บททั้งหมดของ Against all odds : บทที่ 71 - บทที่ 80

Luca’s POVThe day they let me go, I didn’t feel free. I walked out of the cell with stiff legs and dry eyes, my name being signed off by guards who wouldn’t meet my gaze. No one explained anything, not clearly. Just a shrug from a lawyer I’d never met, a nod from someone in a suit. “All charges dropped,” they said like it meant something good. But I knew better. Nothing is free. Not in their world. And especially not in his.It wasn’t until I was halfway to nowhere, dragging a trash bag of my things, that the car pulled up. Sleek. Black. Predictable. When the back window rolled down and I saw his face—Elliott’s father—I didn’t feel surprise. Just a slow, simmering disgust. The man who controlled everything stood there like some twisted god, offering not mercy but manipulation. He said my name like it tasted sour. He didn’t pretend to be kind. He just got to the point.“A clean slate,” he said. “Freedom.” But his definition of freedom was a cage with different bars. He told me I was o

Cecilia’s POVI walk down the aisle, and every step feels like a rehearsal. The music swells, the eyes of everyone in the room are on me, and I smile, as I’m supposed to. As I’ve been trained to do. The gown fits perfectly, the fabric flowing like something from a dream, and I feel like the princess I always imagined I’d be—glowing, radiant, untouchable. But it’s all a performance, a mask for the emptiness I feel inside.Elliott is standing at the altar, looking like a man caught in a trap, but still, he’s here. That’s all that matters. He’s here, and he’s mine. My heart doesn’t race the way it should. The way it’s supposed to when you marry the man you’ve been waiting for, the man you’ve chased. But it’s there, beating steadily beneath my chest. He’ll come around. He has to.The vows are a blur, and when I say “I do,” I mean it in the way a business transaction is sealed, not the way two hearts are bound together. I don’t feel the rush of emotion I thought would come with these words

Elliott’s POVThe champagne tastes like ash in my mouth.It fizzes against my tongue, cold and bitter, and I force a smile for the hundredth time that night. Everyone's watching—everyone always is. The ballroom glitters with gold and glass, laughter echoing off marble walls, but none of it touches me. My skin feels too tight, my suit like armor. I stand beside Cecilia, her hand looped through mine like a brand, and I feel like a stranger at my own celebration.Our wedding was the event of the season. Perfect. Immaculate. I saw the headlines this morning—Love Wins: Vale Heir Marries Longtime Fiancée in Fairytale Ceremony. The photos are flawless. My smile, practiced. Her veil, delicate. My eyes, empty. I wonder if anyone noticed.I barely remember the vows. I said them with precision, like reading a statement to the press. I remember her eyes flickering with something—hope, maybe—but I couldn’t meet them for long. All I could think about was Luca. All I could feel was the absence of hi

Luca’s POVI don’t need anyone to tell me how well it’s going. I can feel it in my bones, in the way people are suddenly talking about my brand, my name. The release of the new movie line I’ve launched under a rebranded name has taken off in a way I couldn’t have predicted. It’s everywhere. Social media is flooded with the buzz, influencers can’t stop posting about it, and the press is already calling it the next big thing in the industry. They say it’s revolutionary. They say it’s the future.I don’t care about their praise, though. I don’t need validation from strangers who know nothing about me. What matters is that the world is paying attention again. What matters is that I’m back. Back in the game. Back where I belong.I didn’t expect the firestorm that would follow. The ripple effect is more powerful than I imagined. I knew Elliott’s company would feel the impact, but not like this. Cecilia’s brand, the one that’s been trying so hard to climb out of its own shadow, is reeling. I

Elliott’s POVI knew he’d be here. The moment I accepted the invitation to the event, somewhere deep inside me, I knew Luca would show. Still, I convinced myself otherwise. Told myself it was a coincidence. Told myself I could handle it, that I was over it. Over him. But the truth has a way of slamming into you, no matter how carefully you build your walls. And tonight, it hits me like a damn freight train the second I see him.Luca.Looking exactly like I remember and yet somehow more. Taller. Sharper. Effortlessly composed. He’s dressed in a sleek black suit, no tie, collar open, and that same maddening confidence on his face—the one that used to disarm me in seconds. He’s laughing, charming the hell out of everyone around him like he hasn’t been haunting me for months. Like we didn’t burn to the ground and pretend the ashes weren’t still smoldering.The crowd around him parts slowly as I walk closer, as if the universe itself is giving us space. I’m not even sure what I plan to say