All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

EVANGELINEThe rest of the day passed in a blur of forced normalcy. Sebastian and Thaddeus returned from town with several bottles of spirits, their cheerful mood a contrast to my increasingly dark mood.The group gathered on the terrace as planned, settling into comfortable chairs arranged in a loose circle.Gael didn't join us, and I found that his absence was both a relief and a disappointment. Part of me had hoped that our confrontation might have shaken something loose in him, might have made him reconsider his choices. But apparently, I'd been naive to think that one conversation could undo months or maybe years of poor decisions.Margaret was the first to feel the effects of the alcohol, giggling at jokes that weren't particularly funny and telling rambling stories that seemed to have no point. Her uninhibited laughter was infectious, and soon the entire group was more relaxed than we'd been since arriving at the lake house.I found myself watching Thaddeus with growing concern

EVANGELINEThe clock on the dashboard read 8:47 PM as I navigated through the empty streets.The silence in the car was broken only by Thaddeus's occasional groans and the hum of the engine.I watched Gael's motionless figure in the rearview mirror until he disappeared from sight, swallowed by the darkness behind us.A transparent layer of tears resumed accumulating in my eyes, blurring my vision and making it difficult to focus on the road.The doubts that always haunted me might actually be true. Maybe I was fooling myself about Gael, about who he really was beneath all that anger and violence. Maybe Thaddeus was right, and I was just clinging to an illusion of the man I thought I knew.I knew there had to be a valid reason for his anger. No one becomes that emotional in a vacuum. He might be suffering from some disorder or trauma, something that explained his volatile behavior.He might have been exposed to something terrible in his past that made him what he is now.I was a psycho

EVANGELINEThe next day passed quietly and peacefully. I went out for a walk with my Mom through the neighborhood. We strolled past the houses where my childhood friends had lived, the park where I'd played as a little girl, the corner store where my Dad used to buy me candy as a special treat.I enjoyed every moment with her, and it lifted a significant weight of worry from my heart. She truly was my happiness hormone, the person who could make everything better just by being there."You seem more relaxed today," she observed as we walked past the old elementary school I'd attended. "Yesterday you looked so tense, so worried. I'm glad to see some color back in your cheeks."I squeezed her arm affectionately. "Being here helps. Being with you and Dad helps. I forget sometimes how much I need this.""You're always welcome here, you know that. This will always be your home, no matter what."The words brought tears to my eyes, though I tried to hide them.In the evening, I began preparin

EVANGELINEOutside, the cool night air hit my face like a slap, giving me a momentary clarity that made me realize just how gone I was.My eyes met a familiar face leaning against a car parked nearby. The man gave me a shocked look, his gaze moving suspiciously between me and the person dragging me along.I kept staring at his face, trying to place where I knew him from through the fog in my brain. There was something important about him, something I should remember, but the thoughts slipped away before I could grasp them.Before I could figure out who he was, Gael shoved my body into the car with unnecessary force, pushing me into the passenger seat and slamming the door behind me.The sound was unnaturally loud in my ears, making me wince.He got into the driver's seat and the car lurched forward with enough force to throw me back against the seat.I was too distracted trying to figure out who that person was to notice anything else.I clapped my hands together when it finally dawned

EVANGELINEHis body suddenly tensed at the sound of loud, aggressive knocking on the door.The pounding was so forceful and violent that the entire door seemed to shake in its frame.I was certain it would break down at any moment."What the hell?" he cursed.The knocking continued, growing more violent with each passing second. Along with it came a voice I recognized, shouting my name with desperate urgency."Evangeline! Open this door right now!"It was Gael - the real Gael. I'd never been so happy to hear his voice in my entire life.I took advantage of my attacker's momentary distraction to drive my knee upward into his groin with all the force I could muster.He collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching his shaft as he writhed in pain.I struggled to lift my body, my limbs still weak and uncoordinated. My dress was disheveled, and I could feel bruises forming where his hands had gripped me too tightly.The moment I managed to open the door, Gael burst inside like an avenging an