All Chapters of Married To The Cruel Billionaire : Chapter 51 - Chapter 59

SELENEMireille didn’t raise her voice.That was the first thing that unsettled me.She didn’t sigh or roll her eyes. She didn’t look irritated that I’d asked a question I wasn’t supposed to ask. She didn’t even look surprised. It was as if she had been waiting for that moment, for me to push just enough so she could press back without ever seeming cruel.She smiled.It was small. Careful. The kind of smile that lived only on the mouth and never reached the eyes. Almost kind, if you didn’t know better.“Adrien’s consent isn’t required,” she said again, slow and even, like she was correcting a misunderstanding. “Because this is not a private matter.”The words settled into the room.No one moved.Daniel shifted his weight near the table, the sound of his shoe faint against the floor. The woman holding the clipboard stopped flipping pages, her pen hovering like she wasn’t sure whether to keep writing or pretend none of this was happening. The mirrors along the wall reflected all of us b

**********Mireille was in the sitting room when Adrien finally found her.She wasn’t doing anything dramatic. No plotting posture. No phone pressed tight to her ear. She sat on one of the cream sofas with a folder open on her lap, reading glasses low on her nose, legs crossed neatly. The room smelled faintly of polish and flowers, the kind of careful calm that always lived around her.She looked up the moment he stepped in.“Adrien,” she said, smiling. “There you are.”She closed the folder and set it aside, already rising to her feet. Her smile was easy, practiced, warm in a way that made people forget how sharp she could be.“I was beginning to think you’d vanished again,” she added. “You’ve been hard to catch these past few days.”“Work,” Adrien said.She reached him and did what she always did first. Straightened his jacket. Smoothed his collar. Her fingers lingered for a second longer than needed.“You look thin,” she said. “Are you eating properly?”“Yes.”“And sleeping?”“Enou

SELENEI stood at the top of the staircase longer than I meant to.Not because I was scared. Not exactly.I just needed one breath that belonged to me.The house below was alive. Voices layered over each other, soft music threading through it all, laughter rising and falling like waves. Light spilled upward from the chandeliers, warm and steady, touching the banister, the walls, the edges of everything. From where I stood, I could see the movement before I saw faces. People shifting, turning, leaning in to talk. Children darting between legs, their shoes tapping against the floor, their laughter careless and sharp.I let my hand rest on the rail and breathed in slowly.Then I stepped down.Each step felt deliberate. Not heavy. Just aware. The gown moved with me, red catching the light with every shift. I didn’t rush. I didn’t pause either. I let myself descend like I belonged here, like I hadn’t spent half the day convincing myself I could do this.When I reached the last step, I didn

SELENEI ended up on the balcony without really remembering how I got there.The door shut softly behind me, cutting off the noise of the party. The music dulled into a distant hum. Laughter turned into echoes. Cold air brushed against my bare arms, sharp enough to pull me back into my body.I leaned both hands on the railing and bent forward slightly, breathing hard.Slow.In.Out.My heart was still racing, like it hadn’t gotten the message that nothing had actually happened.Yet.I pressed my forehead briefly against the cool metal and closed my eyes.That moment replayed itself without asking for permission.Adrien’s hand at my waist. The way he’d pulled me in without hesitation. The way the room had disappeared when I looked up at him. The way his eyes had held mine, steady, unreadable, close enough that I could count my breaths between us.It hadn’t felt staged.It hadn’t felt polite.It had felt… real.And that scared me more than Mireille’s words ever could.“What was that?” I