Semua Bab The billionaire's vengeful bride : Bab 41 - Bab 49

~ EmiliaThe second I heard Ariana’s voice at the door, my stomach dropped like I had been caught stealing.She stood there, framed in the dim light of the hallway, her eyes glinting with something sharp.“Oh… Ariana, you scared me,” I blurted out before I could even think. My voice cracked a little, and I hated how guilty it sounded.Her arms crossed slowly. “I thought I heard a voice,” she said, each word soft but edged.“A voice?” I repeated, forcing a small laugh that came out thin and awkward. It sounded more like a cough than anything close to real amusement.“Yes… from upstairs. Then I came down here and—”Her eyes swept the room, moving over the shelves, the desk, the floor. They lingered just a fraction too long on the stack of papers I had been going through.“You’re in Adrian’s study.”I swallowed hard, my tongue suddenly dry. My hands, resting at my sides, were tingling from holding them too still.“I… couldn’t sleep. Came down for water. Then I thought I heard something i

~EmiliaMy hands were shaking so badly that I could hear the faint rustle of the envelope against my trembling fingers. I swallowed hard, staring down at it as though the thin paper might suddenly grow teeth and bite me. My chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, my throat felt dry, and there was this heavy silence in the room—so heavy that if a pin dropped, I was sure it would sound like thunder.Adrian was sitting close, watching me with those sharp eyes of his, but I could not bring myself to meet them. My fingers struggled with the seal of the envelope until it finally tore open. The sound echoed in my ears. My stomach twisted. With a deep breath I pulled out the folded paper inside.My eyes landed on the heading, and at once my knees weakened. My whole body stiffened as though I was glued to the floor. The letters blurred before me, my mouth opened but no words came out. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and yet my skin felt cold all over.“What is it?” Adrian’s voice cut through the

~EmiliaI don’t know what it was about that woman, but every time she looked at me, I felt like I was standing in the middle of fire.Adrian’s mother had this sharp way of staring, like she could see through me, into places I didn’t even want to look.That afternoon, she came into the kitchen, her heels tapping the marble floor so loudly it made my skin crawl. She didn’t waste time.“Emilia,” she said in that voice of hers, firm, like she was the queen of the house. “Go on and make us something to eat. I want to taste food made with your hands.”My mouth opened, but Adrian was quicker. He was leaning against the counter, his hands in his pockets, casual, but his jaw was tight.“Mother, we have a chef for that. That’s why I hired Emilia. She manages things, she doesn’t need to cook.”I wanted to nod and hide behind him, because that was the truth. Cooking wasn’t my job. And to be honest, I didn’t even want to touch a pot in front of her—something about her eyes made me nervous.But she

~AdrianMy phone rang a few minutes later.The sound cut through the silence of the night like a blade. I hesitated, staring at the screen glowing on my nightstand. A wave of irritation washed over me. Who the hell was calling at this hour?When I finally glanced at the caller ID, the annoyance drained from me in an instant. Max.I sat up straight, pulse quickening, chest tight with expectation. If Max was calling at this time, it meant he had found something.I snatched the phone. “What is it?” My voice was rough, harsher than I intended.“There is something important you need to know, sir.”Something in his tone made the room tilt around me. My mouth dried up, and my hand went to the back of my neck, pressing hard as if that would steady me.“Say it,” I snapped.“It’s about your wife… Emilia.”The world seemed to shrink in those seconds, the silence pressing in until I could hear only the blood pounding in my ears.Max drew a breath. “Before she married you… she was in a relations

~EmiliaI cried my eyes out so much that when morning came, my eyelids were heavy, puffed, and swollen. The reflection staring back at me in the mirror didn’t even look like me anymore—it looked like a broken version of myself, a stranger.The pillows were still damp from all the tears I poured into them last night. I touched the fabric, and it was cold, just like the emptiness pressing hard inside my chest.By noon, the sunlight rested on my skin like a gentle hand, neither too hot nor too soft. It felt almost mocking, as though the world outside could still shine while mine was falling apart.My curtains fluttered with the breeze, carrying in scents of dust and distant food being cooked. Everything felt too normal, and that normalcy weighed on me like a punishment.With a little hesitation, I left my room. My steps were unsteady, dragging as if my body itself wanted to turn back and stay in the safety of the shadows.Feeling empty, I didn’t know how to face Adrian anymore. Every tho