All Chapters of The Billionaire's Proxy Bride : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Damon finally tore his attention away from the oven door and lowered himself slightly to Isa’s height, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.“Go tell Grandma I’m back” Isa nodded so hard her hair smacked the back of her neck. She darted out of the kitchen immediately, brushing past Suzy’s hip without even sparing her a glance. Her small feet slapped against the polished floor as she disappeared down the hallway.The second Isa was out of sight, Damon’s posture shifted—shoulders dropping, head straightening, breathing hitching slightly like he’d been holding something down while she was in the room. And then, with a smooth practiced movement, he stepped toward Lena and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Lena felt her body freeze at the touch. The gesture felt wrong—public, performative, a message meant for Suzy rather than her. But still, some instinct made her stand still, letting it happen even as something inside her tightened sharply.And who was she, she wondered bitterly, to even fli

AMARA — BEFOREThe walls of the hotel room always smelled faintly of bergamot and cedar—his cologne soaked into the curtains, the pillows, the very air. This place was ours. Our hiding place. Our escape.Away from my father.Away from the rest of the world.Away from Damon Hale, whose name I hadn’t spoken aloud yet but now hung like smoke between us.But today, nothing felt like escape. Not with the way he stood in front of me, still as a blade, holding the newspaper like it had personally betrayed him.“What’s this supposed to mean?” he asked.His voice was calm.The gray in his eyes darkened as he stared at the photo: Damon and me leaving an event, his hand resting lightly on my back. And still, he looked at it like he wanted to burn a hole through the page.I didn’t answer.His jaw tightened, once, sharply.Then his voice rose—rare for him, but sharp enough to slice the air.“It doesn’t mean anything,” I said quickly, keeping my gaze away from his.My heart thudded in my chest. Not

What followed the days leading up to the wedding blurred together in soft, overlapping images — fittings, schedules, hushed phone calls, flowers arriving too early and being sent away again. But before the chaos could fully swallow her, the okay things came first. Lena stood in a quiet corner of the house, elevated slightly on a small platform, while the last pins were adjusted at her waist. Her hands rested lightly at her sides as she stared at her reflection, trying to recognize the woman looking back at her.The door creaked open.“Oh my.”Evelyn appeared in the doorway, holding up what looked like a tape recording, her face lighting up the instant her eyes landed on Lena. She froze where she stood for half a second, just taking it in.The tailors had been flown in from France days ago in regards for the necessary fittings to begin seamlessly. Prior to their arrival, there had been talk of flying Lena to their studio in Paris but Evelyn had shut that down immediately. Nothing must

“What the fuck are you driving at blowing up my goddamn phone?” Damon spat the moment the line connected.His voice echoed slightly in the corridor, sharp against the polished quiet of the house. He turned instinctively, pressing his back to the wall, eyes scanning the hallway even though no one was there. His grip tightened around the phone, thumb pressing hard against the edge of the screen, knuckle whitening.“Think you’re on some kind of God complex,” he continued, lowering his voice as footsteps sounded somewhere farther down the hall, “because of this stupid ultimatum—” The last word came out in a whisper, hissed through his teeth as he glanced around again.Then Richard laughed.It slid through the speaker slow and amused, like he had all the time in the world and Damon was simply killing it for him.“You know this popular saying, Damon?” He started smoothly. “You’re a smart boy, so I think you should know.” A pause — just long enough to make Damon’s jaw tense. “To get a mouse

As the jet dipped toward New York airport, the city revealed itself in sharp lines and muted colors.By the time the wheels touched the runway, Damon already had his phone out, fingers moving with brisk precision. Whatever calm he’d pretended to have on the flight had evaporated. He was all edges now.A driver was waiting for them by the time they exited the private terminal, a black car idling quietly at the curb. The cold New York air cut through Lena’s clothes as soon as they stepped outside, biting at her cheeks, grounding her in the moment.Before either of them could reach for the door handle, Damon stopped.He turned to her suddenly, his body angled fully toward hers, blocking her path—not physically, but with the weight of his presence. His face had hardened into something unreadable.“You’re not coming with me.”It wasn’t phrased like a question. There was no room in his tone for discussion. It sounded like a command, like a decision that had been made long before he’d even sp