Semua Bab THE GUARDIAN'S BRIDE: Bab 111 - Bab 120

CHAPTER 111: Getting turned upWhen Vance returned from Isaac’s place, I could read the storm on his face before he even opened his mouth, but I forced myself to sit, to appear in control, though inside I was a clenched fist.I listened with mounting fury as he recounted everything, Isaac’s calm dismissal, Zachary’s invisible hand guiding and orchestrating this outcome, and the humiliating way the old fool had dismissed him as if he were some errand boy instead of my son. My pulse climbed higher with every word, and by the time he was finished, my nails had carved half-moons into the armrest of the chair. My rage was almost boiling over at this point.I shot up from my seat. “How dare they?! So they think they’ve outsmarted us,” I said, my voice trembling, from the rage I was barely keeping on a leash. “I see that both father and son believe this game is theirs to win. Isaac Blackwood and his son think they can make a mockery of us. I will show them that I can't easily be undermined

CHAPTER 113: Seafood disaster It turned out that Zachary had been right. I might have to go to the hospital. I had been telling myself for days now that I was fine, that the nausea and fatigue that had slowly but surely crept up on me and plagued my body for days, was nothing more than a stomach bug that would soon pass. However, when I stepped into the kitchen that morning, and the heavy, briny scent of seafood rushed toward me, I knew at once I was fooling myself. I might have to take that trip to the hospital. My stomach rolled, twisting sharply as if it wanted to rebel against me, my stomach heaved, my gut rolled, and I had to press a hand against the counter for balance.Mary, who was standing beside the maid supervising breakfast preparations, turned her head sharply. Her eyes were sharp, she was obviously surprised to see me out of my room where I had holed myself up since Zachary’s departure three days ago. Her shrewd eyes, so used to noticing the tiniest details in this hou

CHAPTER 115: Not anymoreHurt. Pain. Betrayal from a loved one. I had experienced them all. But nothing had pierced as deep as what I was feeling as I was looking at those photographs. The pictures trembled in my hands, my eyes devouring them with a disbelief that quickly dissolved into something very sharp and cutting, something that felt very much like betrayal. I had suspected that something like this could happen; was happening. But to see proof of it was harder to digest.My throat tightened as though a hand was clamped around it, strangling me, making it impossible to breathe. There he was, Zachary, my husband, my tormentor, my heartache and my salvation, my undoing, entangled with another woman, with Julia. Mary’s gasp echoed beside me, soft, sharp but filled with a mixture of shock and something else… hesitation, disbelief. I was so lost in anguish and pain that I had not registered the moment she leaned in and glimpsed the pictures in my grip. She leaned closer now, squinti

CHAPTER 117: Off-balance The last of the clients filed out of the private dining room, their voices still echoing faintly in the corridor as though the deals struck between us had not struck their hold with them. The door had barely clicked shut behind them when I leaned forward, pressing my fingers hard against my temple. A dull throb pounded behind my eyes, sharper than it should have been. I remained seated, one leg crossed over the other, and one hand pressed loosely against the armrest of the leather couch, the other holding the now half-empty glass of wine I had sipped from cautiously during the course of the meeting. Usually, I never favoured anything other than a glass of water during work meetings, but today was different. The room was quiet again, save for the faint clinking of cutlery being cleared away by the waitstaff and the occasional shifting of my guard near the doorway. I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through the contacts. I got to the number I was lo

CHAPTER 119: I’ll do itI thought I had already cried out the last of my tears earlier when I was with Mary. I was wrong. Because when Lenny returned from work later that evening, and I sat across from her as she rifled through the pictures for the third time, her lips pressed tight in disgust, the anger and ache in my chest grew heavier than ever. I wanted to reach out and snatch them out of her hand and tear them into shreds. My finger tingled with the need to erase the proof of my husband's betrayal. Yet, even the thought of destroying them didn’t lessen the sting. Even then, I needed them as proof, if ever there came a time when I would have to confront Zachary or that shameless woman, Julia.“Mads,” Lenny’s tone was sharp as though she could scold me into reason, “this is nonsense.” She held the photograph up between two fingers; the one where Julia was almost sprawled on my husband, as though it were filth. “This is definitely unlike Zachary. At least not as much I know about hi