Semua Bab WIFE TO A CHEATER BRIDE TO A BILLIONAIRE : Bab 61 - Bab 70

I hadn’t planned to say all of that. Hell, I hadn’t planned anything beyond “let’s just fake it and move on.” But one look at her Jasmine, in that ridiculous jelly costume, with her arms crossed like she wasn’t impressed by anything I confess about my love for her. I meant every word of it. But the way she froze and her eyes didn’t quite meet mine after that told me I had pushed too far.The crowd clapped, and someone whistled; Jasmine just gave a strained smile and turned toward Haley.“I’m tired,” she said quietly. “I want to go home.”Haley, to her credit, didn’t push. “Same. I’m crashing. I have carried Gerald’s legacy on my back long enough.”The ride home was… awkwardly quiet. Jasmine didn’t say a word. She sat beside me but didn’t touch or look at me. Haley, blissfully unaware of the tension, kept humming along to whatever was in her AirPods, completely unfazed as usual.I kept glancing at Jasmine at every red light. Her head was leaning slightly toward the window, and her arm

THIRD PERSON POVThey were supposed to be halfway there by now.Instead, they hadn’t moved more than six blocks in nearly an hour.The city was suffocating. Horns blared from every direction. Cars pressed bumper to bumper like bricks in a collapsing wall. Halloween decorations danced mockingly from lampposts, and kids in masks skipped along sidewalks, oblivious to the countdown ticking like a timebomb inside the van.Inside, Jasmine sat wedged between Haley and a duffel bag stuffed with money. Her right leg bounced nonstop. Her fingers wouldn’t stop chewing at each other, knuckle, nail, knuckle, nail, until her skin stung.Haley hadn’t said a word in thirty minutes.Not since Jasmine had snapped and yelled, “Please, just shut up for one second,” when Haley tried to suggest a different route.The silence in the van felt heavier than the cash.William’s hands gripped the steering wheel. He kept leaning forward like that would make traffic move as if his glare could part the line of cars

JASMINE POV.I sat by her bedside and watched the monitor blink. Each soft beep reminded me that she was still alive… barely alive. Elora hadn’t moved since they sedated her. The doctors said she was stable but could not explain why she hadn’t woken up. She had opened her eyes once for a few seconds but didn’t say anything; she just stared ahead like she wasn’t seeing anything. Then her body started shaking, and just like that, she slipped into a coma.I pulled the blanket up to her chin again, even though the nurse had already done it. It didn’t matter. I had to do something. Anything to ease the guilt I felt. Elora wasn’t supposed to suffer like this. I should have refused her help when she offered to spy on Kimberly. Maybe now she will be partying instead of living in horror on Halloween. I thought I had it under control, that I could play this game and win. That loud, impulsive Kimberly was just another bitter woman clinging to a man and a stolen business.But I was wrong. So, so

JASMINE POV Kiara closed the door behind us, and the second it clicked, I folded my arms and stared her down. “Explain yourself.” She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve like a scolded child. Then she sighed, motioning toward the hospital bed near the window. “I did what I had to… for my daughter.” I looked past her and saw small, fragile Emma lying pale on the bed. Her chest rose and fell slowly under the rhythm of the oxygen mask. The heart monitor beside her beeped steadily, each sound a quiet reminder that she was still fighting for her life. It tugged something deep in my chest, but I ignored it. I wasn’t here to be emotionally blackmailed. “Of all the things you could do to help your daughter,” I snapped, “that’s what you thought was best?” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t have a choice, Jasmine.” “You did have a choice. There are a thousand ways to help your daughter, and you chose this, how could ..,” “I came to you for help, but you turned me down,” she interrupted. I sc

JASMINE POV. I was walking back into the mansion, the weight of everything I’d just done still clinging to me like a second skin, when I saw him. William. He stood just inside the foyer, shirt clinging to him with faint traces of sweat, his knuckles still red and raw. He stared at me for a second, eyes scanning every inch of me like he needed proof I was whole. Then he stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. It caught me off guard. He never did that, not without a reason or some calculated motive. But this—this hug felt real. Urgent. And strangely… I welcomed it. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Perhaps it was the ache in my chest I couldn’t shake. But I wanted his arms around me. I wanted to feel safe, even if it was only pretend. So I let him hold me. He exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding his breath the entire time I was gone. “Where have you been?” he asked, his voice low against my hair. “Haley called me. She said you left the hospital in a rush and weren’t answering