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Chapter 96: AVA's Victory
Tanggal publikasi:
2026-01-13 22:20:09
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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 397: TRIAL OPENS
The Federal Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street was a monolith of stone and authority, designed to make human beings feel small.Aurora Vale-Cross didn't feel small. She felt compressed. Dense. Like a diamond formed under the crushing weight of the earth.She stepped out of the black SUV. The sidewalk was a riot."MRS. CROSS! IS HOPE TESTIFYING?" "WHERE IS ISABELLA VOSS?" "IS IT TRUE SHE'S IN ZURICH?"The press pen was overflowing. Cameras with lenses like cannons were trained on the car door. The headline on the morning news ticker had been simple and brutal: BILLIONAIRE FAMILY VS. GHOST WOMAN.Liam got out first. He offered a hand to Hope.Hope took it. She was twelve years old, wearing a navy dress with a white collar—an outfit chosen by the legal consultants to look "innocent but composed." She held her head high, her chin jutting out in that stubborn Cross angle, but Aurora saw the way her fingers trembled against her father’s palm.Aurora followed. She flanked Hope on the other side.
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 396: PREPARING HOPE
The therapist’s office on Park Avenue didn't have sand or toys. It had a view of a brick wall and two leather armchairs.Hope Vale-Cross sat in the left chair. She was twelve years old, but her feet barely touched the floor. She was wearing her painting hoodie—the gray one stained with Prussian Blue—because it felt like armor.Dr. Aris had referred them here. Trauma witness preparation, she had called it. A different kind of canvas.The specialist, Dr. Sterling (no relation, just another cosmic joke), was a woman with kind eyes and a notebook that looked like a legal brief."So, Hope," Dr. Sterling said. "We're going to talk about the courtroom.""I know what a courtroom is," Hope said. Her voice was quiet. "My dad was in one. My mom was in one. It's where you go when people try to break you.""It can feel that way," Dr. Sterling agreed. "But it is also where you go to tell the truth. Do you know what testimony means?""It means I have to sit in a chair and answer questions about my a
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 395: THE COPYRIGHT WAR
The conference room table at Sterling, Vance & Associates was buried under a blizzard of white paper.To anyone else, it looked like a legal filing. To Aurora Vale-Cross, it looked like a demolition order.She sat at the head of the table, her hands clasped on top of the leather binder labeled PLAINTIFF: HOPE VALE-CROSS (MINOR). She wasn't wearing her usual silk. She wore a black wool blazer that scratched against her neck, a tactile reminder to stay sharp. To stay angry."It's filed," Arthur Vance said, closing his laptop with a definitive click. "Federal Court. Southern District. Copyright infringement, theft of intellectual property, wire fraud, and—thanks to the deepfake precedent—intentional infliction of emotional distress.""Good," Aurora said. Her voice was low, devoid of the relief she usually felt when a project was greenlit. This wasn't a project. It was a rescue mission.Liam sat to her right, his jaw set in a line of granite. Marcus paced by the window, staring out at the
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 394: TRACING THE THEFT
The security office in the basement of Vale-Cross Global was the only room in the building without a view. It was a windowless bunker of brushed steel and humming servers, lit by the blue glow of a dozen monitors.Marcus Cross sat in the main chair, his boots resting on the console. He wasn't wearing a suit. He had ripped off his tie hours ago, leaving the collar of his dress shirt open.On the screen in front of him, the website https://www.google.com/search?q=UrbanSoul.com was frozen.He stared at the image of the tote bag. The pixelated copy of Hope’s The Fortress."Garbage," Marcus whispered.It wasn't just the theft that made his blood run cold. It was the quality. Whoever had done this hadn't just stolen the art; they had degraded it. They had taken a twelve-year-old girl’s soul and turned it into landfill fodder."Status?" Marcus barked without turning around.Chen—the forensic analyst who had been on retainer since the deepfake incident nearly a decade ago—was typing furiously
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 393: THE GALLERY OPENING
The Slate Gallery on 24th Street was a white box filled with light.Not the harsh, fluorescent light of a hospital, or the gray, indifferent light of a winter morning. It was specific light. Expensive light. Tracks of halogen spots were angled with surgical precision to hit the texture of the twelve wooden panels lining the walls.Hope Vale-Cross stood in the center of the room. She was twelve years old, but tonight, she felt like she was made of glass—transparent, refracting, and dangerously fragile.She wore a black velvet dress that Sophia had designed. It was simple, high-necked, with long sleeves, grounding her in a room that felt like it was floating."Breathe," Liam whispered in her ear.He stood beside her, looking handsome and terrifyingly proud in his tuxedo. He had a hand on her shoulder, a physical anchor."I am breathing," Hope said. "I think.""Drink some water," Aurora said, appearing with a bottle of Pellegrino. She looked radiant in silver silk—the same color as the i
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 83: The Lie
The city beyond the tinted windows of the Maybach was a blur of steel and rain, a fitting backdrop for the storm raging inside the car.Aurora sat next to Liam, her body angled slightly away from him, a reflex she couldn't quite shake.The silence between them was no longer the loaded, electric qui
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-22Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 74: Sleepless Night
CThe city of New York never slept, but tonight, it seemed to be holding its breath.Eighty floors above the restless grid, Liam Cross was awake.The lights in his office were off. The only illumination came from the city itself, a cold, electric glow that washed over the leather sofa, the mahogany
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-22Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 76: Aurora's Countermove
The board meeting was not a discussion. It was a tribunal.Aurora sat at the head of the long, concrete table in the AVA boardroom, a solitary figure in a white, high-collared tunic. The color was deliberate. She was not the "black-clad widow" or the "ghost" today. She was a blank canvas. A fresh s
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-22Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 75: The Business Trap
The dawn over Manhattan did not bring light. It brought noise.It started as a low thrum, vibrating against the reinforced glass of the penthouse windows, a persistent, mechanical insect buzzing against a jar. Then, it grew. A rhythmic, chopping beat that rattled the expensive, minimalist furniture
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-22
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