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All Chapters of Redeeming Alessandre: Claiming the Billionaire ice Queen : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

102 Chapters

Chapter 31

OPHELIAThe elevator doors opened, and just like that, hell descended upon us.A flash of light exploded in my face, followed by the chaos of fractured, overlapping voices. All I could see was a lot of paparazzi, newspeople, and exicited bystanders alike standing before the building like vultures that had smelled blood."Ophelia, are you conceding that the relationship is not genuine?""Ms. Wren, do you believe your company is worthy of public confidence after this?""Alessandre! Was that an act, or are you really that careless?""Smile for us, Ice Queen!"I hesitated in my step, one of my heels quivering on the marble. The clamour pressed in from every direction, hot and suffocating.Charlotte nudged me firmly in the side with her elbow. "Move on. If you stop, they'll eat you alive," she whispered through a strained smile.I kept moving, taking each step at a time, though my hands clutched the lapels of my blazer too tightly—the only thing keeping the hastily wrapped sheet below me i

Chapter 32

OPHELIAThe man's tone was calm, almost unhurried. "I received this in person. Whole file. So the leak wasn't through the press." He eyes swept over the room with a great intensity. "It was through someone in this building."The words dropped like boulders in water and waves of silence spread over the big oak table.Charlotte leaned forward, her gaze narrowing. "One of us provided the tabloids with raw feed? That isn't just sabotage—that's treason."One of the older members snorted, fidgeting with his tie in feigned calm. "Treason? Let's not be melodrama—"Dramatic?" Charlotte cut in, her voice as cutting as glass. "You want dramatic? How about explaining to our investors why they're looking at a billionaire CEO in what is essentially a bootleg porno trailer? Or why their stocks are plummeting lower than my patience?" The man paled and pushed back from his chair.I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Enough."But Alessandre nodded forward, forearms on the table, tone cutting the air like

Chapter 33

ALESSANDREFLASHBACKThe jet hummed beneath us, smooth and energetic, cutting through the night like a blade. I settled back in the leather chair, champagne flute in my fingers, and observed the girl across from me.Six weeks at Regent, and she still clung to that notebook as if it were her armour. Her pen was so tightly held in her hand, I was surprised it didn't crack at all."You're holding that pen like it’s a dagger or something," I told her, stirring the champagne. "What's the idea? Stick me if I ask questions you don’t like?" Her head snapped up, eyes burning. Christ, those eyes. "I thought we’re meant to be reviewing the conference agenda."I cocked an eyebrow. "We are,” I said. “But you're as tight as a spring. Perhaps take... a deep breath.""I'm not tight," she fibbed, opening her notes once more.I rested my elbows on my knees, leaning forward. "Ophelia, you've only been here six weeks? And tomorrow you're going to have to hand over a research that half the board will bar

Chapter 34

OPHELIAThe dream lingered like smoke, close around my throat.The plane. The hotel. That night. His hands, his mouth, the lie afterwards. It's just business.I shoved the memory down. But the more I did, the faster it clawed its way back up.Charlotte's knock was sharp on the door, and then she burst in, not waiting for permission, bearing coffee and a blazer."Rise and shine, darling,” she said in an oddly cheerful tone. “Hell's waiting downstairs."I groaned into my pillow. "Already?"“Darling, the devil doesn't sleep and neither do paparazzi." She tossed the blazer onto the bed. "Gear up."The air was already dense with smoke in the metaphorical sense, but choking all the same by the time we reached the room.The board circled the big glass table like vultures over a body. Every screen on the wall blared the same looped video: Alessandre and me in the penthouse hallway, slowed to cruelty, my voice echoing out like a gunshot. I don't care if I hate you; I still want you.Across the

Chapter 35

OPHELIAThe second the boardroom doors shut behind me, the air outside felt worse than inside the room. It pressed down on me with a greater weight, a thicker one, as if the walls had all joined the vultures waiting to see me suffocate.The voices of the paparazzi rose up from the street below. Their voices blending in with the protesters' chants until it was one big storm. Flashbulbs burst against the glass like lightning."Ophelia! Did you enchant the board into making you mighty?""Is Alessandre a publicity ploy to shift fabric?""Who is Phoenix? Do you know them?"That question stopped me dead in my tracks. I stood frozen stiff, heart pounding. Phoenix. Nobody outside should've said that name.Before I was able to turn toward the doors, Charlotte had a hand around my arm. "Don't even think about it," she spat, pulling me toward the elevators. "You go out there and they'll suck you dry."I broke loose. "Did you hear what they said?""Of course I did. Which means whoever's feeding t

Chapter 36

OPHELIAThe sound of glass shattering rang in my ears by the time we reached the top floor. The protests outside had escalated to a loud commotion, their shouts cutting through the windows and bleeding into my company's marble hallways.Charlotte closed the door behind us with her hip, two cups of coffee and her laptop bag held in her arms. She dropped everything on the couch at the other corner of the room, and sat down, clearly making herself feel at home."Well," she huffed, removing her heels and extending her toes. "That was fun. Who knew today's cardio would be avoiding bricks and angry interns with Sharpies?"I lowered myself into my chair, pushing my palms into the desk until the wood creaked. "They're not interns,” I muttered. “They're being fed.""Fed?" Charlotte asked, unzipping her laptop bag, as she got up and sat in theseat across me. "By who? Ghosts? Demons? The marketing department at Netflix?""Charlotte.""Okay, okay," she said as she turned her laptop on, her finger

Chapter 37

ALESSANDREThe boardroom emptied like vultures dispersing after a meal. Papers shuffled, chairs scraped against the floor, and polite goodbyes were spoken in voices too strained to be genuine. But I didn't get up, lounging back in my chair instead, my gaze locked on Luciana across the table.She was picking up her tablet, her back too rigid, and lips compressed too firmly. Calculated. Always calculated."Luciana," I purred, my voice silky smooth.She froze without raising her head. "Yes, Mr. Marcello?"I rose, slow and deliberate, and rounded the table until I towered just close enough to cast a shadow across her form. "Tell me—how long have you been rehearsing those lines?"Her eyebrows rose, and finally, she lifted her eyes to meet mine. "Excuse me?" she asked, obviously flustered by my question."The ones you served up in there. Spin. Substitution. Sacrifice." My voice was low, but the deadly edge in it was unmistakeable. "Too tidy. Too rehearsed. Almost as though you were waitin

Chapter 38

OPHELIACharlotte burst into my office as if she were commanding a military expedition, two mugs of coffee clutched in her hands and flames in her eyes."Sweetheart," she declared, slamming the cups onto my desk with a flourish, "hell hath no fury like an angry hashtag. Guess what's trending number one now?"I didn't look up from the papers spread out on my desk. "Let me guess. #WrenFall, still?” I muttered sarcastically.She grinned. "Oh, we've leveled up,” she said with over exaggerated glee. “Now it's #WrenCollapse. Congratulations, your life is a franchise."I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Charlotte."But she was already pulling out her laptop and flipping it open as if she'd been waiting for the opportunity to do so. "I did another trace on the Phoenix drops."As soon as that name came out, I bristled. "Phoenix."Charlotte's gaze leapt up to mine. "Yes, Phoenix,” she cofirmed. “You told me to dig deeper, didn't you?"I swallowed hard. "And?" I asked nerovously.Her fingers clic

Chapter 39

OPHELIASix years ago.The gown didn’t feel like it belonged to me. It felt borrowed. And although the silk was comfortable against my skin, and for however brief,made me feel beautiful, it was to heavy.In the metaphorical sense obviously.I looked at myself in the mirror, and even though my refection assured me I looked the part, I still felt like a fucking stranger in my body.For fucks sake,what was I thinking agreeing to attend this ball?"Breathe," Charlotte urged softly, tracing her fingers along the sequined cuff that crept down my shoulder. Her voice was tight with nerves too but she was better than me and covered her discomfort with laughter. "It's not a firing squad. It's a ballroom.""A ballroom full of billionaires," I muttered, tugging on the hem of the dress. "Who eat girls like me for breakfast."Charlotte caught my hand. "No. They choke on girls like you." She nodded her head toward the double doors to the gala. "Just don't let them see you bleed, okay?"I nodded in a

Chapter 40

OPHELIAI was getting sick and tired of Luna and Remi consantly hovering around me, and I was going to blow if someone didn’t take them away from me.Remi managed to walk beside me, wearing her trademark sweet and venomous smile."So," she purred, "you're the girl. The experiment."I blinked. "Excuse me?"She tilted her head. "That's what we're going to call you. His experiment. To know if the king can turn a lab mouse into a queen."Charlotte choked over her drink. "Ha ha,” she said aftershe’d recomposed herself. I thought experiments required brains. I guess you're still fallig short of that, Remi."Remi's eyes narrowed at Charlotte.Alessandre returned right at the moment she was about to let out anotherscathing remark, saving her from my nails in her eyes. His hand stroked my back. It was subtle, but not quite enough to reduce the effect his touch had on me. "Let's go for a walk," he whispered, taking me away before Charlotte could follow through on her threat to splash Remi with

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