All Chapters of The Billionaire's Substitute Bride : Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

RICCI “What did you just say?”My voice cracked before I could catch it. I checked the caller ID. Gus. It was Gus. I wasn’t sure if the tears came before or after the name, but they were already sliding down.“Sir, it's about Sophia,,” Gus said, breathless like he’d been running. Everything around me stopped. The walls, the TV, the damned wine glass still sweating in my hand. I pressed the phone closer, as if that’d help me hear the words I already feared.“What the fuck is it, Gus?”“I think she’s alive, sir.”Alive?The air left my lungs. For a moment, I thought I'd imagined it. Maybe I was finally losing my mind. But Gus didn’t waver.“You better not be bullshitting me, Gus.”“I wouldn’t dare, sir.”I sat down…. Perhaps I couldn’t trust my legs any longer. My hands were trembling now, and I didn’t care if it made me look weak or pathetic…..All I could feel now was the four-letter word- hope.“Where is she?”“With the data I traced… Her last known location was Stamford, Connecticu

MIKE They dragged me down the stairs like I weighed nothing. My feet barely touched the ground as my body was limp, not from surrender, but from sheer shock.Everything was still black—suffocating, scratchy, and hot all at once. The cloth, still stretched over my head like some grotesque blindfold, stank of oil and sweat. I couldn’t scream. Couldn’t see. Couldn’t even form a full thought. My knees scraped concrete as my shoulder rammed against a wall as they maneuvered me through a tight turn. Someone hissed an order in a low voice, and another grunted in reply. Then came the metallic clunk of a van door sliding open. Before I could react, I was roughly shoved forward. My body slamming into the cold metal floor of what I could only guess was the back of a vehicle. Then something, or rather someone, pressed a boot down my spine and pinned me there like an animal while the door slammed shut behind us.The van began to move.I didn’t ask where we were going. I already knew it was now

RICCI “Forgive me if I don’t feel honored.” Benjamin snorted.I stopped puffing and just stared at him. Stared long enough for the cigarette to burn low in my fingers. But I immediately continued when I felt he'd mellowed.“You’re both here because I need help. The kind of help I can’t buy or threaten out of some street rat. You know things. You’ve seen things. You were both close to Sophia… in different ways.”“So this is what, Ricci? Some forced internship? You think we’re gonna solve this for you while you sit back and smoke?”Mike raised an eyebrow.“No,” I said calmly. “I think you’re gonna help me dig through the shitstorm that got her taken. And if you don’t… I’ll make your lives very, very fucking difficult.”“What are you gonna do, huh? Beat us to death with paperwork?” Benjamin scoffed.I smiled coldly. “No, Ben. But I’ll destroy you. You’ll be suffocating under lawsuits and whispers for the rest of your pathetic career. Your name will rot faster than a scandal-ridden politi

MABEL Sophia didn’t need to say a word. Her eyes were doing all the talking.I’d seen them anxious before. Confused and empty all at once. But that morning- a few days ago-they darted like they were looking for something or maybe someone, inside the room that just wasn’t there. A flicker of panic, almost. The kind you get when you feel something important has slipped through your fingers, and you’re too afraid to admit it might be gone for good.That’s when I knew.Yes, she remembered some things. But not everything.And I wasn’t going to press her. Not now ... not ever.I made her tea—just like I always did every morning. Chamomile and honey. I wanted to hold her together with small rituals—warm mugs, clean sheets, quiet mornings. I learned that healing wasn’t always about the big gestures—it was often found in the smallest acts done without question. Quiet, consistent love. The kind you didn’t have to explain.But deep down, I knew those were not enough, something bigger had to be

SOPHIA I’d just stepped out of the mall, a half-melted scoop of vanilla and caramel swirl ice cream slowly dripping down my hand. The paper cup was cold, sticky at the edges. On the other hand, I carried a plastic bag full of things—Cheetos, crackers, a bottle of apple juice, and some hot corn dogs wrapped in foil. All for the boy and his father.How did I get the money? God, don’t ask.Mabel. That woman. Like she had some sixth sense, she'd slipped a few crumpled bills into the pocket of my coat. Didn't say a word about it. Just tucked it in there like a mother who knew better than to ask questions. She never said it out loud, but I think she knew I'd need some air. Or something more than air. I guess I did.I walked the long way back to their spot—the father and son duo that played outside the old diner with a rusted red sign that never lit up anymore. They were there, just like always. The little boy was dancing barefoot on a flattened piece of cardboard, twirling with his arms st