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CHAPTER 6: THE WEDDING DRESS
Date de publication:
2026-05-13 01:33:13
Latest chapter
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 10: WEDDING PLANNING CHAOS
The statement went live at 8 AM, three days before the wedding.Elara and Lucien sat side by side on the couch, watching their phones explode with notifications as the news spread across every media platform.BLACKWOOD COUPLE RELEASES STATEMENT: "WE STARTED WITH BUSINESS, BUT LOVE WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN UNTIL IT WAS"The statement was carefully crafted in a way that it was honest enough to be believable, romantic enough to be compelling. They admitted to the initial arrangement, framed it as two practical people giving a relationship a trial period, and confirmed that what started as convenience had become genuine."The comments are... mixed," Elara muttered, scrolling through social media."That's generous. Half of them are calling us idiots, the other half are calling us liars.""And the other half think it's romantic.""That's three halves.""Math is irrelevant during crisis management." She set down her phone. "My company's social media is getting bombarded. Sophia says the offic
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 9: THE FIRST CRACK
Elara didn't sleep.She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, watching shadows shift as the city lights flickered through her windows. Somewhere in the penthouse, Lucien was probably doing the same thing, lying awake, calculating, trying to find a solution to an impossible problem.They had forty-eight hours before Vivienne released the contract.Forty-eight hours before their carefully constructed lie became public humiliation.Forty-eight hours to decide if they were going to fight or surrender.At 3 AM, she gave up on sleep and padded into the kitchen for water. She found Lucien already there, sitting at the island in the dark, laptop open, files spread around him."Can't sleep either?" she asked.He looked up, and in the dim light from his screen, she could see the exhaustion etched into his face. "I'm going through everything. Looking for leverage. Something we can use against her.""Find anything?""Nothing concrete. She's covered her tracks well." He closed the laptop with mo
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 8: VIVIENNE RETURNS
The morning after the engagement party, Elara woke to seventeen missed calls.She grabbed her phone, heart hammering, expecting disaster. Instead, she found a series of increasingly frantic messages from Sophia:SOPHIA: “Check the news.”SOPHIA: “Don't panic.”SOPHIA: “Okay, you can panic a little.”SOPHIA: “Call me NOW.”Elara pulled up her news app. The top story made her blood run cold:"BLACKWOOD'S BRIDE: FROM BANKRUPTCY TO BILLIONS - THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE WHIRLWIND ROMANCE"Below it, a photo of her leaving Quinn Interiors three weeks ago, looking exhausted and desperate. Next to it, a photo from last night at the Plaza, radiant in her blue dress, Lucien's arm around her.The article dissected everything. Her company's financial troubles. Her mother's medical bills. The exact timeline between her last rejection from investors and Lucien's proposal.They hadn't used the word "gold digger," but they didn't need to. The implication was clear.Her door flew open. Lucien, still in
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 7: FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE
The engagement party was done at the plaza. Which was not surprising considering Lucian was a man didn't like doing things halfway.The announcement of his engagement will be a big deal and of course he would chose a place that screamed money and power.Elara standing in front of the mirror, admired the dress she wore. She mused on how the dress was more expensive than her first car. It was a midnight blue spike gown that seemed to caress her body before falling to the floor. It was simple but elegant, a theme that will sell perfectly to the press and also make her feel comfortable.She touched the ring on her finger, Emma's ring and wondered if the woman who'd worn it for sixty-two years had ever felt as much as a fraud as she did now. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts."Come in."Lucien entered, and she sure forgot how to breathe.He was always attractive in a way that was undeniable, but now in a tuxedo, hair slightly disheveled like he'd been running his hands through i
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 6: THE WEDDING DRESS
The bridal boutique was the kind of place Elara would never have entered in her old life.All white marble and crystal chandeliers, with gowns displayed like art pieces behind glass. A single dress in the window had a price tag that made her stomach turn—$15,000 for something she'd wear once.But this wasn't her money. This was Lucien's world, and she was just playing dress-up in it."Ms. Quinn!" A woman in her fifties, impeccably dressed, swept toward her with the practiced enthusiasm of someone paid to make brides feel special. "I'm Margot. Mr. Blackwood's assistant explained your... timeline. Three weeks! How exciting. How romantic."Romantic. Right."My friend is meeting me here," Elara said, glancing at her phone. Sophia was running late, stuck in traffic."Of course! In the meantime, let me show you what we've pulled." Margot led her to a private fitting room three times the size of Elara's old bedroom. Six dresses hung on display, each more elaborate than the last. "Mr. Blackwo
One Contract, Two Hearts CHAPTER 5: THE GRANDFATHER
The nursing home was nicer than most people's houses. Nicer than where she lived before.Elara sat in the back of Lucien's car, a sleek black Mercedes that drove smoother than anything she'd ever experienced, watching expensive neighborhoods roll past through the tinted windows."Your grandfather lives here?" she asked."He refuses to live with me," Lucien said, eyes on his phone. He'd been answering emails throughout the entire drive. "Says he'd rather be around people his own age than watch me 'ruin his legacy with spreadsheets and soullessness.'""Sounds judgmental.""He is. By the way as a fair warning, he's going to hate you."Elara turned mortified. "Excuse me?""Not you specifically but like the concept of you." Lucien finally looked up. "He wanted me to marry Victoria Chen. Or Anastasia Rothschild. Or literally anyone from the list of pre-approved society families he's been maintaining since I turned twenty-five. But you? You're an outsider and that's going to be a problem.""
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