All Chapters of Love Lies and Deceit: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

* Penny *I woke up tangled in the crisp, white sheets of the luxurious hotel bed, momentarily disoriented by the stillness of the room and the golden morning light seeping through the thick drapes. The air was warm but stale, like time itself had paused while I slept. My eyes fluttered open to the soft hum of the air conditioner and the distant, muffled sounds of the city below. A siren wailed faintly in the background, too far to feel urgent, too close to ignore. I blinked against the morning light, my heart thudding a little too fast for no obvious reason.For a moment, I just lay there, trying to piece together how I ended up back here.The last thing I remembered was sitting in my car by the ocean with Alex, watching the waves crash against the shore, letting the salty breeze play with my hair and settle into my skin like memory. It had been peaceful. Too peaceful, maybe. A rare kind of quiet that felt more like the calm before something inevitable. I must have dozed off, lulled

* Penny *I wasn't sure if I had heard it right from my older brother's lips. The words came like a slap I didn't expect, sharp and jarring in their clarity, even though I had been bracing for something, just not that. I turned to the man sitting next to me, Alex Hamilton, as if seeking a different truth, hoping perhaps I had misinterpreted. But he simply nodded, the subtle movement as solemn as a verdict. His gaze locked with mine, unwavering, piercing through my defenses like he was trying to read something buried inside me. My breath caught in my throat. I was the first to look away."You are not my father, Lance!" My voice trembled at first, but I found strength in my own anger. "You're just my half-brother. You don't get to decide who I'm going to marry! That decision, that right, belongs to me. Only me."Even as I spoke, my heart pounded like a traitor. Deep inside, in the place I refused to show anyone, lived a truth I never wanted exposed. I had carried a secret for five lon

* Penny *The garden was already half-strung with fairy lights, warm and gold, swaying in the breeze like drifting constellations waiting to be wished upon. They looped from tree to tree in lazy arcs, casting soft halos on the white linens billowing slightly on the long tables beneath the magnolias. Magnolia Manor hadn't seen this much life, or light, in years.The scent of early-blooming jasmine floated in from the edge of the lawn, mixing with freshly cut grass and the distant memory of summer rain. Someone was playing a soft jazz record from inside the house, and the sound bled through the open French doors, fragile as a heartbeat.Mia was in her usual state of elegant chaos, waving her clipboard like a conductor's baton at one of the overwhelmed florists. Her pencil, as always, was tucked behind her ear like a permanent accessory to her thoughts."You're completely out of your mind for hosting this here," she called over her shoulder as she stomped up the porch steps toward me. "B

* Penny *I didn't run. I never do.Even when my skin screamed. Even when every nerve begged for motion, when something primal and ancient inside me clawed its way up my throat and begged for flight, I stayed. Frozen. Not because I was brave, but because I was trained. Conditioned. Shaped by a world that teaches women to endure in silence.That's the trick, isn't it? Stay still. Don't escalate. Don't make a scene. Because scenes make people uncomfortable, and comfort, we are taught, is not ours to disturb.Jason's hand had barely grazed my arm, but it stayed there. Not in flesh, that would have been easier, but like smoke. Lingering. Seeping into my pores. Invisible, but suffocating.And I hated myself for freezing.I hated how familiar it all felt. Like muscle memory. Like old ghosts coming home to roost.He used to make me laugh, once. Back when we were just kids in those too-perfect uniforms, arguing over cafeteria desserts and whispering secrets beneath bleachers. Back when he loo

* Alex Hamilton *She kissed me.Not on the lips. Not with urgency. But still, it was a kiss, light, deliberate, lingering.And it lit something in me like a fuse waiting for permission.The door closed behind her, but the imprint of her touch didn't leave. I stood there for a while, unmoving, caught in the aftershock of something deceptively small that had stirred everything in me. It hadn't been a promise. It hadn't been a confession. It was something subtler, quieter, and somehow more dangerous.God, she didn't even realize what she does to me. Or maybe she did. And that was the part that terrified me. Because that kiss hadn't asked for more. It hadn't taken. It had simply offered—I see you. I trust you. Just a little more, now.And that, that was what undid me.I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled slowly, trying to anchor myself to something familiar. Something safe.But there was no safety in this anymore.She was walking a tightrope, and I knew it. Teetering between obligati