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CHAPTER 38: HUMAN MACHINE
Data de publicação:
2026-03-13 02:44:32
Último capítulo
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE — THE NAME BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Aria's POVThe cottage was already a world away. But as I sat down across from him and pulled the document toward me, I realized something quietly and without drama.This was also where I belonged.It took Chen until two in the morning to find it.I was still in the study with Lucien, working through the subsidiary transaction records, when Chen knocked and walked in without waiting. He had that look on his face, the one where he was trying to stay professional but was clearly buzzing underneath it.He set the tablet on the desk between us."Victor Hale," he said.Lucien didn't react immediately. He picked up the tablet and read. I watched his face. Whatever was on the screen, it landed somewhere deep because his expression went very still in a way that wasn't neutral. It was controlled."Who is Victor Hale?" I asked.Neither of them answered straight away, which told me the name meant something to Lucien specifically."Lucien," I
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR — THE REAL WORLD
Aria's POVThe drive back to Los Angeles took four hours.I slept for most of it, curled against the window with Lucien's jacket over my shoulders. When I woke up, the highway had turned into the familiar stretch of city freeway, the skyline sitting flat and bright against the darkening sky.Lucien was on the phone. He'd been on it for at least two hours, I could tell from the way his voice had that worn, flat edge it got when he'd been talking business too long. He wasn't angry, just precise. The kind of precise that meant someone on the other end of the call was having a very bad evening.I sat up and looked at him.He glanced over, saw I was awake, and reached across to briefly squeeze my hand. Then he went back to his call.That was the transition. That small, quiet moment between the cottage and everything else. One second he was the man who sat in a cottage armchair just to keep a frightened girl company. The next he wa
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE — GOODBYE FOR NOW
Aria's POVElena Park called on a Thursday.I was in the kitchen when my phone buzzed, halfway through a second cup of coffee and a conversation with Chen about whether the penthouse needed more plants. Chen was firmly against it. I answered on the second ring."It's done," Elena said. "Both parents cleared. They'll be out by noon."I set my coffee cup down."And the children?""Still at the cottage. I've arranged transport. They should be reunited by early evening."I thanked her and hung up. I stood there for a moment without moving. Chen glanced at me from across the counter."Good news?" he asked."Yes," I said. Then I picked up my coffee and went to find Lucien.~~~He was in his study. I knocked and pushed the door open. He was on a call but turned when I walked in. I held up my phone and mouthed the words. They're free.He wrapped up the call in under a minute."Elena confirmed it?" he asked."This morning.
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO — BACK TO REALITY
Aria's POVI woke up to the sound of the jet engines.Lucien had arranged a private flight from the small regional airstrip outside Southampton. I didn't even know how I was transferred from the car to the plane, I'd been that exhausted. But now I was fully awake, reclined in a cream leather seat with a blanket tucked around me that I definitely hadn't put there myself.Across the aisle, Lucien was working.Of course he was.His laptop was open, two phones on the armrest, a glass of water untouched beside him. His sleeves were rolled up, his eyes moving across the screen with that focused, unblinking intensity that made everyone around him feel slightly inadequate. The flour was gone from his sleeve now. At some point between the cottage and here, he had become the CEO again.I watched him for a moment without saying anything.He felt it. He always did."Go back to sleep," he said, without looking up."I'm not tired anymore," I
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE — THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE
Aria's POVLucien set the milk glass down on the counter.The sound was small and precise, the kind of deliberate quietness that meant his mind was already somewhere else entirely. He didn't look at me. He looked at the window, at the black Atlantic beyond it, at something only he could see in the dark.I stayed on my side of the kitchen, my arms wrapped loosely around myself, watching him. The warmth of the cottage, the orange-cheese smell, Mia's yellow boots drying by the door, all of it suddenly felt fragile. Like a soap bubble catching light for one perfect second before the surface tension gives.His jaw shifted."We have to go back," he said.Not I'm sorry. Not I wish we didn't. Just the fact of it, delivered in that low, flat tone he used when a decision had already been made somewhere deep in his chest and he was only now letting it reach his mouth.I looked at him for a long moment. "Marcus?""He sent a m
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER 50: A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY
Aria's POVI laughed, the sound bright and out of place against the tension of the last twelve hours. Lucien caught my eye, and for a fleeting second, tmhis cold and pensive aura was completely gone. There was only the man who had traded his empire for a weekend of macaroni and sea air."Then macaroni it is," Lucien said, his voice dropping that authoritative edge for something softer, almost tentative. "Though I suspect the orange cheese is a culinary level I have yet to master.""I’ll supervise," I promised, moving to the counter.The kitchen, which had been a site of a pasta massacre only twenty-four hours ago, transformed into a sanctuary of warmth. Lucien rolled up the sleeves of his fresh white shirt, his powerful for
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE — HIDDEN INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION
Aria's POV“The folder and the tablet. Give them to me." I held out my hand, my palm up, my expression unmoving. "I’ll review them."Marcus let out a short, skept&zwnj
Última atualização : 2026-03-27FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE — THE UNEXPECTED COLLAPSE
Aria's POVLucien was still standing by the darkened television, his silhouette cast in jagged red by the emergency lights. He looked like a king standing amidst the ruins of his palace. His chest was heaving, his hand still white-knuckled around the grip of his gun."Lucien?" I
Última atualização : 2026-03-24FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER THIRTEEN — DEAFENING SILENCE
I spent the next few hours pacing the length of the room until my feet were sore. The plush carpet felt like sandpaper against my skin, and every time I caught my reflection in the darkened window, I saw a woman I barely recognized. I wasn't the cold, calculating Aria who ha
Última atualização : 2026-03-19FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER FOURTEEN — THE PLANNED KIDNAP
Aria's POV I didn't waste a second. I grabbed a trench coat to cover my disheveled state and followed Marcus and Chen down the private elevator. The air in the garage felt different, it was thicker and charged with the kind of static that precedes a storm."We take the armored SUV," Mar
Última atualização : 2026-03-20
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