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CHAPTER 18: Between Shadows & Fire
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-08-24 22:57:50
Luna Darkling ✅ Author’s Note 💬 Wow… Zaria just leveled up in ways even Lucien didn’t expect! The bond isn’t just a magical tether—it’s a mind, a strategy, and a power of its own. 🔥 The intruder isn’t done. They’re patient, cunning, and they know exactly how to push both Zaria and Lucien. 💖 And yes… the bond is getting messy, emotional, and yes—romantic. Are you shipping it yet? 👀 Next chapter: Zaria and Lucien take the Council’s findings into the estate, where rival factions are already making their moves—and secrets will explode.
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The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 47: The Bond Fractures
The fracture was not sudden. It did not arrive like a sword cleaving air in a single strike. It arrived like silk under fire—quiet at first, almost imperceptible—until it began to spread, heat licking everything it touched. For days after the masquerade, Zaria felt the bond falter. She could no longer sense Lucien’s nearness in the effortless way she once had. Where before his presence thrummed like a steady drumbeat beneath her skin, now it wavered—distant, fractured, sometimes painful. And when she finally sought him in the high chambers, she discovered the truth: he had drawn back. ⸻ Lucien stood before the window that overlooked the entire northern court. His back was to her, his posture taut, a storm in the shape of a man. “Why do you avoid me?” she asked softly. For a moment, she thought he would not answer. His silence had always been sharp, but tonight it was unbearable. Finally, his voice: “Because the bond has turned into a blade, Zaria. And I will not le
The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 46: The Fracture
The betrayal had not yet been named aloud, but Zaria felt it bleeding through the walls like smoke—slow, acrid, suffocating. Somewhere in the council’s golden hall, a secret had slipped free. Kael’s knowing smile, too precise, too sharp, betrayed the truth: someone close had opened their mouth, handed him a piece of the bond she had fought so desperately to shield. And in the silence that followed, the bond itself wavered. Lucien’s presence—once constant, steady as heartbeat—now throbbed unevenly within her. Each pulse was jagged, like a tether stretched thin across a battlefield. When their eyes met across the hall, his were fevered with rage and something rawer, something almost pleading. But Kael moved between them like a shadow draped in silk. The envoy led her away, not by force, but by the inexorable pull of spectacle. One moment she stood beneath the council’s searing torches, and the next she was stepping across a threshold into a chamber unlike any she had ever seen.
The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 45: The Masquerade Of Masks
Moonlight painted the envoy’s chamber silver and shadow, gleaming off glass cases filled with things that hummed against her bones. Not jewels. Not weapons. Things older, darker. Things that recognized her. Her breath came unsteady as Kael drew closer, the hem of his cloak brushing the marble floor like spilled ink. “You feel it, don’t you?” he said softly, tilting his head, eyes fixed on her as though he read the shifting tides of her soul. “The bond inside you… it stirs when you’re near these relics.” Zaria’s fingers curled against her gown. She wanted to deny it. Wanted to keep the weight of her silence like armor. But the bond was stirring, wild and restless, almost desperate. Each relic whispered in resonance, an echo of something ancient threading through her veins. “They are forbidden for a reason,” she said at last, voice low, steady. “The council would never—” “The council fears what it cannot bind,” Kael cut in smoothly, a smile ghosting across his lips. “But you… you c
The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 44: The Hidden Game
The moonlight spilled across silken drapes and gilded mirrors, every inch of the room whispering temptation, wealth, empire. Yet beneath the silk and gold, Zaria’s mind was already moving in shadows. They thought they had her cornered. They thought silk could strangle. But she had been raised in shadows. She knew how to breathe when others suffocated. She could still hear his voice, smooth and venomous: “Beauty belongs to no one. Power belongs to those who dare to claim it.” Power. Not love. Not loyalty. It was a truth that chilled her—and yet… it was also a truth she could wield. ⸻ By dawn, the silken trap had only deepened. Maids entered with armfuls of gowns, shimmering like liquid fire—sapphire, crimson, ivory. Jewels spilled across trays: pearls heavy as moons, emeralds sharp as leaves after rain, rubies like drops of fresh blood. “His Highness requests you wear the emerald for the feast,” one whispered. “The color of renewal. The color of brides.” Zaria force
The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 43: The Marriage Pact
The next morning, the summons arrived. A footman in imperial livery appeared at her chamber door, bowing low, his silver tray gleaming. Upon it lay a folded parchment sealed with crimson wax. Zaria took it with reluctant fingers, breaking the seal. The script was elegant, deliberate, meant to impress. Lady Zaria, it began. The Empire would honor your presence at a private council gathering this evening. Matters of alliance require your voice. Attire shall be provided. Below, Kael’s insignia—a serpent coiled through a crown. Her heart thudded once, heavy. They wanted her there. They wanted her. Not Lucien. Not his council. Not the bond. Her. ⸻ When evening came, they dressed her not in her usual gowns of muted elegance but in something else entirely. Attendants swept into her chamber carrying armfuls of fabric: silks spun so fine they clung like water, stitched with threads of gold that caught the lamplight. They draped her in ivory first, then crimson, then midnight blue,
The Billionaire’s Marked Mate CHAPTER 42: The Proposal Of Silk & Fire
The music throbbed beneath chandeliers that glittered like galaxies. Perfumed air hung heavy, laced with rose and smoke, while courtiers laughed too brightly, their jewels flashing as though they could drown the tension flooding the room. Zaria’s pulse still raced from Kael’s words—“the most dangerous jewel of all.” He had dropped them like a blade wrapped in silk, and she felt the edge cut even as she held her poise. Lucien had not moved. He stood near the marble column, glass untouched in his hand, his gaze never leaving her. But beneath his composed mask, she knew there was something sharp, something breaking. Kael leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “There are alliances that shift empires. And there are women who become empires.” His smile lingered, predatory yet alluring. “Why not be both?” Her lips parted, but no sound emerged. The violinists swelled into a furious crescendo, as though they too strained beneath the weight of unsaid things. ⸻ By dawn,
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