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THE GALA

Penulis: Lizzy Aik
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-01-13 21:14:25

The ballroom was everything I'd imagined and worse.

Crystal chandeliers. Marble floors. People in clothes that cost more than my yearly salary. Everyone looking like they'd been born holding champagne flutes.

I wanted to turn around and leave.

"Breathe," Damon said quietly.

"I am breathing."

"No, you're hyperventilating. There's a difference."

He was right. My chest felt tight. Like someone was squeezing.

"I can't do this."

"Yes you can."

"Damon—"

"Look at me." He stopped walking. Turned to fac
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  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE TRUTH (2)

    She froze mid-step. "What?" "The security footage from the day you fell. I watched it." The color drained from her face. "Damon..." "You threw yourself down those stairs. You weren't pushed. Eve never touched you. You did it to yourself." "That's not what happened..." "I watched it, Sophia. Multiple times. I saw exactly what happened. You threw yourself backward deliberately. You staged the whole thing." She stood there, mouth opening and closing, no words coming out. "Why?" I asked. "Why would you do that to yourself? Why would you risk getting that badly hurt just to frame Eve?" "I didn't...the footage must be wrong..." "The footage is crystal clear. Stop lying." "I'm not lying..." "You threw yourself down the stairs!" My voice was rising now, all the anger and betrayal finally breaking through. "You broke your own bones, gave yourself a concussion, lost a baby...if there even was a baby...just to make me think Eve assaulted you!" Sophia's face crumpled. But I couldn'

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE TRUTH (1)

    DAMON'S POV I couldn't sleep, Sophia's words kept echoing in my head. When I threw myself down a flight of stairs and lost everything I thought I wanted. Threw myself. She didn't say fell, she didn't say pushed, she said threw myself. It had to be a slip of the tongue. A mistake in phrasing. People misspoke all the time. But something about the way she'd said it, the way she'd rushed out of the room immediately after, the way her face had gone pale when the words left her mouth. It felt significant, like a crack in a carefully maintained facade. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling until two AM. Then I got up. Grabbed my phone from the nightstand, went to my study and closed the door. I sat down at my desk in the darkness and opened the security app and found the footage from that Sunday. The footage I'd been avoiding for weeks. The footage Marcus had begged me to watch. The footage Sophia had suddenly encouraged me to watch tonight. My finger hovered over the play butto

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    SLIP OF TONGUE

    SOPHIA'S POV I'd been looking at apartments for three days. Scrolling through listings, scheduling viewings, pretending I was actually going to move out. But I wasn't. Not really. This was just another performance. Another way to make Damon feel guilty, make him ask me to stay, make him realize he needed me here. It had worked before. The injury, the lost baby, the vulnerability...all of it had kept him close, kept him feeling responsible, kept him choosing me. The apartment hunt was just the next act. I was in the living room Thursday afternoon when Damon came home from work early. "You're back," I said, looking up from my laptop. "Had a short day. How's the apartment search going?" "Good. I have three viewings scheduled for tomorrow." He sat down across from me, loosened his tie. "You don't have to rush this. You can stay here as long as you need." There it was. The guilt. The concern. Exactly what I'd been angling for. "I know. But I think it's better if I find my

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THREE WEEKS

    I started packing on Wednesday morning. Seventeen weeks pregnant now, the bump impossible to hide in anything fitted. I'd bought new clothes. Loose tunics and flowing dresses that skimmed over my stomach without revealing its shape. In three weeks, I'd be gone. Visa approved. Job confirmed. Apartment secured in Notting Hill. Everything arranged. Everything ready. I just had to survive three more weeks in New York without anyone figuring out what I was hiding. Jessica came over to help me sort through things. "You're really doing this," she said, looking at the half-packed boxes scattered around my small apartment. "I'm really doing this." "I'm going to miss you so much." "I'll miss you too. But Jess, I can't stay here. Every corner of this city reminds me of him. Of them. Of everything I lost." "I know." She helped me wrap dishes in newspaper, pack books into boxes, sort through clothes I'd keep versus donate. We worked in comfortable silence for a while. Then Jessica

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE DOUBT

    The settlement closed on Tuesday. Sophia came home around four PM, looking exhausted. I was in the kitchen when she walked in, moving slowly, favoring her injured wrist. "How did it go?" I asked. "It's done. Eve signed everything. Paid the settlement. We never have to deal with her again." "Good." She set her purse down on the counter. "There's a no-contact order. Neither of us can reach out to the other. If we end up in the same place, we have to maintain distance." "That's probably for the best." "Yeah." She looked at me for a long moment, like she was waiting for something. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. I just thought you'd have more questions. About the meeting, about seeing her, about how it went." "I don't need details. It's over. That's all that matters." "Right." She walked past me toward her room and I caught a whiff of her perfume. The same scent she always wore. But something about it bothered me now. Made me think of the penthouse before Eve. Before the marr

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE SETTLEMENT

    EVE'S POV The settlement conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Lara Jean’s office. I had been dreading it all week. Originally the lawyers had planned for us to sign the documents separately. I would go in, sign my copies, and leave. Sophia would do the same later the same day. But two days ago, Sophia’s lawyer suddenly insisted that both of us had to attend the final meeting in person, together, with both lawyers present. They said it was non-negotiable. They wanted everything witnessed at the same time so there could be no future claims that anyone was pressured or didn’t fully understand the agreement. Lara Jean advised me to agree. She warned me that fighting them on this could drag everything out for months, and I couldn’t take any more delays. I just wanted this nightmare to end. So here I was. It wasn’t the money. One hundred thousand dollars was steep but manageable with the spousal support and my savings. What I really hated was the idea of sitting in the same

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE BREAKING POINT

    I came home at seven that night.The apartment was dark except for the living room where Damon sat on the couch, head in his hands. He looked up when I walked in."Eve, thank god. I've been calling..."I walked past him toward the bedroom."Wait, please. Can we just talk for five minutes?"I kept w

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-26

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    CATHERINE'S VISIT

    The call came Tuesday morning."We're coming by this afternoon," Catherine Sterling said without preamble. "Your father and I need to see how Sophia is settling in."Damon's face went tight. "Mom, I don't think that's a good idea right now.""Nonsense, the poor girl is living with strangers and inj

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-25

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    HAPPY BIRTHDAY

    I woke up to Damon watching me."Happy birthday," he said softly. Right, today I turned twenty-five. I'd forgotten somehow, lost track of days in the mess our life had become."Thanks," I said."I have something planned for tonight, dinner at eight. Just us.""Where?""Here, I

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-25

  • I AM BILLIONAIRE DAMON'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE    THE KITCHEN INCIDENT

    Day three of living with Sophia and I was already considering murder.She'd been perfect, of course. Sweet and apologetic and staying mostly in her wing like she'd promised.Which made it worse somehow, because I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.It dropped on Wednesday morning.I came into t

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-25
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