All Chapters of UGLY? No More!: Chapter 221 - Chapter 230

The grandmothers cried openly.Julian squeezed Elara’s hand beneath the table, silently thanking her for fighting for these kids, for choosing this family again and again.For choosing him.Dinner continued with renewed warmth, laughter returning, chatter rising.But far, far from the table...Hidden behind the vegetation near the private shoreline...Two eyes watched.Burning.Diana crouched deeper into the shadows, the celebration’s laughter drifting toward her like poison in her veins.Elara, glowing.Julian, smiling at her like she was the only woman on earth.The children laughing in her arms.Her fury pulsed hot and thick.“They think they’re safe,” she muttered, gripping the sandy earth. “They think they can celebrate.”A slow, twisted smile curled across her lips.“But they don’t know I’m already here.”She looked toward the path leading deeper into the island, where the private villas stood.“Let them eat. Let them laugh.” Her fingers curled tighter. “Because the moment the l

Julian stood tall at the edge of the courtyard, jaw clenched hard.Leonard’s voice thundered first.“WHERE IS SHE?”Julian didn’t flinch. “Lower your voice.”Leonard didn’t. He marched straight up to him, eyes blazing.“I SAID... WHERE. IS. SHE?”Elara stepped forward, confused and trembling. “Leonard, what...”His gaze fell to her.And softened.Barely.“Elara.”Her breath caught.He stepped closer, gripping her shoulders with a father’s desperation.“Is Mira safe?”The question made Elara stumble backward.“How do you...”But he wasn’t listening anymore, he was searching her eyes, searching the guards, searching the villa behind them as if Mira might run out any second.Julian stepped between them instantly.“She’s inside,” Julian said coldly. “Protected. Secure. And you will not barge onto my island demanding...”Leonard shoved him back.Actually shoved him.Julian’s guards grabbed their weapons instinctively, but Julian raised a hand, stopping them.His eyes darkened, a warning.L

“I.. I don’t know!” he cried. “She covered Mira’s mouth! And she said something about, about taking her home... because she’s not yours...”Julian’s vision tunneled.Leonard froze mid step. “What did you just say?” he demanded, voice suddenly strangled.But Julian didn’t even look at him.His face had gone expressionless, the cold, terrifying emptiness he only wore when he was seconds away from violence.“Security!” he snapped, voice booming through the courtyard like a gunshot. “Lock down the island, NOW. Every exit, every dock, every path. No one leaves. No one gets in.”Guards scattered instantly.Elara’s chest heaved.Her hands trembled around Milo’s small shoulders.“Baby,” she whispered, fighting not to collapse, “did she hurt Mira?”Milo shook his head violently. “No, but she was dragging her, Mira tried to scream, Mommy put her hand on her mouth, Mommy said you didn’t deserve her and, and...”His voice dissolved into terrified sobs.Julian scooped Milo up, holding him tight bu

The jeep skidded violently as it burst out of the tree line, tires spraying gravel across the moonlit dock. Waves slapped against the pylons, the water sharp and dark beneath the night sky.Mira screamed as Diana dragged her out, fingers digging into her tiny wrist.“STOP, DON’T TAKE ME, LET ME GO...” Mira sobbed, kicking as hard as she could.“Shut up!” Diana hissed, yanking her harder. “You’re ruining everything! He is mine, do you hear me? Everything was MINE!”Two men waited on the pier beside a small, quiet boat, no lights, no insignia, just a dark vessel turned toward the open sea. They stepped forward when they saw Diana dragging the child.“Ma’am, you said we’d be escorting you off the island. You didn’t say you were bringing...”“Do I look like I care?” she snapped. “Start the engine. Now.”The men hesitated. One glanced at the little girl, clearly uncomfortable. “That’s a kid. This wasn’t part of the deal..”Diana’s head whipped toward him, eyes burning with unhinged fury.“

Wind stung Julian’s eyes.Saltwater lashed against his face.His knuckles were white on the wheel as he shoved the boat faster, past safety limits, past logic.He didn’t care.“Mira… hold on, baby… Daddy’s coming…”His voice broke, a sound the ocean stole away.Behind him, Leonard’s boat kept pace, barely.Leonard was pale, jaw locked tight, his eyes flickering between terror and guilt as the boats tore through the waves.He didn’t say a word.Didn’t shout.Didn’t argue.He looked like a man trying to calculate every mistake he’d ever made.Julian’s radio crackled.“Sir, visual on the diver boat. Half a mile ahead.”Leonard stood up straighter, gripping the railing until his fingers trembled.“Is... Is she crying?” Leonard yelled across the water.Julian didn’t answer.But his jaw clenched hard enough to crack.Spotlights locked on a small dark silhouette cutting violently through the waves.Diana’s diver.Julian’s heart punched his ribs.“MIRA!” he shouted into the wind, though she c