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Chapter 19 Then why are you here, Lucian?

Author: Moonchild
last update Huling Na-update: 2024-12-13 16:37:30

Eloise

The questions were becoming too much. The press crowded closer, their microphones like weapons pointed at me, demanding answers I didn’t have. Jennifer’s voice rose above the cacophony, smooth and laced with fake sorrow.

“All I’ve ever wanted was to support Eloise,” she said, her crocodile tears shedding uncontrollably “We’re sisters, after all. But how do you reconcile with someone who hates you for no reason? And now… this?” She gestured toward her designs—my designs like they were some divine gift she’d crafted from her soul.

My chest tightened, I couldn’t breathe.

A client who had been eagerly discussing a purchase earlier suddenly turned away, whispering to her companion. Their eyes darted toward me, judgment heavy in their expressions.

It was Jennifer’s words, It was always her words. She knew how to wield them like a knife, slicing through my composure, my reputation.

Tears burned my eyes, streaking down my face before I could stop them. No! Not in front of these
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  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 53 Cracks in loyalty

    Mike I sat in my office with the blinds half-closed, the morning sun slicing across the dark desk. My hands itched to type out emails, to approve invoices, to call Eloise just to hear her voice steady me. But instead, they drummed an anxious, frustrated rhythm against the leather armrest. She hadn’t replied to my last text. She hadn’t replied to any of them since last night’s dinner. Dinner with Damon Grey. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to breathe evenly. Damon had always had that effect on people, men or women, it didn’t matter. His presence alone could shift the temperature in a room. Make powerful CEOs sweat under their ties. Make billionaires lean forward to listen. Make someone like Eloise…look at him like he was offering salvation itself. I replayed every second of that dinner. The way she’d visibly softened at his words. The way her eyes had brightened with something I hadn’t seen in weeks, hope, curiosity, maybe even attraction. And the way Damon had watched her, h

  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 52 The touch of another

    Eloise I dabbed a drop of foundation beneath my eyes, smudging it in with trembling fingers. My reflection in the bathroom mirror looked composed enough, hair swept into a loose bun, a silk sage blouse tucked into black wide-leg trousers. But under the surface, my veins pulsed with raw dread. Mike’s text had come that morning. Small PR dinner. Just you, me, and a potential consultant ally. Think of it as therapy with wine. I didn’t want wine. I didn’t want therapy. I wanted peace and silence. A night without strategising my survival or rehearsing polite lies to hide my fractures. But here I was, stepping out of my Uber into the warm haze of Upturn’s private rooftop dining lounge. The hostess greeted me by name, leading me past sculpted palms and glass lanterns flickering against the Manhattan dusk. Fairy lights looped along the terrace railing, casting golden webs across ivory tablecloths. Mike spotted me first, standing from his seat and lifting a hand in silent greeting. Beside

  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 51 New shadows

    Damon The morning sun filtered through the tinted glass of my Maserati as I pulled into the underground lot beneath Donovan’s Capital’s headquarters. The familiar rumble of the engine settled into a purr before I cut it off, silence folding around me. I checked my watch. 9:17am. Early enough to catch Mike before his day spiralled into back-to-back crises, late enough that the interns wouldn’t be clogging up the espresso machine in the executive lounge. The elevator ride to his floor was quiet. Polished brass mirrors reflected my clean-cut navy suit, crisp white shirt open at the throat, and the faint scar across my jawline, a reminder from years back, another life I rarely revisited. The doors slid open to reveal Donovan Capital’s minimalist reception, all slate floors, white marble counters, and hushed conversation. Mike’s assistant, a petite woman with braids coiled tightly against her scalp, gave me a polite nod. “Mr. Damon Grey to see Mr. Mike,” she said into the phone, her

  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 50 False comfort

    Lucian The soft buzz of my phone broke the rhythmic scratching of my Montblanc pen against legal documents. I glanced at the notification: an encrypted message from Eliza, my PR relations manager. All ready. Photographer briefed. Pickup scheduled for 1pm. I smiled faintly, my thumb tapping the phone case as I leaned back in my office chair. Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting clean golden beams across my polished mahogany desk. The city lay beneath me like a chessboard, each block and skyscraper a piece under my control. “Micah,” I called, my voice echoing through the partially open office door. Micah appeared almost instantly, his suit immaculate, posture rigid. “Yes, sir.” “Move my 1pm investor check-in to tomorrow. Have the car ready in thirty minutes.” Micah didn’t blink, merely inclined his head. “Yes, sir.” I watched him leave, then turned my gaze back to the city, imagining Max’s small, trusting eyes lighting up when he saw me waiting outside

  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 49 Lines crossed

    Eloise I closed the atelier door behind him with trembling hands, feeling his presence seep out into the cold street air, leaving a blackened void in its place. My chest burned as I leaned against the wood panel, head tilted back, eyes fluttering shut. For a moment, all I could hear was the hammering of my own heartbeat and the buzzing silence that followed him everywhere. Lucian’s cologne still clung to the air, oakwood, bergamot, a hint of leather polish. Memories erupted unbidden, painting across my mind like old photographs dipped in acid. I saw his arms wrapped around my waist the first day he showed me the rooftop view of his apartment, whispering promises into my hair. I saw his mouth slanting over mine, his palm braced against my throat in the dim kitchen light when he kissed me against the fridge. I saw his eyes gleaming with silent admiration as I lifted Max out of his crib the first day we brought him home. But then, like lightning splitting an old tree, his betrayal c

  • Once Upon a Marriage    Chapter 48 Return of the tempest

    Lucian I didn’t bother announcing my arrival. The receptionist at the front desk of Eloise’s atelier tried to stop me, murmuring something about appointments and privacy, but a single look from me had her faltering, eyes dropping to the marble floor as I brushed past. The place was modest, too modest for Eloise’s potential. Whitewashed walls adorned with pinned sketches, fabric swatches, small display mannequins wearing partially finished garments and jewellery hybrids. She had always liked working in spaces like this, cluttered with life, her creative chaos everywhere. A thin scent of sandalwood incense mingled with oil paints and wax polish. It was almost nostalgic. Almost. I spotted her near the back, hair piled in a messy bun with strands slipping down her nape, wearing a fitted black turtleneck tucked into tailored cream trousers smeared faintly with graphite. She looked up as my footsteps echoed off the studio’s concrete floors. For a split second, her eyes widened, no warmt

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