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Chapter 56: She sounds gentle
Tanggal publikasi:
2026-09-21 22:12:20
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From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 130: Thank you Lucien
The final decision came on a quiet morning in Chloe's studio. The collection had already been completed, photographed, displayed and discussed by people far more interested in numbers than she was. The only thing missing was its name.Her team had gathered around the long table in the middle of the studio, surrounded by sketches, sample pieces and trays of unfinished jewelry."Everything is ready," Zoe said, flipping through the final launch schedule. "Except the name."Chloe sat at the end of the table with one of the pieces resting between her fingers. The engraved bird caught the morning light."Maybe we don't need one," Chloe said.Zoe stared at her. "Every collection needs a name.""Why?""Because that's how this industry works."Chloe smiled. "You sound like my lawyer.""I'll take that as a compliment.""It wasn't."Zoe laughed. "Fine, genius, what are you calling it?"Chloe looked down at the necklace. She remembered the first time she'd held it as a child. She remembered carry
From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 129: I want to be part of yours too
The twins had been asleep for almost an hour when Chloe finally received Lucien's message.‘Can I see you tomorrow?’She stared at it for a while before replying. ‘Where?’‘Somewhere quiet.’She knew what he wanted to talk about before she even agreed. Still, she typed: ‘Okay.’The next afternoon, they met at a quiet café away from the places where people knew them. Chloe arrived first. She chose a table near the window and ordered tea, keeping her phone beside her as she watched people pass outside.When Lucien walked in, his eyes found her immediately. He approached without rushing. "Hi.""Hi."He sat across from her. For a few seconds, neither spoke. Then Lucien rested his hands on the table. "I want to tell you something, and I don't want you to feel like you have to answer me today."Chloe looked at him carefully. "Okay.""I want to be part of their lives fully."Her expression softened slightly. "Leo and Leah?""Yes, but not only them."She already knew what he meant. She waited
From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 128: They're still their grandparents
Chloe almost said no when Richard and Evelyn asked to meet the twins. The request came through a message from Evelyn, carefully worded and without the confidence Chloe remembered from years ago.“We would like to meet Leo and Leah, if you are comfortable with that. We understand if you're not.”Chloe read it while sitting at the kitchen table, her coffee cooling beside her. She didn't answer immediately.When Zoe walked in, she found Chloe staring at the phone. "What's wrong?""Richard and Evelyn want to meet the twins."Zoe stopped. "Oh it's their turn now?”"That's exactly what I thought.""Are you going to let them?"Chloe looked toward the living room where Leo and Leah were playing. "I don't know.""You don't owe them access.""I know.""But?"Chloe sighed softly. "They're still their grandparents."Zoe pulled out a chair. "Then make the rules."Chloe looked at her. "I was planning to."So she did. The meeting would be at the hotel restaurant. Public. Short. No gifts without her
From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 127: Leo asked if you loved me
Chloe waited until after dinner to tell them. Leo and Leah were sitting on the living room rug, surrounded by colored pencils and sheets of paper, arguing over which one of them had drawn the better house."Mine has three windows," Leo insisted."Mine has four," Leah replied."That doesn't make it better.""It does."Chloe smiled as she watched them for a moment, then sat down beside them. "Can we talk?"Both children looked up. "About what mama?" Leo asked."Something about Daddy."The pencils stopped moving. Leah's eyes widened. "Is he coming?""Not tonight.""Oh."Chloe folded her legs beneath her. "But you will be seeing him more often."Leo's face brightened immediately. "Really?""Really.""Tomorrow?"Chloe smiled. "Not tomorrow.""Saturday?""We'll make a plan."Leah dropped her pencil. "Does that mean Daddy can take us places?""Sometimes.""Like the park?""Yes.""The zoo?""Probably.""Can he come to school?"Chloe paused. "If there is a reason for him to."Leah looked pleas
From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 126: Is that a date Mr Grey
Lucien asked Chloe to dinner on a Tuesday afternoon. Not through an assistant. Not through a business invitation. Not because there was an event they both had to attend. He simply sent her a message.“Would you have dinner with me tonight? Just dinner, no business, no meetings.”Chloe stared at the screen for a moment. Then she typed. “As what then?”His reply came almost immediately. “As a man asking a woman he likes to go on a date.”She read it twice. Her lips twitched already finding the conversation interesting. “A date?”“Yes.”She placed her phone down, then picked it up again. “One condition.”“Name it.”“If it feels like an obligation, I won't stay long.”There was a short pause. Then his reply came. “It won't I promise.”She looked at those two words for longer than she meant to. Finally, she typed. “Fine. Tonight.”His response was simple. “I'll pick you up at seven.”At exactly seven, Chloe stepped out of the hotel. Lucien was waiting beside the car. He wasn't dressed like
From substitute bride to CEO Chapter 125: Then I'll teach them both
Lucien stayed in his office long after the building had begun to empty. The city lights stretched beyond the windows, bright and restless, but he barely noticed them, his attention fixed on the photograph lying on his desk.Chloe had sent him the message about dinner earlier. “I'll come.” Four simple words. Once, he would have read something into them, searched for hidden meaning, wondered whether they meant she was coming back to him. Now, he simply smiled. She was going home to their children. That was enough.He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. For years, he had carried a memory like a promise. A girl at a children's camp. A girl who had noticed something about him that nobody else had bothered to notice. A girl who had sat beside him when he couldn't speak, who hadn't demanded answers, hadn't asked why he was different, hadn't made him feel broken. She had simply stayed.He had remembered her kindness for years. But somewhere along the way, he had turned that memory i
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