LOGINShare
CHAPTER 348: RIVER ARRIVES
publish date:
2026-04-27 22:04:45
Latest chapter
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 350: HOPE'S REACTION
The playroom was neutral territory.It wasn't the guest room, where River hoarded his fears and his apple slices. It wasn't the master bedroom, where Aurora and Liam managed the logistics of their expanded family. It was a sun-drenched demilitarized zone filled with soft rugs, low shelves, and the bright, primary-colored chaos of childhood.Aurora sat in the corner on a beanbag chair, pretending to read a magazine. In reality, she was a surveillance operative.Her target was the boy sitting inside a fortress of cardboard bricks.River had built a wall. Literally. He had taken the large, faux-brick blocks and constructed a three-sided barricade against the wall near the window. He sat inside it, knees pulled to his chest, clutching the red cape Ethan had given him. He wasn't playing. He was occupying.And then, there was the siege engine.Hope was eighteen months old. She was a force of nature in a diaper and a tulle skirt she refused to take off. She didn't understand walls. She didn'
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 349: THE FIRST WEEK
The penthouse didn't smell like white tea and cedar anymore.It smelled of rotting fruit.Liam kneeled by the sofa in the living room. He lifted the heavy velvet cushion. Underneath, pressed into the expensive joinery of the frame, was a graveyard of half-eaten food. Apple slices turning brown. A chicken nugget, rock-hard. A slice of cheese that had sweated its oil into the fabric."Found another one," Liam said. He didn't shout. He didn't have the energy to shout.Aurora walked in from the hallway. She was holding a trash bag. She looked like she had gone twelve rounds with a heavyweight. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and there was a scratch—red and angry—on her cheek."Where was it?" she asked, holding the bag open."Under the B&B Italia sofa," Liam said, tossing the nugget in. "Structural damage is... sticky.""He's preparing for a famine," Aurora said. She sat down on the coffee table, disregarding the rule about sitting on tables. "Ms. Gable said he would hoard. It's a
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 348: RIVER ARRIVES
The elevator chime was usually a soft, pleasant sound. A G-major ping that announced home.Today, it sounded like a gavel.Aurora stood in the foyer. Her hands were clasped in front of her, squeezing so tight the knuckles were white. Beside her, Liam stood with his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly on his heels. A tell. He was bracing for impact.Behind them, down the hall, Marcus was keeping the perimeter. Ethan was in his room, door cracked, watching. Hope was in her playpen in the living room, oblivious, chewing on the ear of a stuffed rabbit.The doors slid open.Ms. Gable stepped out first. She looked tired. Her suit was rumpled.And then, River.He didn't step out. He was pulled out, gently, by the hand.He was smaller than Aurora remembered.In the waiting room, he had been sitting down. Here, standing on the vast expanse of the herringbone oak floor, he looked microscopic. He wore the same gray sweatpants, the same stained t-shirt. He carried a plastic grocery bag—bright
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 347: PREPARING ETHAN
The question wasn't if Ethan wanted a brother. He had a sister, and she was okay, even if she cried a lot and drooled on his Star Destroyer.The question was if he wanted this brother.Ethan sat on the floor of his bedroom. It was his Safe Zone. The walls were painted blue (his choice). The shelves were filled with his things—books about space, rocks he had found in Central Park, the worry stone Dr. Chen’s friend had given him.His parents were sitting on his bed. They looked serious."His name is River," Mom said. She was sitting cross-legged, wearing her soft sweater. She looked nice, not like the scary lady who stayed in bed all day. "He's three years old. He's very small for his age.""Why?" Ethan asked."Because he didn't have enough food," Dad said. Dad’s voice was low and rumbly, like a car engine. "And because he was scared."Ethan looked at his hands. He knew about being scared. He knew about the bad man in the lobby. He knew about the ants."Is he scared of ants too?" Ethan
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 346: THE PROCESS
The dining room table had disappeared.In its place was a landscape of paper, a white and cream topography that shifted every time the air conditioning kicked on. Aurora sat at the head of this paper mountain, her hand cramping around the barrel of her Montblanc pen.It was midnight. The city outside was a grid of glittering indifference, but inside the circle of lamplight, the questions were intimate and accusing.Have you ever been hospitalized for a psychiatric condition?Aurora stared at the box. It was a quarter-inch square. Too small to hold the weight of the last six months. Too small for the gray room, the white noise, the feeling of the ocean pulling at her ankles.She could lie. She could check No and rely on the privacy laws that were supposed to protect her.But River had been lied to enough.She pressed the nib to the paper. The ink bled slightly into the fiber.Yes.She wrote the explanation in the margin. Postpartum depression. Treated. Managed.The words looked sterile
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 345: MEETING RIVER
The City of New York Administration for Children’s Services intake center on 110th Street did not smell like the penthouse.It smelled of pine-scented industrial cleaner, damp wool, and a thick, humid layer of anxiety that no amount of ventilation could scrub from the air.Liam Cross stood near the reception desk, his back against a wall painted a peeling institutional beige. He kept his hands in his pockets, resisting the urge to check the exits or scan the room for threats. He wasn't the CEO here. He wasn't the billionaire. He was just a man in a charcoal coat who looked hopelessly out of place."They're bringing him down," Aurora said.She stood next to him. She wasn't wearing her armor today. She wore jeans and a sweater, her hair loose. She looked soft. Touchable. But her eyes were fixed on the double doors at the end of the hall with a laser-like intensity."This is a mistake," Liam said. He kept his voice low, a rumble in his chest. "Aurora, look around. This system... it's a m
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 136: The Paternity Test
The Family Court judge had dismissed the emergency petition, but the bureaucracy of legacy was a hydra; cut off one head, and another grew in the form of a triplicate form. To finalize the dismissal, to seal the file forever against any future claims (from Vanessa or anyone else), the court requi
Last Updated : 2026-03-27Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 148: The Schedule
The "truce" was over. The "treaty" had been signed in the master bedroom. But now, they had to figure out how to govern the kingdom. It was Monday morning. The sun was bright, the city was loud, and the Cross-Vale household was in a state of logistical anarchy. Liam was in the kitchen, making co
Last Updated : 2026-03-27Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 127: The Media Storm Begins
The peace that had settled over Aurora’s life after her confession was shattered exactly forty-eight hours later, not by a lawsuit, but by a notification sound.It was 7 AM. Aurora was in the penthouse kitchen, making toast for Ethan. Liam had stayed over—he was in the guest room again, a respectfu
Last Updated : 2026-03-26Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 135: Adrian's Loyalty
The Cross Empire tower, usually a bastion of ruthless, unified ambition, was fracturing. It wasn't visible from the street. The glass facade was as impenetrable as ever. But inside, on the executive floors, the fault lines were widening. Adrian Cross sat in his office, the door closed. He was th
Last Updated : 2026-03-26
You may also like
The Wrong Woman
Ginny Not Genie1.2M viewsBegin Again
Val Sims1.0M viewsAddicted to Loving You: The Paranoid and Domineering Boss's Convicted Wife
Gu family's Little Bamboo686.7K viewsThe Divorced Billionaire Heiress
I Wanna Eat Meat16.2M viewsHis Forbidden Obsession
Wealth💅141 viewsLove Remembers
Author TM Pigatt 124 viewsFaux Dating Billionaire Fox
Cassie Vahl 123 viewsToo late ex-husband; I am no longer in your league
Yuna63 views
