บททั้งหมดของ Dear Billionaire Ex, I am more than an arranged marriage: บทที่ 91 - บทที่ 97

The return of Lady Eleanor Thorne wasn’t an accident — it was a strategy. Every move she made, every smile she offered, every event she hosted was a step in a quiet war Eva hadn’t realized she was already fighting.Within weeks, Lady Eleanor began hosting a series of exclusive soirées — charity galas, private art unveilings, old-money garden teas that shimmered with diamonds and hidden agendas. She used the Thorne name like a weapon, drawing the city’s elite back into her orbit. And at the center of her plan stood Eva — the outsider who had married her son.At first, Eva didn’t notice the game. The compliments felt genuine. The introductions seemed polite. But the more she attended, the clearer it became: every word, every toast, every seating arrangement had a purpose. Each event wasn’t a celebration — it was a test.At one particularly grand charity dinner, beneath a chandelier that looked older than the nation itself, Lady Eleanor led Eva toward a circle of women dressed in pearls

At first, nobody saw it coming.Alistair Finch didn’t arrive with fanfare — he just appeared, quiet and polite, sliding into their world like it was his all along. One week, he was a name on a partnership file. The next, he was sitting at their dinner table, laughing softly at one of Lady Eleanor’s sharp little jokes.And somehow, he never left.He wasn’t loud or obvious. He didn’t flirt. He didn’t need to.He looked at Eva a little too long. He stood a little too close. He knew how to make her laugh, how to listen — really listen — in a way that made Lucian feel like an outsider in his own life.Lucian couldn’t find anything wrong with the man. That was the worst part. There was nothing to fight against. Alistair never crossed a line, yet every gesture felt like a quiet challenge.“Did you see the photos from the fundraiser?” Eva asked one evening, scrolling through her phone as she curled up on the couch.Lucian loosened his tie, half distracted. “No. Why?”“Alistair introduced me t

The Palace Hotel glittered like a jewel box that night. Crystal chandeliers bathed the marble floors in gold, violins whispered beneath the hum of a hundred conversations, and the city’s most powerful people circled one another with polite smiles and hidden knives.The Thorne Charity Gala wasn’t just another event. It was the event — San Francisco’s royal court in gowns and tailored suits. Deals were made here. Reputations were born or buried here.And tonight, Lady Eleanor Thorne intended to bury someone.From her seat at the head table, she surveyed the room like a queen appraising her subjects. She had built her life — and her family’s power — on control. On image. And her son Lucian, sitting quietly at a table far from hers, was the one crack she couldn’t ignore.She had made sure of the seating.Lucian and Eva sat near the far end of the ballroom, close enough to be seen but too far to belong. Every placement, every greeting, every whisper — all carefully designed to remind them

The night of the Thorne Charity Ball had changed everything.By morning, the quiet in San Francisco felt different — lighter, freer, as if the air itself had finally let go of a long-held breath.The storm that had followed Lucian and Eva for months — the pressure, the gossip, the constant judgment — had finally broken.Lady Eleanor Thorne, proud and furious, had slipped out of the city without a word. No farewell dinners. No teary goodbyes. Her exit was like the sudden silence after thunder — shocking, but peaceful. The power she once held over Lucian’s life, over their marriage, simply vanished.Alistair Finch, all charm and smooth words, had also disappeared into the distance, his elegant manipulations now nothing but faint echoes.For the first time in what felt like forever, Lucian and Eva stood in a life that was theirs.The morning after the ball, the sun rose clear and gold over the Bay. Eva stood by the kitchen window, watching fog drift like ribbons over the Golden Gate Brid