Lahat ng Kabanata ng His Reluctant Bride: Contracted To My Enemy : Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Tristan The door creaked open, and the house mistress stepped in. I was lying on the bed, half-covered with the thin blanket, my legs dangling over the side.“What’s the status regarding his health?” she asked, her voice calm but firm.Aunty Rose, one of the school nurses, straightened up from where she’d been checking my temperature. “He still insists on going home. I even tried talking him into staying and letting us treat him—”“Shh… I’ll handle it,” the house mistress cut her off gently, then turned to me with a sweet, practiced smile.“Oh, darling,” she said softly, “are you sure you want the school to take you home, Deimos? We can just call the doctor here to treat you.”I swallowed, “I… want to go home,” I mumbled, my voice barely louder than a whisper.She chuckled awkwardly, like she wasn’t sure if I was being stubborn or just shy, then glanced back at Aunty Rose. “Have you informed his parents about this decision?”“The school tried calling his mom, but her line was busy,”

Tristan I stayed by the doorway, behind the potted plants, not sure if I should step in or just go back outside to wait for dad.“I have no choice, alright? And if you’ll just listen to me, ” the man's voice came from inside, shaky, like he already knew it wouldn’t change anything.“Explain exactly what?” Mom didn’t even let him finish. “Answer me, what exactly do you want to explain!?”She was pacing, back and forth, back and forth, like she was trying to make sense of something in her head but couldn’t get there. Her hands wouldn’t stay still.“It was a plain accident… I don’t know… I just--” Nat tried, but his voice kept tripping over itself.She looked at him like she couldn’t believe he was even standing there. Then she just snapped.“Of course you wouldn’t know! Of course you wouldn’t know how she ended up on the bed and you were moaning her name! Of course you wouldn’t!”She pressed her hand to her face, breathing hard, like she was trying to pull herself together.He reached

LioraI stumbled out of the hospital room, my chest tight, my head so full it felt like it might split open. Everything inside me was a mess, anger, disbelief, fear, twisting together until I couldn’t even tell them apart anymore.I didn’t want to hear another word from Tristan. Not one. Because whatever he was saying… it wasn’t making sense. None of this made sense.And yet… the thing I saw, his face, my dad’s signature, it was too clear to be fake. No one could forge that. Not like that.I hated that Tristan was right about one thing. I didn’t want to believe Dad could do any of those things. I couldn’t.The bright lights in the reception stung my eyes, and before I could get far, Dante stepped right into my path.“Mrs. Cole, why the hurry? Is everything alright in there?”“I…” My throat felt tight. “I just need to get out of here.”His brows knit together. “Did the boss say something? You don’t look fine.”“I’m fine,” I lied, shaking my head quickly. “I just need air.”He glanced t

Tristan “I think I'll go and check on David.” Dante said, excusing himself before I asked him to do it. After he's gone, Liora walked to the bed and then sat at the lower edge of the bed, so I could no longer read her expression. “So the woman is your mother.” She said after what seemed like a minute.“Was.” I corrected. She hummed in response and said, “Can I see her?” “Why?” I asked in a low voice.She didn’t answer right away. Her hands rested flat against the edge of the bed, her fingers tightening slightly, then loosening again.“Because I want to know,” she said finally.I shifted against the pillows, “Seeing her won’t change what she’s done, Liora. It won’t even make it easier.”Her head tilted, still turned away from me. “Maybe not.”For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. She didn’t understand, I didn’t want her to. The things my mother left behind weren’t scars that healed; they were rot that spread the more you looked at them.“Liora…” I let her name slip out, a warning, a p

Liora“You were saying what? Brother.”Allen said leaning against the wall, his grin was nothing short of wicked as his eyes flicked between me and Tristan. He was baiting him, deliberately twisting the silence into something sharp.Tristan’s jaw tightened, his teeth clenched, but he said nothing. Normally, Tristan would've talked, considering the facts that he always had something to throw back, blunt and cutting. But now, nothing. The change unsettled me, and without meaning to, my eyes shifted back toward the woman who had entered moments ago.She carried herself with a kind of elegance that couldn’t be faked,“Allen,” she said finally, her tone smooth but carrying authority. “Let your brother have some rest, will you?”Allen chuckled low in his throat, pushing off the wall just slightly. “Rest? That’s your way of saying I should keep quiet. You know that doesn’t work with me. Moreover, he's not dying, mom, at least not yet.” Her eyes, however, slid past him like she'd done this s