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Chapter 84: Liam's Doubt

ผู้เขียน: Evve
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 2026-01-08 15:13:23

The Atlantic Ocean was not a polite body of water.

It was a violent, gray, churning expanse that slammed against the Montauk shoreline with a deafening, rhythmic roar.

It was the sound of erosion. The sound of things being worn down, grain by grain, until nothing was left but the bedrock.

Liam Cross stood at the edge of the surf, the cuffs of his dark jeans soaked, his expensive leather boots ruined by the salt water.

He didn't care.

He was on his knees in the wet sand, digging.

"Deeper, Liam!"
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  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 403: WHAT HOPE SAID

    The microphones looked like a bouquet of dead flowers. Gray foam. Black plastic. Thrust forward by hands attached to people who wanted blood.Hope stood at the top of the courthouse steps. The wind whipped her hair across her face, stinging her eyes, but she didn't brush it away. She liked the sting. It felt real.Behind her, the heavy doors were closed. Inside, the empty defense table sat in the silence of a default judgment. Ten million dollars. A piece of paper that said You Won.But winning felt like holding a stone. Cold. Heavy.Arthur Vance stepped up to the bank of microphones. He looked important. He looked like a lawyer who had just justified his retainer."My client," Vance boomed, his voice projecting over the traffic noise of Pearl Street, "is satisfied with the judgment. The court has affirmed that intellectual property theft is not a victimless crime. We have sent a message today."Hope looked at her shoes. Patent leather. Scuffed at the toe because she had kicked the le

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 402: THE VERDICT

    The courtroom doors opened, but Isabella Voss did not walk through them.Hope sat in the front row, her hands gripping the edge of the wooden bench until her knuckles turned the color of bone. She was waiting for the orange jumpsuit. She was waiting for the cold, black eyes that had stared at her yesterday.Instead, Mr. Sterling stood up.The Silver Fox looked different today. His suit was still expensive, his hair still perfect, but his shoulders were slumped. He looked like a building that had been condemned."Your Honor," Sterling said. His voice lacked the oil-smooth confidence of the day before. It scratched against the silence of the room. "The defense moves to withdraw."A gasp rippled through the gallery behind Hope. She didn't turn around. She kept her eyes on the lawyer."Withdraw?" Judge Halloway asked, peering over his spectacles. "Mr. Sterling, we are in the middle of a trial. You cannot simply walk away.""We can, Your Honor," Sterling said, picking up a file. "When our

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 401: THE BOMBSHELL

    The air in the courtroom was thin. It felt recycled, scrubbed of oxygen by the sheer number of bodies pressing into the gallery benches.Liam sat in the front row, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped loosely. He watched Aurora resume her seat next to Hope. He saw the way Aurora’s hand shook slightly as she smoothed her skirt—the aftershock of the adrenaline dump. She had been magnificent. She had turned her bias into a weapon.But trials weren't won by moments. They were won by momentum.Arthur Vance stood up. He didn't look at his notes. He didn't look at the jury. He looked at the double doors at the back of the room."The prosecution calls its final witness," Vance said. His voice was quiet, barely a ripple in the silence.Judge Halloway peered over his glasses. "Proceed.""We call Vanessa Voss."The name hit the room like a physical blow.Liam stiffened. He felt the blood rush in his ears.Vanessa.The assistant. The woman who had poured his coffee. The woman who had leaked

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 400: A MOTHER'S EVIDENCE

    The witness stand was still warm.Aurora felt the lingering heat of her daughter’s body against the wood as she took her seat. Hope had sat here twenty minutes ago, feet dangling, and dismantled a lie with a twelve-year-old’s terrifying clarity. Now, it was Aurora’s turn to pour the concrete around the steel beams Hope had erected.She adjusted the microphone. She didn't touch it with the hesitation of a victim. She adjusted it with the precision of a CEO setting a datum line."State your name and occupation," Vance said."Aurora Vale-Cross. I am the Chairwoman of Vale-Cross Global. I hold a Master of Architecture from Yale and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from RISD.""And your experience with art curation?""I have curated the private collections for the Vale-Cross Foundation," Aurora said. "I have served on the board of the Whitney. I have designed three museums."She listed the credentials flatly. They were bricks. Necessary, boring, heavy bricks. She was building a wall of expertise so

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 399: HOPE TAKES THE STAND

    The witness chair was made of oak. The grain was tight, varnished to a high gloss that felt slick under Hope’s sweating palms.She sat all the way back, but her feet still dangled an inch above the floor. She resisted the urge to swing them. She planted her patent leather heels on the rung of the chair, locking herself into place.Structural integrity.The microphone in front of her looked like the head of a black snake."Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" the bailiff asked, holding out a Bible that smelled of dust and thousands of other people’s promises.Hope placed her hand on the leather. It was cool."I do," she said.Her voice didn't squeak. It didn't tremble. It was clear, cutting through the recycled air of the courtroom like a bell.She looked out at the gallery.She saw her mother. Aurora was sitting on the edge of the bench, her hands clasped so tight her knuckles were white. She wore black. She looked like a queen in mourning.She

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 398: THE EVIDENCE SPEAKS

    The courtroom was a theater of silence.Aurora sat in the front row of the gallery, her hands clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles ached. Beside her, Liam was a statue of tension, his eyes fixed on the large projection screen set up near the jury box.On the screen, a photograph appeared.It was grainy, taken on an old iPhone. It showed a four-year-old girl in denim overalls, standing on a step stool to reach an easel. Her face was smeared with green paint. She was frowning in concentration, her tongue caught between her teeth.Behind her, pinned to the wall, was a drawing of a leaf. A green curve with veins scratched deep into the paper."Exhibit A," Arthur Vance said. His voice was calm, guiding the jury through the timeline like a curator in a museum. "Dated May 14, 2018. The artist is four years old."The jury looked. Aurora watched them looking. A woman in the back row smiled. A man in the front row adjusted his glasses.Vance clicked the remote.The image changed. A n

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 125: The Blackmail

    The raid on the Cross Empire tower was swift, silent, and devastating. Liam Cross was not handcuffed. He was not dragged out in chains. He was "invited" to accompany the federal agents to their field office for questioning. It was civilized. It was polite. It was a nightmare. Aurora stood in th

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-26

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 122: The Threat

    The "New Normal" was not normal. It was a high-wire act performed without a net. Aurora Vale stood in the center of her kitchen, staring at the remnants of breakfast. Three plates. Three mugs. One with dinosaurs, two with minimalist white porcelain. Liam had stayed. Again. This was becoming a p

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-25

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 111: Adrian's Advice

    The shredder in Liam's home office had long since gone silent, but the confetti of legal documents still sat in the bin, a pile of white, jagged promises he had made to himself in the dark. I'm firing the lawyers. I'm asking for permission. He had done it. He had gone to Aurora. He had been welco

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-25

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 113: Aurora's Confusion

    The walk-in closet of the penthouse was usually a place of order. It was a catalogue of armor: the black tunics, the charcoal suits, the "wolf" coats arranged by fabric weight and threat level. Tonight, it was a disaster zone. Clothes were piled on the velvet ottoman like casualties of war. Silk

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-25
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