Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE TYRANT'S CONTRACT BRIDE: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

The raucous cheers and thunderous applause seemed to reverberate through Serena's very bones as she watched Dimitri and Emilia bask in the adulation of the crowd. The newlyweds were practically glowing with joy and contentment bliss that comes from finding one's other half in the world. Everything before her right now looked and seemed so simple. But Serena knew otherwise. She couldn't help feeling a pang of wistful longing mingled with envy at the sight. Would she and Knox ever share a connection that carefree? A bond so all-consuming that the rest of the world simply fell away until there was nothing but the two of them locked in their own private universe? Without worrying about harm or danger, even from intimate moments that ought to be pleasurable. But in her case, it felt like everything had a price. "Luna."The gentle murmur of a voice at her side snapped Serena from her reverie. She turned to find Lara, her newly assigned maid, watching her with eager eyes. The

"I'll be fine, Dad," she assured him, injecting as much confidence as she could muster into her tone. "This is just...part of their customs and traditions, however bizarre or uncomfortable it might seem to us. I have to accept and embrace that if I'm truly going to take my place here."The words tasted like ashes on her tongue, a bitter reminder of all she would be leaving behind - her humanity, her identity, her entire world - in order to fully immerse herself in this new life and role. But she refused to let her doubts and misgivings show, not in that moment when so much rested on maintaining an aura of certainty and poise.President Bolting searched her face for a long moment. The worry lines around his eyes seeming to deepen as if he could sense the conflict raging beneath her calm facde.Finally, he gave a reluctant nod, reaching out to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze."If you're sure, sweetpea," he murmured with resignation. "Just know that I'm here for you, no matter what

The guards deposited the maid in an unceremonious heap on ground, her hair obscuring her face as she lay crumpled and unmoving.Meredith sneered down at the pathetic figure for a long moment, her expression twisted into one of utter contempt."This is what happens to those who dare defy the destiny. Who turn their backs on their sacred duties in favor of petty selfishness and greed." Her words dripped with venom."Let this be a lesson to you all," Meredith continued, her gaze sweeping over the gathered wolves with a look of pure, unadulterated loathing. "The path we walk is not an easy one, nor is it without its sacrifices. But it is sacred. Ordained by forces greater than any of us can comprehend."Then she turned her piercing stare on Serena. Her eyes bored into the younger woman with an intensity that seemed to strip away every last vestige of her defenses and false bravado."You would do well to remember that, dear. The choices laid before you are not ones to be made lightly or wit

Enzo’s tone was now laced with something she couldn’t quite place."He was an honest, noble soul who had fallen in love for the first time in his long, long existence as an immortal being. He was willing to make the woman who had so thoroughly captured his heart his absolute equal by bestowing her with that sacred piece of himself. But what he didn't realize..."The older man's expression changed to one with some deeply buried anguish."What he didn't know was that the girl's heart never truly belonged to him. That those in higher status, for all their outward gratitude and reverence, never saw him as anything more than a sacrifice - a powerful entity the heavens had sent to help cleanse their lands of the scourge that plagued it. A means to an end, nothing more. And on top of that..." His jaw clenched hard enough that the tendons stood out in stark relief along his neck and temples. "The woman had already pledged herself to the future leader of the village, having vowed to rule at his

Serena finally emerged from the bathroom sometime later, wrapped in a robe with her damp hair hanging in disheveled waves around her shoulders.She felt marginally refreshed and more human. The hot water had helped to clear her head somewhat, even if it couldn't fully banish the lingering shadows of her dream.She ran the hair dryer over her hair until the moisture was out. Then she went to the cavernous walk-in closet and quickly tugged on a pair of fitted black knit gown that skimmed her curves before falling to just over her knees.The v-neck was deep enough to show a hint of cleavage but modest enough to be considered casual day wear.She completed the outfit with ankle boots and a delicate silver-gold necklace with a sharp-shaped pendant she found inside her huge jewelry box.Her fingers lingered on the cool metal of the pendant for a moment, a lump forming in her throat as she thought of the man who had gotten it for her.The man who now knew the darkest, most shameful secret of