Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire’s Betrayed Bride: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

AIDEN'S POV The moment I saw her eyes flutter open, my chest squeezed tight. I had been sitting in the corner of the hospital room, hands clasped together, trying not to pace, trying not to think of every worst-case scenario. But now… now she is awake. Alive.Her gaze was unfocused at first, scanning the room as if it was unfamiliar. I felt my stomach drop.“Riley?” I asked gently, moving closer. My voice was careful, soft, afraid of startling her.She blinked rapidly, then tilted her head slightly, studying me like I was a stranger.“Who… are you?” she asked, voice still weak, almost playful.I froze. What?The question shouldn’t have stung. She had just survived a near-fatal car crash. But my throat went dry.“It's Aiden.” I said.“And you are?” She arched her brow.“I—I’m… your husband,” I said carefully, choosing my words like they were fragile glass.It was wrong of me to have said that, but that was the only explanation I could think of.“Husband?” she repeated, one brow arch

RILEY'S POV The room felt quieter than it had minutes ago.I set the yogurt aside, my fingers tracing the edge of the cup. My eyes kept flicking to Aiden. He didn’t push or hover, he stayed. That was something. It felt like more than safety. Like… presence.“I don’t remember anything about him,” I said quietly, almost to myself. “About what happened before the crash. About… us.”Aiden’s gaze softened. He leaned slightly forward, his hand still holding mine loosely. “It doesn’t matter what you remember,” he said. “You’re here now. You’re safe now. And… you’re not alone.”Something in his voice made my chest tighten. Not fear or pain. Something else. I realized it was comfort, the kind of comfort I hadn’t allowed myself in years.I wanted to tell him that. But how could I? I barely remembered being me, let alone explaining the chaos of the last few months. Still, my heart betrayed me with a quickened pace. I felt a strange urge to touch him, to reach out and see if the warmth I felt

AIDEN'S POV The first thing Riley did when she woke again was look at her hands.She lifted them slowly, turning them over like they belonged to someone else. Her fingers were pale, delicate, trembling slightly, and I had to resist the urge to take them into my own hands, to steady them, to tell her she was safe.I had been sitting beside her bed for what felt like hours, pretending to read an email I hadn’t processed, fingers tapping idly against my laptop.In reality, I’d been memorizing the smallest details in the room, the way her hair fell over the pillow, the slight curve of her shoulders, the soft rise and fall of her chest.Her eyes fluttered toward me.“Do they hurt?” I asked quietly, my voice carefully measured, trying not to startle her.She startled slightly, then smiled when she saw me. That small, lopsided smile that had always undone me.“Oh. It’s you. The charming husband,” she said, tilting her head as if studying me.My throat went dry. Still charming, still alive.

RILEY'S POV When I was done eating, Claire brought out our photos in a worn brown envelope.She didn’t announce them dramatically. She just sat on the edge of my hospital bed, brushed imaginary lint from her jeans, and said casually, “I figured you might want proof that you were once ridiculous.”I smiled despite myself. “Was I?”“Oh, extremely,” she replied. “And loud. And opinionated. Honestly, you were exhausted.”“Past tense?”She smirked. “Debatable.”She slid the first photo out.Two girls stood in front of a faded school building. One had her arm thrown over the other’s shoulders. Both were laughing hard enough that their eyes were squeezed shut.“That’s you,” Claire said, pointing. “And that’s me pretending not to enjoy your nonsense.”I stared at the image. The girl who was supposed to be me looked fearless.Messy ponytail, wrinkled uniform. Scraped knee. Her smile was unrestrained.“That doesn’t feel like me,” I whispered.Claire tilted her head. “It is. You just forgot.”

RILEY'S POV The car ride home felt longer than it should have.I kept my eyes on the passing streets, trying to recognize landmarks, waiting for something to spark, a memory, a feeling, anything that would tell me I belonged to this city. But everything slid past like scenery in a movie I’d walked into halfway through.Aiden drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely on his thigh. He didn’t fill the silence with useless words. Every so often, he glanced at me, his expression careful, attentive, like he was monitoring something fragile. Me.My fingers stayed curled around the hem of my sweater, unconsciously guarding my stomach. The baby.That part of me felt real in a way everything else didn’t.“You don’t have to go inside right away,” Aiden said quietly as he pulled into the parking lot of my building.His voice was steady, but I heard the question underneath it.I swallowed.“I do,” I said. “If I hesitate, I might change my mind about going in.”He nodded, respe