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Chapter 33
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2025-07-07 23:40:22Aristide
The dining room table had become our war room. Laptops were open. Papers spread out in controlled chaos. Enzo was cross-referencing digital footprints while Elena dug into the shell corporations linked to old DeRossi accounts. My father barked short orders over the phone to an offshore contact I didn’t trust but needed.
Bella sat beside me, her brows pinched in concentration as she scanned a series of account transfers we’d pulled from an encrypted drive Enzo had cracked open that morning. The trail was tangled, deliberate, meant to be impossible to follow. But not to us.
Not anymore.
“She funneled money through a children’s art nonprofit,” Bella muttered, scrolling down. “Then into a consulting firm in Luxembourg. And then…” She trailed off.
I looked over. Her skin had gone pale, and she was gripping the edge of the table like she was grounding herself. “Izzy,”
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The Chosen Bride Chapter 41
BellaEverything inside me had gone still.The room was full; Elena and Mabel beside me, Aristide just feet away, Matteo behind him. But… the air felt thin, like I was suddenly underwater.Sofia Barone.My mother’s real name, hidden behind DeRossi like a mask. And me… the last living blood heir to a name people feared, buried, and apparently wanted erased for good.I wanted to laugh. Or scream. Maybe both.Instead, I looked at Aristide, my voice barely above a whisper. “You’re sure?”His eyes never left mine. “Yes.” And that was all it took. I believed him.The fear was there… yes, but beneath it, something stronger was rising. A spark that had been smothered most of my life by my mother’s cold eyes, my sister’s cruelty, the weight of never being enough.But I was enough. More than enough.I stood.Everyone’s eyes followed me as I walked slowly to the small desk in the corner of the room. My hands shook only slightly as I picked up the burner phone. It was surreal—how normal the plast
The Chosen Bride Chapter 40
AristideIt was still dark when I woke.That quiet hour just before dawn, when the world held its breath and shadows stretched longer. The soft blue-grey hue of early morning slipped through the window, barely illuminating the room. Bella was curled against me, her hand resting over the spot where our child grew, her breath warm and steady. She looked peaceful. Safe. And for a second, I let myself believe it.But peace was still an illusion.Not while the man downstairs held answers. Not while enemies watched from the dark. And not when I had a future I needed to protect… with her, and with the life we made together.I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She murmured my name in her sleep but didn’t stir.I slid out of bed with practiced ease, every movement deliberate. She didn’t wake. I tugged on a dark shirt and jeans in the dim light, grabbed my weapon from the drawer, and stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind me with a soft clic
The Chosen Bride Chapter 39
BellaAristide met me at the top of the stairs. His face was tight, jaw clenched like it always was when something was wrong, but his eyes softened the moment they landed on me.Without saying a word, he reached for my hand and pulled me toward him, wrapping me in his arms. I sank into his chest, exhaling the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. He was safe. Here. With me. For now.He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my temple. “Come with me,” he said.He led me into the bedroom we were using at the new safehouse. Doors locked, curtains drawn, dim and quiet, like the world outside had been placed on pause just for us. The silence between us was charged, vibrating with unspoken things—worry, fear, desire.As soon as the door clicked shut behind us, I turned and reached for him. I didn’t care that my hands were shaking or that my heartbeat was thudding in my ears. I needed more than answers or protection. I needed him. The realness of him. His warmth. His strength. The way his to
The Chosen Bride Chapter 38
AristideThe sun had barely started rising, the horizon bleeding pale gold behind the city skyline as we loaded into the cars. My mind was sharp… clearer than it had been in weeks. This wasn’t about defense anymore.We were striking first.Enzo drove point with Ricci beside him. My father and I took the second vehicle, while the third followed with backup. Every man with us had earned my trust. They knew what today meant.I glanced down at the comms earpiece in my hand before sliding it in. “Testing channel. You copy?”“Loud and clear.” Bella’s voice answered almost immediately, tight but calm. “Be careful.”“I always am,” I said. “Talk to me while we move. Keep your voice in my ear.”“You just want me to distract you.”“You’re not a distraction,” I said, settling back in the seat. “You’re the reason I’m doing this right.”I could picture her—back at the safehouse with Mabel and the guard posted outside the front and rear doors. Sitting near the transmitter, probably gripping her phon
The Chosen Bride Chapter 37
BellaI stood frozen with the photograph in my hand, heart pounding so hard it echoed in my ears. It was one thing to know I was being watched now, but to realize someone had been watching me before all of this, before Aristide, before the wedding… it was something else entirely.They had known who I was. Before I knew what I meant to any of them.I didn’t hear Elena come in until she was right behind me. “What’s that?”I turned, pressing the photo against my chest like I could shield her from it for just a second longer. But I couldn’t.I held it out to her.She took it, studied it, and her expression shifted from confusion to horror. “Is this… here? From your old apartment?” I nodded, throat too tight to speak. Elena looked at the back. She read the words, then looked back at me. “We have to tell the others.”“I know,” I said quietly. “I just—” I looked down, wrapping my arms around myself. “It’s getting worse. The more we find out, the more I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore
The Chosen Bride Chapter 36
BellaI paced the length of the hallway for what felt like the hundredth time, nerves buzzing beneath my skin like static. Every creak in the old house made me stiffen. Every sound from outside made me hold my breath.Mabel sat on the couch with her legs tucked beneath her, refreshing the live drone feed on her tablet. Matteo stood near the window, silent and still, watching the street like it might explode at any moment.No one spoke much after they left. Because no one wanted to say what we were all thinking… what if it went wrong?I didn’t realize how tightly I was gripping my phone until Aristide’s name finally popped up in a text.Aristide: We’re on our way back.Four words… But I could finally breathe again.A short time later, headlights splashed across the wall, and I heard the front door unlock. I was down the hall before it even swung open.Aristide stepped in first, jaw tight, eyes scanning the room before landing on me. He looked exhausted and tense, but intact. That was a
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