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Chapter 72: The Resemblance

Author: Evve
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2026-01-03 02:49:44

The "escape" vehicle was moving too slowly.

Aurora sat in the back seat, Ethan curled in her lap, his breath hot against her neck. She was stroking his hair, a repetitive, soothing gesture that was more for her than for him.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it.

The image of Liam, kneeling in the grass. The image of Ethan, hugging him.

And the image of Liam’s face as he watched them leave.

It wasn't the face of a predator. It was the face of a man who had just discovered a missing piece o
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  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 360: ADOPTION FINALIZATION

    The courtroom didn't smell like fear this time. It smelled of floor wax and optimism.Liam Cross sat at the plaintiff’s table, but he wasn't a plaintiff. He was a petitioner. Beside him sat Aurora, wearing a soft cream dress that caught the morning light filtering through the high windows.On his lap sat River.River was three and a half years old. He was wearing a miniature navy blazer, a white shirt, and a bow tie that Ethan had tied for him (crookedly, but with love). He was holding his lamb, which had been washed so many times it was now more gray than white, but still soft.River wasn't looking at the judge. He was looking at Liam’s hand, tracing the veins on the back of his knuckles."Petitioner Cross," Judge Halloway said. It was the same judge who had sentenced Isabella. He looked less tired today. He looked almost... happy. "We are here to finalize the adoption of River Doe.""River Vale-Cross," Liam corrected gently.The judge smiled. "River Vale-Cross. Let the record reflec

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 359: HOPE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY + RIVER'S INTEGRATION

    The penthouse living room was a battlefield of wrapping paper.Aurora sat on the rug, a glass of iced tea in her hand, surveying the wreckage. It was a good wreckage. The kind that meant a life was being lived loudly and without apology.Hope was two.She was no longer the fragile preemie in the incubator. She was a toddler with a vocabulary of fifty words (mostly "no," "mine," and "cookie"), a head full of riotous dark curls, and a terrifying amount of agency.She was currently wearing a tutu over her pajamas and trying to put a party hat on the dog Marcus had adopted last month—a patient, elderly golden retriever named Buster who had joined the extended family."Gentle, Hope," Aurora called out. "Buster doesn't like hats.""Hat!" Hope insisted, jamming the cardboard cone onto the dog’s ear.Sitting next to them, watching with the intense scrutiny of a safety inspector, was River.It had been six months.Six months since the intake center. Six months since the night terror. Six month

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 358: ETHAN'S WISDOM

    The bedroom was a blue cave.The blackout curtains were drawn, blocking the city lights, leaving only the soft glow of the star-shaped nightlight. It was 9:00 PM. The penthouse was quiet, but it was the quiet of people sleeping, not people hiding.Ethan lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was tracing the glow-in-the-dark stickers he had put there last year. Orion. The Big Dipper. The Death Star (which wasn't a constellation, but Uncle Marcus said it counted).He turned his head.In the bottom bunk across the room, River was awake.Ethan could tell by the breathing. Sleeping breathing was slow and heavy. River’s breathing was fast and shallow, like a rabbit waiting to run.River had been quiet for three days. Ever since the nightmare about the closet. He didn't play with the kaleidoscope. He didn't eat his toast. He just sat in the corner, holding his lamb, watching.Ethan sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed.He walked across the room. The floor was cold on his fe

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 357: RIVER'S NIGHTMARES

    The scream shattered the silence of the penthouse like a thrown brick.It wasn't the fussy cry of a baby. It wasn't the frustrated shout of a child who didn't want to go to bed.It was a sound of pure, unadulterated terror. High-pitched. Animalistic. The sound of someone being hurt.Aurora was out of bed before her eyes were open. Liam was right behind her. They ran down the hallway, their bare feet pounding on the runner.They passed the nursery. Hope was asleep, undisturbed by the noise that lived in the other room.They burst into the boys' room.The nightlight cast a soft, blue glow over the scene. Ethan was sitting up in his bed, clutching his duvet to his chin, his eyes wide with fear.Across the room, in the bottom bunk, River was thrashing.He was tangled in his sheets. He was kicking, punching, fighting an invisible enemy."No! No! Don't put me in!" he screamed. His voice was raw. "I'll be good! I'll be good!"Aurora moved to the bed."River," she said, keeping her voice low

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 356: BUSINESS CRISIS REDUX

    The alert on Aurora’s phone was red.In the old days—the days of the siege, the depression, the bunker—that color would have triggered a cortisol spike strong enough to stop her heart. It would have meant a leak. A lawsuit. A threat to her children.Today, sitting in her corner office at Vale-Cross Global, Aurora looked at the red notification with the calm, detached assessment of a structural engineer noticing a hairline fracture. It was a problem. It needed fixing. But the building wasn't going to fall down."Claire," Aurora said into the intercom. "Get Liam and Marcus. Boardroom B. Ten minutes.""On it," Claire’s voice came back, crisp and unbothered.Aurora stood up. She smoothed the front of her navy blazer. She checked the time: 2:00 PM.The notification was from the account manager for the Nexus Tech campus project—a three-hundred-million-dollar contract that was supposed to break ground in Seattle next month.Subject: CRITICAL. Nexus threatening termination. Competitor bid rec

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 355: FAMILY MEETING

    A Family Board Meeting was different from a Business Board Meeting.Ethan knew this because he had been to both. Business meetings happened in rooms with long tables that smelled like lemons and old men. People wore ties. They talked about "Q4" and "logistics" and nobody smiled unless they were winning.A Family Board Meeting happened on the living room rug.Ethan sat cross-legged next to the coffee table. He was wearing his school uniform, but he had taken off the blazer because serious business required comfort.Across from him sat River.River was wearing the red cape. He wore it everywhere now. It was getting a little dirty at the hem, dragging on the floor, but Mom said we didn't wash magic things until they stopped working. River was holding his lamb in one hand and a half-eaten graham cracker in the other. He looked small. But he didn't look like he wanted to hide under the sofa anymore.Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch. Dad was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. Mo

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 169: Liam's Longing

    The morning light in the AVA studio was unforgiving, but it couldn't find a flaw in Aurora Vale.She was standing on a ladder, adjusting the lighting rig for the final walkthrough of the "Alliance" show. She wore her work uniform—leggings, oversized sweater, hair in a messy bun—but to Liam, watchin

    last updateHuling Na-update : 2026-03-29

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 164: The Proposal

    The contract with LVMH was a thick, glossy document that smelled of legal toner and global domination. It sat on the table of the conference room at the Cross Empire tower. Liam and Aurora sat on one side. The LVMH executives—a team of impeccably dressed French men and women—sat on the other. "

    last updateHuling Na-update : 2026-03-29

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 163: The Business Deal

    The "Happy Family" facade was holding, but the seams were beginning to strain under the pressure of the outside world. It was Wednesday. Two days after the charity auction. Two days after Liam had declared that he didn't want "easy," he wanted them. Aurora was in her office at AVA, staring at a

    last updateHuling Na-update : 2026-03-29

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 170: The Confession

    The penthouse was quiet, suspended in the amber light of a New York sunset. Ethan was at a sleepover—his first one, with a school friend—leaving the apartment feeling both spacious and strangely empty.Liam stood at the kitchen island, chopping vegetables with a precision that bordered on aggressiv

    last updateHuling Na-update : 2026-03-29
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