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Chapter Three: The Wrong Bride
Fecha de publicación:
2026-05-30 11:09:06Aria's POV
I barged into the office and my father turned to me in alarm, his eyes widening when he saw me fuming as I stood by the door. “Really? All that melancholic talk was all pretense? You just wanted to use me to get what you want?” I asked, my heart squeezing in anger and he let out a chuckle as he placed his phone down. “It's not what you think—” “Tell me then! Tell me what it is! I'm just a dumb child? I'm just a vessel to be used? You don't even care if I die?” I questioned, feeling betrayed and hurt and he scoffed, crossing his arms. “Isn't it your responsibility to help the family get back on its feet?” He asked and I looked at him in disbelief. “My responsibility? Was it my fault that you fell because you were reckless?” I questioned and he glared at me. My eyes fell to the contract on the table and I made my way to it as I grabbed the paper before he could stop me. “What are you doing? Drop that down this instant!” He yelled as he tried to grab me but I immediately stepped away. “You want to use me? Consider that thought null.” I muttered as I tore that paper into shreds and threw them in the air, feeling a sense of accomplishment as the shreds fell over me. I should have put them in their place years ago. “How dare you!?” He bellowed, his veins popping out of his face as he pointed at me, but I simply grabbed my phone and smiled. “Have fun getting back on your feet, Father,” I said with a smile, and he looked like he could explode. “You—” “Oh, and I'll probably marry the billionaire. Consider me not your daughter anymore.” I added and with that, I walked out. I heard him yelling for me to return but I was done listening to him. I couldn't believe he tried to use me like that. I made my way outside, ready to board a cab, when a black car stopped in front of me, and I stepped backwards in confusion. The door opened and a man in black stepped out, making me frown at him. “Miss Aria Robert?” He called out and my eyes widened as I nodded gently. “I'm sure your father has filled you in on everything. You'll be the stand-in bride for Mr. Rosanov. You'll sign the contract with me, his secretary, once you agree.” He said, his voice stoic and I glanced at the company for a moment. “What do I get from this deal?” I asked and he looked at me with raised brows like he couldn't believe I asked that question. “The company is on the brink of bankruptcy, isn't it? We'll invest in your company. Plus a million dollars.” He muttered and I immediately shook my head. “That company isn't mine,” I said and he looked at me in confusion. “If I'm going to help save your ass, I'm the one you need to make a deal with, not my dad,” I added and he stared at me for a moment before taking a step back. “Get into the car.” He ordered and I let out a sigh as I got in. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, if I was actually leading myself to my death but it was better than being with awful people I called family. “What do you want?” He asked and I glanced at him as the car sped down the road. “I heard whoever marries Romanov gets half of his properties,” I muttered and he stayed silent for a moment before nodding. “That's enough. Keep your investment and a million dollars.” “Don't you want to save your family?” He asked, and my lips curled just slightly as I relaxed into the chair. Wouldn't it be nice to see them beg me later to help them? “Where are we going?” I asked, and he looked irked that I had just evaded his question, but he didn't speak about it. “To the manor. You'll be there for the next two days until your wedding with my boss.” He replied and I looked at him warily. “If you think I'm gonna kill you, you shouldn't have gotten in.” “It's better than going back to that house,” I muttered, keeping my gaze out the window as I let out a sigh. ****************** I was kept in that manor for two days without leaving the house. It was like being caged. But I ate well for the first time in my life. And received princess treatment from maids too. Billionaires definitely have it easy. I heard a soft knock on my door and I raised my wedding dress to make it easier to walk to the door as I pulled it open. “The boss wants to see you.” I heard the secretary say and I let out a sigh. Who the hell got married without showing up? I had gone to the court this morning but apparently, my husband was too busy to make it. But he had signed the wedding documents in advance, so all I had to do was sign them. I had to put my ring on by myself and take a picture all on my own. Should I have just run away, too? This was horrible. How would I survive like this for a long time? I wasn't free anymore. I made my way out of the room as I followed him, remembering how my father had called me multiple times, but I ignored his calls. So did my mom and Romeo. I ignored them all. They could go to hell. He stopped at a door and I let out a sigh as I knocked gently. I turned and the scary-looking secretary was gone. Definitely not creepy at all. I still had my veil on so he couldn't see my face immediately. The door finally opened and I walked nervously, wondering why it was so dark. The light suddenly came on and I squinted my eyes. I felt someone behind me and I immediately spun, turning to see who I presumed was my husband. Jesus Christ, he was more handsome and terrifying than I used to see on my phone. He was my husband now. Oh God. He didn't say a word; he simply lifted my veil gently, and I swallowed the lump in my throat when he finally pushed it over my head. The moment he saw me, he stiffened, his brows furrowed in confusion. “You're not the one I paid for.” He muttered and my heart stopped. He knew the truth?
Último capítulo
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE
Aria’s POV Dmitri spent eleven days chasing the offshore relay server before he called us back into the study, and I knew from the way Marta said his name over the intercom that whatever he’d found had changed something. We found him surrounded by printouts, the desk barely visible beneath layers of network diagrams and timestamped logs, more paper spread across that room than I’d seen since before the safe house was emptied. “Sit down,” he said, not looking up right away. “Both of you. This is going to take a minute to explain properly.” Romanov sat. I remained standing, too restless after eleven days of waiting to fold myself into a chair just yet. “Start with what you actually found,” Romanov said. “We can catch up on the explanation after.” Dmitri finally looked up, an expression I hadn’t seen since before the safe house disappeared. Not triumph, exactly. Something quieter than that. Certainty. “I mapped the entire network,” he said. “Every channel, every relay point, ever
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED THIRTY
Aria’s POV Constance woke up four days later, on a gray Tuesday morning that felt too ordinary for something that important. I was there when it happened, though I’d nearly missed it, having stepped out for coffee I didn’t actually want just to have something to do with my hands. When I came back, her eyes were open, unfocused at first, then finding mine with recognition slowly returning. “Aria,” she said, her voice rough from the tube they’d only just removed. “I’m here,” I said, taking her hand carefully. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.” “The notebook,” she said immediately, her grip tightening around mine despite how weak she looked. “Did they find it? Under the couch cushion?” “Dmitri has it,” I said. “He got there before anyone else did. Everything’s safe.” Relief settled into her expression alongside the exhaustion. “Good,” she said. “That’s good.” She fell back asleep within minutes, the doctors explaining that this was normal, expected, her body still working h
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE
Constance’s POV The apartment went quiet in a way I noticed before I understood why. The refrigerator’s hum, gone. The soft blue glow from the hallway nightlight, gone. I sat up on the couch, the notebook Dmitri had given me still open on my lap, three pages of names I’d spent the evening writing from memory. Power outage, I told myself. Just a power outage. I didn’t believe it even as I thought it. I crossed to the window first, checking the street below. The building across from mine still had lights on, steady and ordinary, windows glowing yellow against the dark. Only my building had gone dark. That wasn’t a power outage. That was a choice. I moved fast then, sliding the notebook under the couch cushion, out of easy sight, and reaching for the small canister of pepper spray Dmitri had insisted I keep in the drawer by the door, the one I’d rolled my eyes at when he gave it to me. I heard the lock give before I heard the door itself. Not forced, not loud. Someone who knew e
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT
Aria’s POV Constance arrived at the estate without calling first, something she’d never done since I’d known her. Marta let her in, and I found her standing in the entryway still wearing her coat, like she hadn’t decided yet whether she intended to stay. “I need to speak with all three of you,” she said. “Together, if that’s possible.” Romanov appeared behind me before I could answer, Dmitri close behind him. Something in Constance’s face must have told them this wasn’t a social visit either. “The study,” Romanov said. We sat around the same desk that had held Dmitri’s photographs of empty evidence boxes three days earlier. Constance remained standing, her hands folded in front of her, the posture of someone bracing for something. “I’ve been reading everything,” she said. “The board meeting. The foundation. The safe house. I have contacts who still tell me things, even now.” “Why are you telling us this,” Dmitri said, not unkindly, though the question carried weight. “Because
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN
Aria’s POV Dmitri called an emergency meeting three days after the failed server attack, and the moment I walked into the study, I knew whatever he’d found wasn’t going to be good. “Sit down,” he said. “Both of you.” Romanov didn’t sit. “Just tell us.” “The safe house,” Dmitri said. “The one storing the physical evidence we pulled from Cedar Hollow. The original ledgers, the property deeds, the witness statements we spent four months collecting.” “What about it,” I said, my stomach already tightening. Dmitri didn’t answer right away. He reached into a bag beside his chair and set three photographs on the desk instead, turning them so we could both see. Romanov picked one up first. “This is the storage room,” he said slowly. “The shelving’s still there.” “Look closer,” Dmitri said. I leaned in. The folders were still in place, labeled exactly the way we’d labeled them, rows of neat tabs in Dmitri’s own handwriting. But the folders themselves sat too flat, too light, none of t
THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX
Aria’s POV I woke before the sun, though I hadn’t really slept enough to call it waking. Romanov was already awake beside me, watching the ceiling with the quiet stillness of someone who’d spent the night thinking instead of resting. “You’ve decided,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “I think I decided somewhere around three in the morning,” I said. “I just needed the sun up before I could actually say it out loud and believe it.” He turned to look at me, waiting. “I’m not giving him the charter,” I said. “I’m not announcing anything is closed. Whatever happens to the foundation, whatever he does next, I’m not the one who gets to decide my mother’s fight was for nothing.” Something eased in Romanov’s expression, though he didn’t say anything right away, just reached over and pulled me closer, my head finding the familiar space against his shoulder. “I was hoping you’d say that,” Romanov said. “I would have supported you either way. But I was hoping.” “Even knowing what it might
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