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TWENTY-THREE: Family Echoes

作者: Rovelt Vell
last update 公開日: 2026-07-25 21:31:41

Aria’s POV

I stood in the hallway with the phone still warm against my ear long after Romeo had hung up, Priya watching me with the careful patience of someone trained not to ask questions until she absolutely had to.

Tell no one. Not Romanov. Not Elena.

The instruction sat heavy in my chest, made heavier by the fact that I’d made Romanov a promise the very first morning of this marriage. And here I was, less than a minute into a phone call, already weighing whether my brother’s paranoi
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  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   THIRTY-THREE: Jealousy Deepens

    Aria’s POV Elena’s hands trembled slightly as she pulled a folded page from beneath the waistband of her borrowed clothes, the paper soft with handling. “I’ve been carrying this since I got back,” she said. “Too afraid to show you. Too afraid not to.” Romanov took it from her carefully, unfolding it with the same precise attention he gave everything. I watched his eyes move across the page, his fingers pausing on the paper as he read, until finally he looked up with an expression I’d never seen on him before. Something close to shock. “Dmitri,” he said. My stomach dropped. “Your head of security.” “According to this,” Romanov said, his voice carefully controlled despite the visible strain beneath it, “he’s been receiving payments from a Northbridge subsidiary for the past eight months. Not large amounts. Small enough to look like consulting fees if anyone ever checked.” “That doesn’t prove he’s working for them,” I said, though even I could hear the doubt in my own voic

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   THIRTY-TWO: Trust Exercises

    Aria’s POV I read the letter three more times before I finally set it down, the paper trembling faintly between my fingers. “You’re not going,” Romanov said, reading my expression before I’d said a word. “I didn’t say I was.” “You were thinking about it.” I couldn’t deny that, so I didn’t try. “She’s never asked to see me. Not once, not even when I left. This is either the first honest thing she’s done in years, or it’s exactly the kind of trap Northbridge would use to draw me out.” “I won’t assume one way or the other,” Romanov said, echoing the same careful logic he’d used about the mysterious caller weeks earlier. “Which is why you’re not meeting her alone, and you’re not meeting her anywhere I haven’t cleared first.” “I didn’t ask permission.” “I’m not asking for it either,” he said, though something in his tone suggested this wasn’t quite the same possessive control he’d wielded in the early weeks of our marriage. It felt more like partnership than command, even if t

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   THIRTY-ONE: Emotional Intimacy Begins

    Aria’s POV Elena’s revelation didn’t come easily. The doctor insisted on treating her shoulder before anyone asked another question, and I spent the better part of an hour pacing outside her room while Romanov coordinated the aftermath of the attack with the same relentless focus he brought to everything, leaving me alone with a question I couldn’t stop turning over. How close to home. When the doctor finally allowed us in, Elena sat propped against a mountain of pillows, her shoulder wrapped tight, exhaustion carved into every line of her face. “Tell us,” Romanov said, no preamble, no patience left for careful pacing. “The man from the photograph,” Elena said. “His name is Anton Voss.” The room went very still. “Voss,” I repeated. “That’s—” “My father’s brother,” Elena said quietly. “My uncle.” Romanov lowered the file onto the desk with deliberate care. “Your uncle has been running Northbridge.” “Not running it,” Elena said. “Serving it. He answers to someone else, so

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   THIRTY: The First Major Test

    Aria’s POV The estate went to full lockdown within minutes, the calm, practiced chaos of guards moving into position, lights cutting out across the grounds to remove any advantage the dark might have given whoever was approaching. “Stay in the safe room,” Romanov said, already moving toward the door. “No.” He turned, sharp irritation flashing across his face. “This isn’t the moment to argue with me, Aria.” “I’m not arguing,” I said. “I’m telling you I can help. I know this house better than half your guards do now. I know where the blind spots are in the security rotation because I’ve been living inside your rules for weeks. Use that instead of locking me away every time something goes wrong.” He studied me for a long moment, the pistol still loose in his grip, weighing something I couldn’t quite read behind his eyes. “Stay close to me,” he said finally. “Not because I’m protecting you. Because you’re right, and I don’t have time to argue the point twice.” It wasn’t quite tru

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   TWENTY-NINE: Scars Revisited (I)

    Aria’s POV I showed Romanov the message the moment we walked through the estate doors, watching his expression shift from tension to something colder as he read it twice. “They were watching us at dinner,” I said. “Or someone at that table was reporting back.” “Callahan wouldn’t risk his own reputation feeding information to a rival network,” Romanov said, though his voice carried less certainty than his words. “But someone in that restaurant could have been. A waiter. Another guest. I’ll have the staff list pulled by morning.” “That’s not what worries me most,” I said. “It’s the phrasing. ‘Some of them don’t survive the association.’ That’s not a threat aimed at us. That’s a threat aimed at Callahan.” Romanov went still, calculating something faster than his face let on. “They’re not just threatening me anymore,” he said slowly. “They’re threatening anyone who does business with me. Which means this isn’t just about controlling you or Elena. It’s about isolating me f

  • THE BILLIONAIRE'S STAND-IN BRIDE   TWENTY-EIGHT: Jealousy Awakens

    Aria’s POV Elena’s silence stretched long enough that I started to regret asking at all. “There was a second folder,” she said finally, her voice measured, as if she were choosing every word. “I didn’t put it in the box you found. I hid it separately.” “Why?” “Because it doesn’t just implicate Northbridge,” she said. “It names someone inside Romanov’s world. Someone he’d never believe was involved without seeing it himself.” My pulse spiked. “Who?” “I’m not ready to say,” Elena said, and before I could push further, she held up a hand, wincing at the movement. “Not because I don’t trust you. Because I need to verify it myself before I hand either of you a name that could tear this house apart if I’m wrong.” I wanted to argue, but the phone still warm in my hand reminded me that whoever was watching us already knew about the second folder. Whatever protection Elena thought she still had, it was thinner than she believed. “They know,” I said. “Whoever’s sending these me

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