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Chapter 25: Gratitude and intimacy
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2025-11-16 03:57:22
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The Billionaire's undercover bride CHAPTER 62 — The Space Between Us
VIVIAN The house was quiet in that soft, late-afternoon way it gets when the sun is slipping toward the horizon, turning everything a warm honey-gold. Damian was sitting on the couch, his laptop open in front of him, fingers pressed to the bridge of his nose the way he always did when a headache was threatening him. His medication sat beside him on the table, untouched. His shoulders were tense, and I could tell he was deep in thought.I hovered for a moment near the doorway, unsure if I should disturb him. For the past few days, every time he sighed or pressed his temples or sat too still, guilt stabbed me in the chest. I wanted to help him—comfort him, support him—but every tender impulse tangled with dread and fear and shame.Still, I forced myself to step forward.“Damian?” My voice came out softer than I expected.He lifted his head, and when his eyes met mine… all the noise in my chest quieted. He looked tired, yes, but there was something else—relief. As if seeing me instantl
The Billionaire's undercover bride Chapter 61 – The Dream That Wouldn’t Let Me Breathe
VIVIANI didn’t realize when sleep finally dragged me under. My mind had been spinning the entire night—Charlotte’s threats, Damian’s health, my aunt’s hopeful recovery, the guilt crushing me from every corner. I remember lying on my back, staring at the ceiling as if the plaster might peel open and reveal answers. My hands trembled on the sheets until, eventually, exhaustion pulled me under like a weight tied to my ankle.But sleep didn’t bring peace.It brought them.It brought my parents.The dream didn’t begin softly. I wasn’t floating in some comforting haze the way dreams usually start. No—this one came like a plunge into icy water. One second I was in bed; the next I was standing in the old house where I grew up, the one filled with patched walls and the smell of my mother’s cooking.The curtains fluttered even though the windows were closed. A strange wind moved through the house, whispering like a warning.I knew it was a dream. Somehow. But I couldn’t move.Then I saw them.
The Billionaire's undercover bride CHAPTER 60 — The Office Confrontation
VIVIANThe sunlight filtered softly through the half-open blinds as I sat at Damian’s study desk, the quiet hum of the city outside barely reaching the sanctuary of his apartment. Damian was out running some urgent errands for the company—or at least that was what he said—and I was left alone with my thoughts and the ever-present weight of the mission I had willingly taken on.The peaceful quiet should have been comforting, but instead, it pressed down on me. The guilt from Damian’s confession the previous night—the panic in his voice about losing his father’s legacy—kept replaying in my mind. I could still hear his whispered words: “I hope she stands with me.” And I couldn’t shake the fear that I was the one threatening to destroy everything he held dear.Then my phone vibrated sharply on the desk. My chest tightened when I saw the name flash: Charlotte.I hesitated. Of course, she wouldn’t stop. She never did.I took a deep breath and answered cautiously, trying to mask the tension
The Billionaire's undercover bride CHAPTER 59 — The Weight of Legacy
VIVIANWhen I stepped out of the room after changing into something more comfortable, the first thing I saw was Damian’s mother arranging pillows on the couch as if she owned the place—which, in a way, she did. Not by rights, but by presence. She had that warm authority only mothers possessed. The kind that made a house feel like it remembered its roots.I wipe my palms on my dress and walk toward her.“Mom,” I say softly.She looks up and beams—the same beam she gave me the first day she accepted me as family. The one that made the whole idea of marriage feel real.“Vivian, my dear. Come, let me see you properly.” She takes both of my hands and squeezes them affectionately. “You glow every time I see you. Marriage suits you.”I force a soft laugh, though inside my chest something tightens painfully.Marriage suits me.But do I suit this marriage?“Come, come,” she says warmly. “Sit with me.”We settle on the couch, and she begins talking—about her trip, the noisy neighbors she can’t
The Billionaire's undercover bride CHAPTER 58 — A Mother’s Instinct
DAMIANThe front door hadn’t even closed behind me before exhaustion slammed into my body again. My head felt heavy, like every thought was being carried on weak strings—shaking, unsteady, ready to snap. The doctor said it was stress, but that word feels too small. Stress can be breathed through. This… feels like there are hands around my throat, my chest, my mind.I hang my blazer over the living-room couch, pressing a hand to my forehead. A dull throb pulses behind my eyes.Vivian had just left for the hospital after kissing my cheek—soft, worried, lingering—and I tried not to let her see how much that touch made something inside me twist. Guilt? Fear? Need? I’m not even sure anymore.I drag myself to the kitchen to get a glass of water when the front door opens again.“Damian?”My mother’s voice floats in—warm and sweet, with that gentle firmness that always made me feel fifteen again.I turn toward her. She’s carrying two bags—one filled with groceries and the other God knows what
The Billionaire's undercover bride CHAPTER 57 — A Breath of Relief
VIVIANThe hospital smell hits me before I even step fully inside—the familiar blend of antiseptics, disinfectant, and faint lavender air freshener that tries its best to make sickness feel less suffocating. For the first time in days, walking through these white corridors doesn’t make my chest tighten. Maybe it’s hope. Maybe it’s desperation. Maybe it’s the tiny, trembling desire inside me to see something—anything—go right in my life again.My heels tap against the tiles as I head toward my aunt Peculiar’s ward. I’d left Damian resting at home; the doctor’s words about his blood pressure kept echoing in my head. But right now, I need strength from somewhere, and the only place I knew I could breathe was beside the woman who raised me when the world fell apart.Aunt Peculiar—my aunt, my mother, my father, my home.I slowed as I reached her door.“Please be sitting up,” I whispered under my breath. “Please be better today.”I gently pushed the door open.And there she was.Sitting upr
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