All Chapters of The Billionaire's Unwanted Wife : Chapter 181 - Chapter 190

~ ALISTAIR ~I stayed where I was until Vitale's car vanished from view. Absolute surprise mixed with deep suspicion had entirely locked my limbs in place as I witnessed the impossible—Antonio Vitale, the ruthless monolith who ruled an international empire with an iron fist, was physically shaking.After we exited Isla's suite, I had received an overseas call that demanded my full attention, so I stepped away and left him in the hospital lounge. But when I was about to head back, I saw him cornering Alice near the parking lot. He had gripped her arm as if she were a ghost slipping through his fingers. And Alice—who had appeared entirely composed when she arrived—had gone deathly pale, a flash of panic fracturing her features before she forcefully yanked herself away and vanished into the labyrinth of vehicles.Allison. That was the name torn from Antonio Vitale’s throat like a ragged plea—a tone of raw, desperate vulnerability that sounded completely foreign coming from him. He had sp

~ ALISTAIR ~The words that spilled from Vitale's mouth filled the room, thick enough to choke on.I didn't say a word right away. I just set my glass down—slowly—the ice clinking softly against the heavy crystal, and stared at him with a knife-like gaze. A sharp wave of disbelief and suspicion hit me, surging like a tide. Why would he suddenly bring up my mother?Instantly, my mind flashed back to a few weeks ago. Antonio had been sitting in my executive office to present a high-stakes investment for the Manhattan project when my mother walked in unannounced. The temperature in the room had plummeted the moment their eyes met. I remembered the sudden, suffocating silence that fell over them—the unspoken history, the sharp tension, the bitter hostility radiating between two people who clearly weren't strangers. It didn't look like a meeting between high-society acquaintances. They looked like two survivors of a violent, buried past.I had suspected something back then. Sitting across

~ ALISTAIR ~My mother's expression didn't shift the moment I dropped those words. She kept her composure intact, looking at me with the same confused expression she always used when she wanted to play innocent. But I didn't miss the small flicker in her eyes—a split-second twitch of her pupils before she hid it.That tiny reaction was all the answer I needed."What does that girl's death have to do with me?" she asked, her tone laced with a sharp, defensive edge. "Why are you bringing up a dead woman in my bedroom?""I just thought you'd care," I replied, keeping my voice completely level. "Considering the two of you were close enough to do business together in Biogen."Her jaw tightened for a fraction of a second, but she didn't admit a thing. She didn't act surprised, and she certainly didn't express an ounce of pity for Lindsay."I don't know what foolish rumors you're listening to, but I have no interest in that girl or her company," she snapped, waving her hand dismissively.She

~ ANTONIO ~The small woven basket in Alice's hands slipped from her fingers. It hit the wooden floorboards with a soft thud, sending dried lavender and chamomile scattering across her doorway.She didn't look down. Her eyes locked onto mine, and in an instant, I watched her initial shock warp into absolute rage.Underneath that blazing anger, though, I didn't miss the faint, tiny tremor in her fingers or the sudden, shallow hitch in her chest. She was panicking internally. It was subtle, almost unnoticeable—the kind only a man who had memorized every inch of her twenty-six years ago would ever recognize. She was trying to bury it under a wall of fire, hoping I would see only her rage and back down.I swallowed past the lump in my throat and stepped up onto the porch steps. My chest felt agonizingly tight. For decades, I had viewed her through the bitter lens of a man who believed he had been abandoned, left alone with the ashes of a destroyed life. I used to tell myself she was a gho

~ ALLISON ~Silence stretched between us, thick and suffused with a dangerous tension.The sheer, staggering audacity of his question left me momentarily speechless. The nerve of this man—marching onto my property after so many years of absence, dragging up every buried ghost of my past, and then having the gall to demand an account of my personal life!A dark, hot wave of fury surged through my veins, incinerating the last remnants of my sorrow."That," I bit out, my voice dripping with cold venom, "is none of your damn business."Antonio didn't retreat from my retort. Instead, he slowly straightened his posture, his dark eyes fixed on mine as he reached down with maddening composure to adjust the lapels of his tailored suit jacket."Since Richard was kind enough to invite me for breakfast," he said in a tone that was shockingly smooth, almost offhand, "I believe I'll accept. I haven't eaten a proper meal since yesterday."Before I could even process the absurdity of his words, he to