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Chapter 10

Author: Janice Mark
last update publish date: 2026-06-30 08:03:58

Scarlett

My fingers shook so hard I almost dropped my phone into the marble sink. I took a deep, ragged breath, trying to stop the wild trembling in my chest, and opened my messages.

“We have to leave right now,” I typed, my thumbs clumsy and wet with sweat.

“Penelope knows the real Vivian. She’s going to figure out I’m an impostor. Julian, please.”

I stared at the screen, watching the little typing bubbles appear and disappear. My heart beat against my ribs like a trapped bird trying to break
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  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 61

    SCARLETThe air still carried the unmistakable hospital smell of alcohol and industrial bleach, a familiar smell that always made my chest feel tight and one that served as a quiet reminder of the long nights I had spent standing vigil by my father’s bedside during his own time of critical care.I knew every corner of these hospital buildings like the back of my hand. I knew how quickly perfectly right things could go awfully wrong. But right now, I couldn’t afford to let my mind drift into the past. I needed to clear whatever issue was waiting downstairs and get back up to the VIP suite. Julian was there, holding the line alone, and his composure was already under enough strain from the live broadcast.When the elevator doors finally opened, I stepped out into the ground-floor reception area and was immediately met with muted pulses of camera flashes from a small crowd of paparazzi and financial reporters, barred from the sidewalk by a thin line of security guards standing shoulde

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 60

    JULIANEleanor stepped into the waiting room in a frantic, breathless rush straight from the Channel Seven studio. Her hair was slightly loose from its bun, her dress was rumpled, and her chest was heaving as she cosplayed a terrified, broken wife running to her dying husband. Her assistant was by her side, her hands closely tucked in her coat.I moved instantly, intercepting her at the ICU threshold, physically blocking her path with my broad shoulders as I towered over her.Eleanor didn’t make a scene out loud. She just took a single, slow step forward into my personal space. She leaned in near my shoulder, her voice dropping into a low whisper. “Do you really want to do this, Julian?” she asked calmly, her expression entirely smooth. “I’m his wife and legal next of kin.”The sheer certainty of her voice made the fury brewing in me worse. She was right. If I kept her barred from the room under the eyes of their floorboards and chief of staff, it would give her exactly the ammunitio

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 59

    JULIANSilence wrapped around us again as the minutes dragged out. The hallway was empty, the dim overhead lights casting long shadows across the floor. Pacing felt entirely useless, but sitting still was worse, my mind spinning over everything that had happened in the last few hours.Scarlet stood up, the movement quiet but somehow natural in the empty waiting area. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself, her eyes tracking the rigid lines of my shoulders. She walked to the corner of the waiting room where a commercial vending station hummed quietly against the wall, and she retrieved two heavy paper cups of hot coffee. She walked back over and handed one of the paper cups directly into my hands.“Take it,” she murmured, her fingers brushing against my cold skin. “The wing is freezing tonight. We need to stay warm.” “Thank you,” I said, my voice quiet as the heat from the paper cups seeped into my knuckles. I looked down at the dark liquid, the reality of her presence finally

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 58

    JULIAN“Marta!” I roared again, the sound ripping through the study as I lowered my father’s limp frame onto the floorboards.She burst through the door, her professional training kicking in instantly. She checked carefully for his pulse, her expression tightening. “His heart is failing. I need to call the ambulance now.” She was already dialing the line before the sentence even fully left her mouth.Within minutes, the sirens blared, cutting through the painful silence of the estate. Everything else that followed was a blur, and I only remembered the ambulance arriving at the hospital and then wheeling him into the ICU.I stood alone outside the ICU, my suit jacket askew and my tie loosened. I dragged my hand through my hair, my knuckles trembling slightly as I did. Marta approached me quietly. “Julian, I have to go. I need to settle some issues with the attorney. After your father had his private medical code reassigned to lock out Eleanor’s spies so she wouldn’t be able to access

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 57

    ELEANORI sat in the dressing room of my penthouse, staring carefully at my reflection in the mirror as I practiced the slow, heavy descent of my gaze. It was a micro expression I had spent years mastering, the exact visual marker that high society interpreted as deep, internalized sorrow.Today, every movement had to be calculated. The media was a volatile beast; it didn’t care about assets or logic. It simply cared about spectacles and carefully crafted stories.“The car is downstairs, Mrs. Cross,” my assistant murmured, her voice cautious as she stepped into the dressing room. She held a leather folder and a clipboard against her chest, her eyes darting to my face before quickly dropping to the floor.“Is the studio prepared?” I asked, my voice flat. “Yes, ma’am.” She replied quickly. “The Channel Seven team has already set up everything.”“Good.” I stood up from my seat, smoothing down the premium silk fabric of my dress with my hands. “Were there any updates on Silas?”“He’s st

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   Chapter 56

    ELEANORIt has been approximately eight hours since the media officially announced the alliance between Martin Vain and me. And in that time span, my phone had been blowing up with calls from people who either wanted to figure out exactly what the alliance meant or wanted to be early enough to join the winning side before the war officially started.The announcement had been nothing short of a carefully planned bombshell that I dropped at the right time. Of course, before I gave the green light for the reveal, I’d already contacted some of the major shareholders on the board and briefed them on the situation. None of them had explicitly taken sides yet, but I was confident that they were leaning towards me, and even if they weren’t, when I was done with my full plan, they would inevitably be on my side. Another call came in on my phone; this time it was from Martin Vain himself.I picked up the call and brought the phone to my ear. “It’s working,” he said immediately, satisfactio

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   CHAPTER 4

    JULIANThe look in her eyes should have seemed pitiful to anyone. And yet all I felt the longer I stared was disgust.Pure disgust that made me want to rub my skin raw. I pushed her away, ignoring the whimper that left her.Her head fell, eyes bouncing as she put together the pieces of the puzzle. S

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   CHAPTER 7: Terms And Conditions

    SCARLET’S POVThe entire ride back to Manhattan was awkward but thankfully, rain started halfway through the drive, so I didn't need to say anything. I sat beside Julian with my hands folded tightly in my lap trying not to replay Eleanor’s final words over and over in my head.“Men like Julian Cro

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   CHAPTER 6

    SCARLET“Ding, ding, ding,” The ringtone was alarming but I paid no attention to it since the call wasn't coming from my phone. I was heading to the dining area to be served breakfast but the mobile's ringtone kept picking my attention. “Ding, ding,” it didn't stop and by impulse I went back up th

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE   CHAPTER 5

    SCARLETI woke up the next morning feeling odd. Not bad or dejected as I had been last night. But odd in a way that I knew things were changing.With a sigh, I got out of the bed and quickly freshened up, getting ready for the day. As soon as I left the room, the first place my eyes wandered to was

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