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Chapter 97: Afterparty

Penulis: Evve
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-01-14 02:15:19

The "Reconciliation" had been a public triumph. But in the private, hushed world of the afterparty, the truce was already fraying at the edges.

The party was held in the glass-walled Observatory at the top of the Standard Hotel, overlooking the High Line and the river beyond. It was a space designed for beautiful people to be seen being beautiful.

Aurora stood by the window, a glass of champagne in her hand that she had no intention of drinking. She had changed out of the midnight-blue gown int
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  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 411: THE DESTRUCTION

    The scream didn't stop.It didn't taper off into a sob. It didn't break into a whimper. It just kept going, a continuous, tearing sound that shredded the lining of Aurora’s throat and filled the penthouse with the frequency of absolute ruin.She wasn't screaming because she was sad. She was screaming because the world she lived in—the world of gravity, logic, and cause-and-effect—had just been incinerated.I killed them.The note on the table wasn't paper anymore. It was fire.Aurora grabbed the heavy crystal vase in the center of the table—white roses, innocent, stupid roses—and she threw it.It didn't just fall. It flew. It smashed into the mirrored wall of the dining room, exploding in a shower of glass, water, and petals. The sound of the crash was satisfying. It was the only thing that made sense."Aurora!" Liam’s voice was a distant roar, underwater.She didn't look at him. She looked at the room.The perfect, curated, architectural life she had built. The herringbone floors. Th

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 410: THE RING

    The penthouse was quiet, suspended in the amber hush of evening that felt less like peace and more like a held breath.Aurora sat at the dining room table. In front of her, a legal pad was filled with notes. Interview Prep. Timeline. Themes.She had written "Survival" at the top of the page and underlined it three times. Tomorrow, she would sit down with Diane Sawyer again. Tomorrow, she would tell the story of the last ten years—the depression, the recovery, the lawsuit, the victory. She would frame it as a triumph. She would wear white. She would smile.She picked up her Montblanc pen. She felt... ready.For the first time in a decade, the narrative belonged to her. Isabella Voss was a footnote. A cautionary tale in an orange jumpsuit.Ding-dong.The doorbell chimed.Aurora frowned. It was 8:30 PM. Too late for deliveries. Too early for Marcus, who was coming over later to review the security for the interview."Liam?" she called out."In the nursery!" Liam shouted back. "Hope won't

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    The words vomited out of her, acid and hot, burning her throat as they hit the cool air of Dr. Chen’s office."Maybe they're right," Aurora sobbed. Her body was curled tight on the moss-green sofa, her hands gripping her knees so hard her knuckles popped. "Maybe I am exactly what Isabella says I am. Maybe I'm a monster who built a castle on a graveyard."She looked at Liam, then quickly away, unable to bear the love in his eyes because it felt like a spotlight on her fraudulence."My mother walked into the ocean because she was empty," Aurora whispered. "My father worked himself to death to cover it up. And I... I took the money. I took the insurance payout and I went to architecture school. I built AVA on the checks from their deaths."She took a ragged breath."And then I married you," she said to Liam’s shoes. "Not for love. Not at first. For revenge. For leverage. I used you. I used everyone. Just like Henry used Isabella."The silence that followed was heavy, filled only with the

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    The phone felt slick in Liam’s hand."Bring her in," Dr. Chen said. Her voice was tinny through the receiver, stripped of its usual calm warmth. It sounded like an order from air traffic control to a pilot whose engine had just flamed out. "Now, Liam. Don't wait for an appointment slot. Just drive.""She won't move," Liam said. He was standing in the hallway, staring at the closed mahogany door of the master bedroom. "She's... she's calcified.""Then you move her," Dr. Chen said. "You carry her if you have to. But get her out of that room. Isolation is the accelerant."The line went dead.Liam lowered the phone. He looked at the door.It was just wood. Expensive, solid-core mahogany with a brass handle. He had installed it to keep the world out, to give them a sanctuary.Now, it was a coffin lid.He walked to it. He pressed his palm against the grain. It was cool.Inside, there was silence. Not the peaceful silence of sleep, but the heavy, pressurized silence of a submarine that had g

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    The penthouse was no longer a fortress. It was a glass jar, and the lid was screwed on tight.Aurora sat in the window seat of the master bedroom. She hadn't showered in three days. She was wearing the same silk pajamas she had put on the night the article dropped—the night Isabella called. The silk felt greasy against her skin, but taking it off felt like an insurmountable engineering challenge.Her phone was in her hand. It was always in her hand.Scroll. Scroll. Refresh.The algorithm was efficient. It knew she was hurting, so it fed her pain.Daily Mail: Blood Money Queen: Did Aurora Vale Know? TikTok: Video essay: The Vale-Cross Curse explained (1.2M views). Twitter: #Fraud. #Liar. #EatTheRich."Aurora?"Liam stood in the doorway. He was holding a tray. Toast. Tea. A single white flower in a bud vase.He looked terrified.He didn't look like the CEO of a global conglomerate. He looked like the man who had sat on the floor of a hospital hallway nine years ago. He looked like he wa

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    The morning sun hit the limestone of the balcony with a deceptive warmth.Aurora sat at the dining table, the remains of breakfast scattered around her. Four empty plates—Ethan had left early for his internship, River for the conservatory, Hope for the studio, and Grace for school.The silence they left behind was usually a comfort, a moment to breathe before the machinery of Vale-Cross Global demanded her attention.She picked up her phone to check the Tokyo schematics.A notification banner slid down the screen.It wasn't an email from Claire. It wasn't a calendar reminder. It was a push alert from The Daily Truth, the same rag she had bought and gutted years ago, now resurrected under new, shell-company ownership.AURORA VALE BUILT EMPIRE ON PARENTS' DEATHS: THE BLOOD MONEY QUEEN.The coffee cup in Aurora’s hand didn't fall. She set it down. Her movement was precise, mechanical, the careful motion of a bomb disposal technician who hears the timer accelerate.She tapped the screen.

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 130: Liam's Public Statement

    The press room at the Cross Empire tower was a coliseum. It was a cavernous space designed to intimidate, with floor-to-ceiling screens, tiered seating for three hundred journalists, and a podium that looked more like a pulpit than a lectern. Usually, it was used to announce mergers, acquisitions

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  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 134: The Vale Support

    Henry Vale’s office in the Vale Industries tower was a relic of a different era. It was a place of dark mahogany, leather-bound books, and the quiet, ticking assurance of old money. It was a place where deals were made with handshakes and betrayal was a gentleman’s game. But today, it was a court

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  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 129: Protecting Ethan

    The decision to get married was a strategic airstrike. The execution, however, was a ground war. It was 2 AM on a Wednesday. The penthouse was quiet, but the world outside was screaming. The news cycle had devoured the "engagement" announcement. The headlines had shifted from "Mercenary Mother" t

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  • 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

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