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43

Penulis: King Emerald
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-24 05:27:04

RICCI

Uncovered.

I stood at the entrance of the meeting, looking down at the long array of seats. In an executive meeting, they had called it, multi-billionaires would all be gathered here, people who had their own darkness stored up on the inside.

And maybe I did or I didn't belong. I walked slowly and went to take a seat, waiting for the conference to begin.

I'd stayed up all night and I was so damn sure I looked like it.

Sophia's words still haunted me.

You're a dead man Ricci.

Shudders I don't feel in my very all-powerful life have crept into my spine just at the thought of her.

Damn the nights I'd spend in her arms, they were making me go crazy.

Just as I was about to switch on my phone, the speaker blared.

“A high-tech tracker has been detected around this radius; please, we urge everyone to wait till the search is over.”

I heard, and there was a murmur among the people seated there.

Of course, this was some kind of top-tier meeting that meant top-tier security; who was foolis
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  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    71

    RICCI Scorched Earth.I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t freaking breathe right.The nights felt like knives now. The sheets on my bed felt wrong. The air inside the mansion turned thick, like smoke. It clung to my skin. It followed me down every hall, every room I entered. Her scent. Her laugh. Her voice in the back of my damn mind.I didn’t talk to anyone. Didn’t want to.I let rage do the talking.I went back to the streets. Not the bright, polished surface my name sits on—but the one beneath. The blood-laced underground. I dragged out the men who owed me things. Smashed safehouses that weren’t mine but could’ve been. I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t need answers. I wanted bruises on my fists and blood under my nails.I wanted to feel something that wasn’t her.We raided two in one night. The last one was in the warehouse near the docks. A guy ran. I chased him. My boots hit concrete loud, fast, and wild. He slipped and tried to crawl under a loading truck. I yanked him back by the leg an

  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    70

    RICCI The Falling.I hadn’t planned on going into my study that afternoon. I’d only come to grab my phone charger. But the moment I opened the door, I knew something was off. My steps slowed.The curtains hadn’t been drawn like I usually left them. The smell was slightly different too, like paper and something—metallic. My eyes narrowed.The folder was sitting right in the middle of my desk. Neatly placed like a goddamn trap.My fingers twitched at my side. I don’t know why but my mouth dried instantly and I closed the door behind me with a soft thud. My boots felt too heavy as I crossed the floor. The folder was just... there. Like a dare. Like a slap.I pulled the chair back with a screech and sat down slow. My heart wasn’t pounding yet. Not yet. But my hands were already curling into fists.The folder was black. No label. Just a sticky note slapped across it with rushed handwriting:"Ask her who she really is."Mike. That bastard.I peeled the note off and dropped it to the floor.

  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    69

    SOPHIA Coordinates.The air smelled like damp wood and rotting secrets.I stood in front of the villa with my jacket pulled tight around my body. The sleeves didn’t cover the bruise on my arm. I didn’t care. The wind blew hard against my face, but I barely blinked. My lips were dry. I licked them without thinking. My hand trembled against the brass handle, rusted and cold like the ghosts inside.“This is it,” Isabella said behind me, her voice quiet like she was afraid someone might hear us even though we were alone. Her flashlight clicked on. I heard the soft hum of it.I nodded once. My throat was tight. The coordinates led us here—a crumbling villa just outside the city, tucked in the woods like someone tried to forget it. Ricci’s father used to own this place. I didn’t even know it existed until the flash drive revealed it.I pushed the door open. It creaked. Loud. Like a warning.We stepped in.Dust exploded into the air with each step. My boots left prints behind on the wooden

  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    68

    RICCI Aftermath.My ears still rang. Everything smelled like burnt rubber and blood. The smoke—it clung to my throat. My boots crunched over glass, metal, something that used to be a car. My car.I shouldn’t have been alive.Sophia’s hand was wrapped around mine tight. There was blood dripping down my wrist. I thought it was mine. I thought it was hers, too. Didn’t matter. I didn’t feel it.The fire had spread."Boss!" someone shouted from the left. I didn’t look. I barked orders, eyes scanning what was left of the street. "Double security. I want men on every exit. No one comes in or out without my say."A chunk of metal screeched as it was lifted. Someone cried out underneath it. I didn’t flinch."Where the hell is Mike?" I snapped. My voice sounded hoarse. Raw. Like something in me cracked and no one noticed.Sophia flinched next to me. Her fingers trembled against mine. "He’s not here. He left twenty minutes before the blast."My stomach turned. I pulled my hand from hers and sto

  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    67

    SOPHIA Betrayal in Blood.It was late afternoon when she told me to follow her. No explanation. Just that same cold voice and colder eyes. Sara didn't wait for me to ask anything. She just turned and started walking, her heels tapping against the marble like nails on glass. I followed, stomach twisting with every step.Something felt wrong. Her silence was too sharp. The hall was too quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.She led me to the study. The one with the red leather chairs and old paintings no one ever looked at. She shut the door and locked it, slowly. My breath caught a little. My hands shook but I clenched them behind my back so she wouldn't see.She turned to me and folded her arms. Her mouth was a flat line, but her eyes were smiling. That kind of smile that has nothing to do with happiness."We need to talk, little sister."That word again. Sister. It made something snap inside me.I didn't sit. I stayed standing by the door, even though my legs were weak.Sh

  • The Billionaire's Substitute Bride    66

    SOPHIA A Night without Lies.I couldn’t breathe right. My chest felt too tight. Like something invisible was pressing against it, not letting me think.I didn’t knock. I just walked straight to his room. My bare feet were cold against the tiles, and I didn’t even care. The hall was quiet, almost too quiet, like it knew something was wrong. Like the walls were listening.His door wasn’t locked. That part scared me more. Ricci never left things unlocked.He was there, sitting on the couch, hunched forward with his hands locked together. No shirt, just those tattoos snaking over his chest like old sins. His head lifted when I came in, and his eyes landed on me fast. Not surprised. Just tired.“I found it,” I said. My voice came out cracked. “Under my bed. A bug.”I held it out with a shaking hand. It was small, just a tiny black device that felt heavier than it should. I didn’t even want to touch it, but I had to bring it to him. I didn’t know what else to do.He stood, slow but sharp.

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