Bound by debt; Freed by love のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 51 - チャプター 60

ELENA'S POV It wasn't suprising for anyone to think I was stupid. Even I knew how foolish it was to succumb to being treated like a piece of trash in the hands of the Hawthornes.But if giving the media and my colleagues a big, happy smile about being married to their evil and irresponsible boss would keep my family out of the streets, then I was left with no other choice. “How was last night with your lover?”, Adrian whispered into my ears as he pretended to plant a kiss on my cheek while we faced the flashlights from the camera. Mr. Hawthorne had decided to make his son trend again by using this announcement as a freaking excuse. “It's none of your business dog. When are we getting out of here? The fake smiles are making me sick”, I whispered back, forcing out a smile towards Karen who stared at me with murderous eyes.“Careful Elena, don't think I can't do anything to you just because we're in public”, replied Adrian, biting the lobe of my ear so hard until I was forced to apolo

LUCAS' POV My hands lazily ran through my hair as I deeply exhaled a sigh of exhaustion staring at my desk filled with papers which was very unlike me. But ever since I got that text, my mind has gone haywire, not daring to imagine the worse they would do if they got their eyes on Elena or go ahead to actually do something to her. I couldn't take it. Nor would I leave her unprotected. It is why I already secretly assigned a couple of my strongest bodyguards to follow her every step in different disguises every single day who reported every minute of her day to me. Okay, I'll admit I was enjoying this a little bit. We had not called each other since that fateful morning and I was beginning to go crazy unable to hear her voice or see her up close for days now. My phone's loud and piercing ringtone instantly brought me back to reality as I quickly picked it up, seeing the name ‘James’ appear on the lit screen. “Tell me you've got something solid”, I said, placing my phone on my e

ELENA'S POV My eyes pierced deeply with curiosity at Lucas's furious expression, watching him pace about while the nurse gently attended to me. I was currently putting on an hospital gown in place of the shredded gown once whole with sophistication. Lucas had carried me bridal style out of the room as two other men were left to continue from where he'd stopped. The painful screams, groans behind me and the reality of what I had just escaped all seemed to dim in comparison to the shock waves traveling through me at the sight of Lucas. “Are you real?”, I asked, whispering softly while pinching his sleeve with my trembling fingers. Only a low grunt of confirmation could be heard as he still refused to look at me. Even though his body's heat didn't give me warmth anymore, I still wished for a sort of communication from him. But the seconds ticked loudly stretching the silence between us with the sound of his heavy footsteps pacing the hallway right outside my door. I laid helplessly i

ELENA'S POVFour days had started to feel like a year and half after I'd been locked up in a cold, empty room by Adrian. I continuously banged the door for the first two days but the bland meal I ate each day like a prisoner didn't help refill the strength for that. So here I was, curled on the ground with my eyes shut trying hard to not focus on how miserable my life had become. Everytime I thought there could never be anything worse than being in a contract marriage, I was always proved wrong by the lengths my new family took just to make my life a living hell. Up until now, I wasn't certain about the person who'd set me up like that but it was definitely within the Hawthorne's family. It had to be them but a large chunk of my anger was held against Adrian's father. There was not a single doubt he knew about Mr. Elvis's reputation before sending me straight into the lion's den and yet, he still did. My lips trembled against each other as I burst into a heart shattering cry, curli

LUCAS' POV My chair swiveled continuously as I stared into the thin air with my fingers crossed above my thighs. Despite the increase of the cameras installed in my house, I still couldn't find the culprit. My maids were all clean, including their backgrounds. So who was the spy? This whole game seemed to have started a long time before and if I had to win, I had to go be ahead. My fingers hovered a over the landline, contemplating passing a message to James and Nathan, ordering their immediate prescence in my office. I knew I made their lives hell by treating them as my therapists, advisors and friends all at the same time, but they had no choice until we finally caught the mysterious person. Unfortunately, their unavoidable fate of misery was saved by a knock on my door pulling me out of my reverie. “Come in”, I replied, an edge in my voice. The door clicked open revealing the one figure I expected, making my lips subconsciously curl up into a knowing smirk. “Hello Mr. Elvis, i