered in papers (financial statements, medical trials, a list of doctors’ names I didn’t recognise).“What is this?”He hesitated (just a fraction, but enough to make my pulse spike).“For Liam,” he said. “I… made some calls.”I stepped closer, picking up the top sheet.A wire transfer confirmation for two million dollars to a Swiss clinic. Another for a private jet. Emails from his assist
Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER TWELVE — THE LITTLE BROTHER
CHAPTER TWELVE — THE LITTLE BROTHER (Liana’s POV)The children’s oncology ward smelled like antiseptic trying to hide under strawberry shampoo.I walked the corridor exactly the way I had practiced in my head for weeks: shoulders back, chin high, the same stride I used on runways. Adrian followed three steps behind, coat collar up, black medical mask hiding half his face. No one would recognise the Jin heir unless they were looking for him. I had made sure of that.Room 412.The door was cracked open. Inside, the lights were low. Machines hummed a lullaby no one wanted to hear.Liam lay propped against a mountain of pillows, eight years old and already too familiar with needles. His hair had grown back thin and soft after the last round of chemo. He was colouring something with the kind of concentration only children facing death can manage.He looked up when I stepped in.His whole face lit like sunrise.“Lia!”The crayon rolled off the blanket.I was across the room
Bound by Desire: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER ELEVEN — THE FIRST CRACK
CHAPTER ELEVEN — THE FIRST CRACK (Liana’s POV)I woke to the sound of rain against glass and the weight of Adrian’s arm locked around my waist.He had not moved all night. After I left him trembling against the mirror, he had followed me to bed like a shadow (silent, obedient). He had lain exactly where I told him, on his side of the invisible line, hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles were white. At some point in the dark he had rolled over and wrapped himself around me from behind, face buried between my shoulder blades, breathing me in like oxygen. I had pretended to be asleep.Now morning light bled grey through the windows, and his grip had only tightened.I tried to slide free.His arm locked harder.“Liana,” he mumbled, voice rough with sleep and something darker. Not a plea this time. A warning.I turned in the circle of his arms until we were face-to-face.His eyes were open (black, sharp, no trace of the broken man from last night). For one heartbeat
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