Semua Bab THE GUARDIAN'S BRIDE: Bab 71 - Bab 80

CHAPTER 71: Mystery partnerThe jet touched down just as dawn split the sky open in streaks of pale blue and silver. I hadn’t slept on the flight; my mind was still pacing the same path it had taken since Vance’s call and then the call from father's housekeeper. Beside me, Madelyn sat quietly, her fingers curled into the fabric of her dress as if holding herself together. She had been the one that suggested that we return immediately to the city. Her own problems were forgotten. Reasoning that father's condition might be grave. The flight had been spent in silence. It was like we were mentally battling what we would find out as we were returning to the rest of the world. Madelyn didn't try to prod me to find out what I was feeling, and I was grateful for that. She just sat beside me offering silent support. When we descended the stairs, the air was sharp with exhaust and dew, different from the clean crisp ocean air that I had actually welcomed on the island. The driver was waitin

CHAPTER 73: StepmotherAs soon as we arrived at the mansion, I got down from the car and took Madelyn’s hands in mine. It seemed so normal to do that in the midst of the chaos that had been unfolding. She matched my stride when I took the stone steps two at a go to arrive at the front door. Father's butler was at the door and opened it as soon as we arrived at the front door. “Mr Blackwood,” he seemed uneasy as well. “Where is he?”“In the drawing room.”I abruptly turned in the direction of the drawing room, firmly dragging Madelyn behind me. We got to the door, and I pushed it in without knocking. The heavy oak doors had barely shut behind us when his voice carried across the drawing room.“Zachary. You are here.”I turned, and there he was. My father stood by the fireplace, tall and unbowed, every inch the kind of man who filled a room without effort. I studied him and noticed the tell tale signs of frailty and distress. He looked almost too weak. And distressed. Something was de

CHAPTER 75: It had to be blackmail“Zachary. Let's talk in my office,” father got off the couch and turned on his heel, immediately walking away without a backward glance. “Go on,” Madelyn gently nudged me. “You have to hear him out,” she murmured in a low voice.I let go of her hand and threw a dark glare at Patricia before following after father. I was barely holding my temper in check. It was crashing inside me from every angle. Both mother and son had succeeded in infiltrating my family. I wouldn’t let them achieve their goal.I followed father into the study, the heavy oak doors closing behind us with a groan. I didn't proceed further but stood close to the shut door. The scent of leather and aged whiskey clung to the room, a place I had walked into a thousand times before, but never with this kind of fury tightening every muscle in my body. It was not everyday, I walked in here to have a conversation with my father about his sudden decision to marry a snake. He didn’t sit behi

CHAPTER 77: The only Mrs Blackwood The moment Zachary disappeared into his father’s study, the silence in the room thickened, pressing heavily and undeniably against me like a storm about to break, no matter how I tried to ignore it. I walked stiffly to the nearest couch and lowered into it, all this avoiding eye contact with Patricia and even Julia. I sat rigidly, every nerve in my body thrumming with the weight of what I’d just learned. What it implied and what could happen if it really pushed through. Isaac Blackwood. A fiance. A marriage. Patricia. My heart still stumbled at the name, at the sheer absurdity of it. At the danger that it posed to me and my safety, my sanity. Yet there she was, sitting across from me like a queen who had claimed her throne and dared anyone to challenge her.Patricia’s lips curved into that smile I had come to dread, the kind that wasn’t a smile at all but a sharpened blade dressed in silk. She sat opposite me, still in the spot she had been sitti

CHAPTER 79: The first time I met Patricia I told myself to stay calm, to hold my expression steady, but inside, Patricia’s words coiled like serpents, their venom spreading poisonously through me. Vance. Again. Around me. I don't want to be anywhere around him. My throat tightened as if the very thought could suffocate me, yet I refused to let her see my fear. Not her. Never her.Patricia leaned back, her elegant poise immaculate. There was a very visible shimmer of triumph lighting up her green eyes. She really thrived on the havoc she sowed, and it was clear she enjoyed watching me squirm under the weight of possibilities I dared not voice aloud. “You suddenly look quite pale, dear. I wonder what the problem could be?” She inclined her head, mock concern and confusion dancing on her face.Julia stepped forward. “Madelyn. Are you—”I cut her off, stopping her dead in her tracks with a raise of a hand while my eyes were still trained on Patricia’s face.“I'm fine. I don't need assis