All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

EVANGELINEThree days passed in a blur of isolation and misery.I locked myself in my room, leaving only to eat when I was sure he wasn't around. I hadn't seen Gael or caught a glimpse of his shadow since that morning. He left the house early and didn't return until night, and even then I only knew because I heard his car in the driveway.All this time I'd been trying to collect my thoughts and figure out how to act. I'd made my decision. I would file for divorce as soon as I returned to Aldermere.I was walking on a mountain path with no destination, my suitcase trailing behind me. The wheels caught on every rock and root, but I didn't care. I just needed to get away from that house, away from him, away from the suffocating atmosphere of our failed marriage."Look where your decisions have led you, Evangeline." I laughed bitterly at myself.In the end, what did I expect? That we would come to an understanding, then love each other and live happily ever after? The fantasy seemed ridic

EVANGELINEI carelessly grabbed my bag from the ground and headed toward the road, ignoring Gael's presence. Unfortunately, I was mistaken for thinking I could escape him.His hand gripping my wrist forced me to face him."Let me go!" I exclaimed irritably, pulling away from him. The familiar pain of his grip made my heart race with remembered fear. "You're hurting me!""How dare you keep me waiting while you finished your dirty business with him?" He gritted his teeth with intense hatred.The accusation hit me like a slap, the crudeness of it making my stomach turn."Who told you to wait for me? I'm not going anywhere with you. I'll return to my home and family. We'll separate as soon as we arrive." My voice was shaking with anger and fear, but I forced myself to meet his eyes.I groaned when he grabbed my chin with his free hand, squeezing painfully until I was sure there would be marks."You don’t get to that!" His voice was low and threatening, each word dripping with menace.I cl

EVANGELINEThe flight back to Aldermere felt endless.We sat in separate sections of the private jet, the tension between us thick enough to cut with a knife.Gael buried himself in his laptop, pointedly ignoring my existence, while I stared out the window at the clouds below, my mind racing with questions I couldn't answer.The flight attendant this time wasn’t Sarah. She was a young woman with kind eyes. She approached me several times to offer refreshments, but I could barely manage more than water.My stomach was in knots, and every time I looked toward Gael's section of the plane, I felt anger and something else I couldn't quite identify. Hurt, maybe. Or disappointment.I tried to piece together the fragments of conversation I'd overheard, the tears in his mother's eyes, the desperation in Arthur's voice when he'd called me to his office that day.There was a story here, a complicated web of relationships and secrets that I was only beginning to understand.As we began our descen

EVANGELINEI let out a shaky breath, pressing my fingertips to my temples where a killer headache had settled in.The tension in my shoulders finally started to ease up as I walked toward our bedroom, but my heart was still pounding.Gael had disappeared after our blowout, leaving nothing behind except the echo of his nasty promise.I'd spent the whole day sneaking around and taking the long way through the mansion.The fear of facing whatever payback he had planned had eaten up every single thought, every breath and every second I was awake.The memory of that look on his face still messed with my head. The total shock that flashed across his features when I ripped those divorce papers to shreds right in front of him. He never expected me to fight for this dead marriage, never saw coming my sudden switch from victim to fighter.Honestly, neither did I.The decision had hit me just as hard. I'd been all set to sign those papers and get the hell out of this cold, loveless prison.Most

EVANGELINEI instinctively wrapped my arms around Gael’s neck to steady myself and my legs circling his waist.He settled back down with me straddling his lap.The position was intimate, more intimate than we'd ever been. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, could smell the mixture of cigarettes and cologne that clung to his skin.My heart hammered as the reality of our position sank in. I was trapped. The thin fabric of my nightgown did nothing to create a barrier between us, and I could feel every plane and angle of his body beneath me."What are you doing?" Panic cracked through my voice as I tried to pull away from his iron hold.This wasn't what I'd meant when I talked about acting like a real couple.The cigarette still burned between his fingers and his grip on my waist tightened, holding me firmly in place.Calm eyes met my terrified ones, and I realized with growing horror how impossible it was to predict this man's next move."Weren't you the one who suggested acti