All Chapters of The Billionaire's Substitute Bride : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

SOPHIA Love and Guilt.The apartment smells like dust and damp paint. It creaks at night. The lights flicker sometimes like they’re tired, too. I don’t know who lived here before me. I don’t think they cared much about fixing things. But it’s mine for now. And it’s far. Far enough from him. Far enough from the mansion. Far enough from everything that broke.I didn’t take much when I left. Just a duffel bag and my coat. I forgot half my shoes. I forgot my charger. I forgot to breathe properly for days.The mornings are the worst.I wake up too early. The sun doesn’t even touch the window yet. My body jerks me up before my mind is ready. And then it starts again.The nausea.I crawl to the bathroom some mornings. Hands trembling against the cold tile. My knees were bruised from the linoleum. I don’t even think about it anymore, I just move. Then I vomit. Gasping and dry-heaving like I’m being punished for something.I thought it was stress. It has to be. That’s what I told myself. You

SOPHIA All the blood in the world.I don’t remember leaving the room.One second I was staring at Benjamin like he’d slapped me, and the next, I was in the elevator, fingers trembling over the buttons like they didn’t remember how to move. My chest felt hollow and burning, like something had been scooped out of me. Like something vital.My hands shook so bad I almost dropped my phone. I didn’t even know what I was trying to do. Call someone? Call Ricci? No. No. There was no time. I felt it in my gut like a scream trying to claw its way out.She was going to kill him.Not with her hands. That would be too clean. Too simple. Sara—or Adelina or whoever the hell she really was—she would bury him in blood and data.I pressed against the back door of the mansion and slipped in through the shadows.My heart pounded so loud I thought it’d give me away.The house smelled wrong. Like smoke. Like metal. Something bitter and sharp.It was already happening.Gunshots rang out from upstairs—pop po

SOPHIA What's left for us?He woke up.He really woke up.I watched him blink up at me, slow and unsure like a man lost in a dream. His eyes were unfocused at first, and then they were n’t—they were on me.They were holding me.And I smiled.But something broke inside of me at the same time.Because he didn’t know.Not yet.Not about the baby. Not about what I did. Not about how the whole damn world fell apart around him because of me. Because I showed up. Because I stayed. Because I loved him.They came in right after. The nurses. The doctor. All those white coats with quick hands and calm voices, checking vitals and shining lights into his eyes. I stepped back, just a little, but I kept my hand in his. He tried to follow me with his eyes. I could see the panic in them, the way his brows drew in, like he thought I was leaving already.I wasn’t. Not yet.The doctor said he needed rest. He had a concussion, fractured ribs, and something about an infection they were watching. They spok

RICCI It had been a few days since my body stopped aching since the monitors were unplugged and the nurses stopped hovering. I was officially "recovered."But nothing felt whole.The rest of me? Shattered in places no X-ray could catch.My heart sank lower if that was even possible. Heavy. Constant. Like a bruise, you can't stop pressing.The officer stood near the door now, arms folded, tapping something into his phone like this was just another case. Another day. Another man going down. I almost laughed.Almost.The nurse finished adjusting my IV and gave me this look-one of those soft, pity-laced stares. I hated it. I didn't want pity. I wanted-Her.One more glance. One more word. One more thing. But she was gone.When they finally came back for me, it wasn't dramatic. No guns. No shouting. Just two officers with firm expressions and a paper for me to sign that I didn't even bother reading. I scribbled my name like it meant nothing.Because it didn't. Not anymore.Leo visited twi

MALTIDA “Mr. Williams, Mr. Carmichael, and Mr. Northwest,” I counted quietly as I carefully poured tea into delicate china cups. My hands trembled slightly, but I blamed it on the heat from the kettle.Three cups. Each with its own little ritual. I reached for the sugar cubes- three extra for Mr. Carmichael. He was such a sweet tooth. Always has been. I tucked the sugar in carefully, stirring just enough without clinking the spoon too loud.The tray was heavier than usual. Or maybe I was just tired. I held my breath and walked toward the sitting room where voices buzzed low and sharp like insects around blood.They barely looked up as I entered, but I felt their eyes on me when I bent to place the cups down.Mr. Carmichael took his cup before I even finished setting the tray down.“Perfect,” He said after a sip. I smiled—like I was supposed to. Like I didn’t know these men were monsters dressed in expensive suits. My eyes flicked to the untouched cup beside Mr. Williams. He was alwa