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10-The Promise
publish date:
2026-03-25 12:58:43
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Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 41-The Ball
Chapter Forty OneAriaI shouldn't have said yes. Deep down, I'd known Adeline was setting a trap for me, but somehow I'd walked into it with my own two legs.The word had slipped out too easily, and too quickly. It was pride disguised as confidence, and heat disguised as control.By the time I returned to my chambers, the silence had done what anger could not. It had cooled me.Adeline did want Zane, but that wasn't all. She wanted spectacle, she wanted whispers to turn into wagers, she wanted eyes on us and she wanted me scrambling, competing and even proving myself, just so I would humiliate myself at the end of the day.If I played along, I would look insecure. If I withdrew, I would look intimidated.The trap wasn't just about his bed. Everyone who was anyone knew she was still pained that Zane didn't choose her. The entire deal was about optics, a chance to get back into his bed by all means, and I had nearly handed her the stage.No.If there was going to be a spectacle, I woul
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 40-Deal or no deal?
Chapter FortyAriaThe palace had a way of pretending nothing had happened. Sunlight poured through tall windows, servants moved with rehearsed grace, and guards stood as they always did, alert, disciplined,and loyal to structure if not to truth.But the air had changed.It had been a day since the forged directive, a day since public accusation, a day since the council announced they would “require time” to investigate.Time. Time was a weapon, and even though I seemed like I was keeping my cool, I feared the said weapon was against me.Zane had been gone since dawn. He hadn’t given me details, only that it concerned the hybrids that had attacked weeks ago. He was hunting them, quietly, relentlessly, and without me.He hadn’t said it outright, but I felt it in the way he redirected questions. In the way his jaw tightened when I offered to help.This was his battlefield, and I was being kept from it. So I walked instead, through the long eastern corridor, past carved pillars and polis
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 39-Sabotage
Chapter Thirty NineAriaThey didn’t make me wait long, because the summons came the next evening. It was formal, polite and almost courteous which meant it was neither.I entered the chamber alone this time. There were no theatrics, no interventions and no spotlight and not even Zane. Just the five of them seated as though nothing had fractured the day before.“You're here.” Lucien smiled first. “Thank you for coming, Aria.”I inclined my head. “You said there was a second phase.”“Yes.” Dario folded his hands. “This one concerns discretion.”Of course it did.Lucien rose, slow and deliberate, and walked a measured circle around the table before stopping across from me.“A situation has arisen,” he said smoothly. “Intelligence suggests unrest forming within the eastern ranks.”Unrest.As the words landed, I realized what this was. Whatever the test was, he was going straight to the point , with no documentation or scroll placed in front of me.Interesting.“A minor commander has been
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 38 -Put them in their place
Chapter Thirty EightAriaThe doors opened again when I pushed them, but this time, I did not hesitate. I walked back into the chamber composed.If they expected flushed skin, trembling hands, softened edges, well, they were disappointed.I did not look at Zane as I passed him in the corridor. I did not look back. I walked to the center of the room and reclaimed my seat without waiting to be invited.The silence that greeted me was thicker than before.Lucien studied me first. His gaze swept over my face, like he was searching for fear or any other disheveled emotion.“Are we continuing,” I asked evenly, folding my hands in my lap, “or is the performance over?”The word performance lingered. While Corvin shifted, Silas cleared his throat, and even though Lucien’s smile returned,it no longer looked confident. It looked strained. The only person who seemed to be proud of me was Matthias.“You seem… remarkably unaffected,” he observed.“I was unaware that emotional imbalance was a requi
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 37 -A chance to challenge them
Chapter Thirty SevenAriaThe doors slammed hard enough to rattle the stone, and just as expected, every head turned.Zane stood in the doorway, fury radiating off him like heat from iron left too long in flame. His gaze went straight to me. Then to them, and when I said I saw him tweaking, you just had to believe I wasn't exaggerating.“What the hell is going on here?”Silence followed him in like a second presence, until Lucien decided to break it.“Alpha Zane.” Lucien did not rise. “This is a private proceeding.”“The hell it is,” Zane snapped, striding forward. “You don’t isolate her, you don’t stage a spectacle, and you certainly don’t escalate without consulting me.”There it was.Emotional interference.I saw it the moment Corvin’s fingers steepled tighter, in the flicker in Silas’s eyes, and the faint, satisfied stillness in Lucien’s posture.They wanted this.Zane moved until he stood slightly in front of my chair, protective without even realizing it.“Enough,” he said. “Thi
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 36-The assessment
Chapter Thirty Six AriaThey did not bring me to the grand chamber. Knowing them, that would have been too honest.Instead, I was escorted to a smaller circular room carved from dark stone. It was windowless, soundproof, and suffocating in its stillness. Five high backed chairs curved along the far wall like judges awaiting execution.Mine was alone, and place in the center of it all. If that wasn't deliberate, then I had no idea what else was. It was a single chair beneath a narrow beam of white light, and I almost smiled.Everyone could see what this was. Intimidation through staging, no matter how subtle it was.I walked to it without being told and sat. If they wanted theater, I would not give them nerves.The five elders entered moments later.Dario came first. He did not look at me immediately. His expression was stern, carefully neutral, though I caught the faint tightening at the corner of his mouth when his gaze finally settled on the mark at my throat.Behind him came the s
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 27-The man who wasn't there
Chapter Twenty SevenZane.Kieran didn’t take long, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was still standing in the center of the room when the door burst open again without ceremony.He didn’t wait for permission this time, and that alone told me something was wrong.“His chambers are empty,”
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 26-The seal of betrayal
Chapter Twenty SixZane“Enter.” The word had barely left my mouth when the door opened. Kieran stepped inside first, and one look at his face told me everything I needed to know. This wasn’t a routine interruption, and to make it worse, he wasn’t alone.Two guards stood behind him, rigid, and wait
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 25-Almost had it
Chapter Twenty FiveAriaShit.My chest rose and fell in uneven bursts as I stared at the ceiling, my skin damp, my body still humming from a climax that hadn’t actually happened.It had felt real, too real if you asked me.Heat still pooled low in my stomach, my thighs pressed together instinctive
Contractually Married my ex-mate's father 24-Use your words
Chapter Twenty FourAriaFor a moment, I honestly thought the world had frozen over. Why? Zane was completely still, like he was trying to confirm if his ears hadn't pulled a fast one on him.The moment the words "Don't stop" left my lips, and Zane was sure I wasn't joking with him, the last thread
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