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Chapter 97: Afterparty

ผู้เขียน: Evve
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 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 426: WEDDING NIGHT

    The silence in the honeymoon suite was heavy, but it wasn't the heaviness of concrete or steel. It was the weight of velvet.The room smelled of the ocean—salt and cold water—mixed with the lingering scent of the beeswax candles that had burned down to nubs on the mantelpiece. The sounds of the reception had faded hours ago, the last car door slamming, the last laugh carried away by the wind.Now, there was only the tide.Sophia stood by the French doors. She hadn't turned on the lights. The moonlight spilled across the floor, turning the hardwood into a sheet of silver.She wore the gold dress. It felt different now. In the garden, it had been a statement. Here, in the quiet, it felt like a wrapping she was ready to shed."You're quiet," Marcus said.He was sitting on the edge of the massive bed. He had taken off his tuxedo jacket, his tie, his shoes. He looked unmoored without his boots, but solid. Always solid."I am listening," Sophia said."To what? The ocean?""To the house," sh

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 425: THE DANCE

    The reception tent was a canopy of white silk and Edison bulbs, glowing against the deepening indigo of the Hamptons twilight.It smelled of salt air, roasted figs, and the heavy, sweet scent of the peonies Aurora had fought for.Aurora stood at the edge of the dance floor, a crystal glass in her hand. The wine was a vintage Rosé, pale pink and crying with condensation. She ran her thumb over the stem.She hadn't had a drink in eight months. Between the IVF cycles, the two-week waits, and the brief, bright flares of hope that had eventually flickered out, her body had been a temple. A laboratory. A waiting room.Tonight, it was just a body.She took a sip. The wine was cool, tart, and grounding. It tasted like permission."You're hiding," a voice rumbled in her ear.Liam.He stepped up beside her, sliding his arm around her waist. He had shed his tuxedo jacket, his white shirt glowing in the ambient light, cuffs rolled up to reveal his forearms. He smelled of sea breeze and the expens

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 424: THE WEDDING

    The Hamptons light was different from the city light. It wasn't sharp or demanding. It was soft, diffused by the salt air of the Atlantic, turning everything it touched into a watercolor painting.Marcus Cross stood under the pergola in the back garden of the estate. He was wearing a tuxedo. It fit perfectly. He didn't feel like a penguin today. He felt like a man who had finally found his footing.He looked out at the guests.Fifty chairs. White wood. Arranged in a semicircle on the grass.In the front row, Mrs. Higgins was dabbing her eyes with a lace handkerchief. Dr. Chen sat next to Dr. Evans—the medical team that had kept the family alive.And standing beside him, solid as a retaining wall, was Liam."You okay?" Liam whispered.Marcus looked at his brother. Liam looked tired—he always looked tired—but his eyes were bright blue and clear."I'm good," Marcus said. "I'm really good.""Ring?""Ethan has it."Marcus looked at his nephew. Ethan was thirteen now. He stood a few feet aw

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 423: THE SURPRISE

    The test sat on the marble vanity of the loft bathroom. It was a sleek, plastic wand, aggressively modern, incongruous with the vintage perfume bottles and the stack of French fashion magazines.Sophia Laurent stared at it.Two lines.She blinked. She picked it up. She held it to the light coming from the frosted window.Still two lines. Pink. Unapologetic."Impossible," she whispered in French. "C'est impossible."She was thirty-eight years old. She had spent the last decade building a career, surviving a divorce, and convincing herself that her legacy would be built in stone and silk, not flesh and blood. She had made peace with the idea of being the cool aunt. The godmother. The designer.She wasn't supposed to be the mother.She touched her stomach. It felt exactly the same as it had yesterday—flat, firm from Pilates. But inside...A tiny architect was already at work.The front door of the loft opened. Heavy boots on the concrete floor."Sophia?" Marcus called out. "I brought din

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 422: PLANNING LIGHT

    The café on Mercer Street was quickly becoming Sophia’s favorite place in New York. It wasn't just the espresso—which was excellent, dark and rich like the soil in the vineyards of Bordeaux—it was the light.The afternoon sun streamed through the front window, catching the dust motes and turning them into floating gold. It was a good place to build a new life.Sophia sat at the marble table, her notebook open. It was filled with sketches, not for a building, but for a wedding.Venue: The Brownstone (back garden). Flowers: Peonies (white, heavy). Music: Cello (live).She tapped her pen against the paper. It was simple. Elegant. And terrifying.The door chimed.Aurora walked in.She was wearing a trench coat over jeans and a sweater. Her hair was pulled back, revealing the sharp angles of her face. She looked tired. There were shadows under her eyes that no amount of concealer could hide—the shadows of a woman who had just realized her entire life was a script written by someone else.B

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   CHAPTER 421: PROPOSAL

    The power outage in TriBeCa was localized, inconvenient, and—Marcus Cross decided—the best thing that had happened all week.He stood in the kitchen of Sophia’s loft. The industrial space was usually bright, flooded with city light and the glow of her design screens. Tonight, it was a cave of soft, flickering shadows.Candles were everywhere. Beeswax pillars on the island. Tea lights on the windowsill. A candelabra on the dining table that looked like it belonged in a French château (it probably did)."It is not burned," Sophia said from the stove. "It is charred. It is a technique."She was holding a skillet. The smell of something that used to be chicken but was now carbon filled the air.Marcus smiled. He leaned against the counter, watching her.They had been together for three years. Three years of "cohabitating," of sharing keys, of him fixing her shelves and her fixing his wardrobe. They were a team. The General and the Contractor.But they weren't... this.He touched the pocke

  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 161: The Deepening Bond

    The morning light in the master bedroom was soft, filtered through the sheer linen curtains Aurora had insisted on to replace Liam’s "corporate blackout" shades. Aurora woke first. She didn't move. She lay perfectly still, cataloging the sensations of a new reality. The weight of an arm across h

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-28
  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 150: The Business Rivalry Continues

    The "Happy Family" narrative was a beautiful story. It was warm, it was redemption-filled, and it played very well on Instagram.But Monday morning at 9 AM, the narrative hit the cold, hard wall of Quarterly Earnings.Aurora sat at the head of the conference table in the AVA flagship. Her team—Elia

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-28
  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 149: The Bedtime Story

    The penthouse was quiet, bathed in the warm, ambient glow of the city lights filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The chaotic, high-stakes rhythm of the day—the meetings, the press, the business of being Cross and Vale—had finally wound down. Ethan had been bathed, his small body smell

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-28
  • Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride   Chapter 159: The Hospital Room

    The drive to Lenox Hill Hospital was a blur of red lights and white knuckles. Aurora sat in the back of the town car, her phone clutched in her hand. She had already called the hospital. Ethan Vale. Room 402. Stable. The word stable was a lifeline, but it didn't stop her mind from spiraling. He

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-28
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