บททั้งหมดของ The Billionaire's Legal Wife : บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

The mansion was silent, too silent. Celine stood in the hallway outside Duke’s home office, the storm outside tapping lightly against the glass. She should have gone to bed. She should have walked away, packed her bags, and left this gilded prison behind. But sleep was impossible when her mind kept replaying Alexandra’s words. “You don’t even know you’re his real wife, do you?” Her heart had denied it, but her instincts whispered otherwise. Now, with the house dark and Duke nowhere in sight, she found herself gripping the brass doorknob to his office. The faint scent of cedar and whiskey met her as she stepped inside. The room was immaculate, everything arranged with Duke’s usual precision. Books lined the walls, a decanter of half-empty scotch glinted under lamplight, and his desk sat like an altar in the center of the chaos he called empire. Celine hesitated. Her pulse drummed hard. “You’re only going to confirm it,” she whispered to herself. “You need to know.” She

“Where are you going?” Duke’s voice cut through the phone. “Does it matter?” Her voice cracked halfway through, betraying the steadiness she tried to fake as she put down her phone beside her. “I think it does,” Duke said, his tone low but dangerous, like he was barely holding himself together on the other end. “You’re my wife, Celine.” She spun around then, eyes blazing with fury and disbelief. “Don’t call me that!” Her voice trembled, but not from fear from rage. “You made me your wife on paper, Duke. You didn’t ask me. You didn’t give me a choice. You just, used me!" Duke’s jaw clenched. He stepped forward, each movement. “I did what I had to do. To protect what I built.” “Yes, I know!" Celine shot back. “And I'm just another asset in your empire. Another deal you could sign off without my consent." He said nothing. Celine turned back to her suitcase, shoving in the last of her clothes with trembling hands. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt. She could still see the marr

“Mr. Austen?” The name came out trembling from her assistant’s mouth, like a prayer and a curse all at once. Celine looked up from her sketchpad, heart skipping a beat at the name she hadn’t heard spoken in months—at least, not aloud. She forced herself to stay composed, lowering her pencil with deliberate calm before turning toward the doorway. And there he was. Duke Austen stood in the small studio, looking impossibly out of place among the white walls, rolls of fabric, and the faint smell of coffee and glue. The man who once commanded boardrooms and bent markets with a glance now looked... human. His suit was immaculate, but his eyes—those storm-gray eyes she used to fear and love in equal measure were tired. “Good afternoon,” he said softly, as if afraid his voice might shatter something fragile in the air. Celine blinked, keeping her face unreadable. “We’re closed to walk-ins.” “I’m not a walk-in,” he replied, his voice steady but gentle. “I’m your husband.” Her s

The storm hadn’t stopped since they arrived. Rain pounded against the glass walls of Duke’s safehouse—isolated in the mountains, surrounded by mist and silence. The city was miles away, but so was peace. Celine sat curled up on the edge of the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring into the flames of the fireplace. Her body was safe, but her heart wasn’t. She didn’t look up when Duke entered. He had changed out of his soaked clothes—now in a dark sweater and sweatpants, barefoot, his usual armor of arrogance nowhere to be seen. “You should rest,” he said quietly. “You’ve been through too much tonight.” “I’ve been through too much since the day I met you,” she replied, her tone flat. Duke stopped halfway across the room. His jaw tensed. “You make it sound like knowing me was a mistake.” Celine finally looked at him. “Wasn’t it?” He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe for both of us.” “Then why did you come back?” she shot back. “You could’ve let me l

“Mr. Austen, the board has reached a decision.” The voice was flat, rehearsed—too calm for something so devastating. Duke’s jaw clenched as the chairman’s words. “You’re being relieved of your position as CEO of Austen Holdings, effective immediately.” The silence that followed was unbearable. No one moved. No one dared breathe. The empire he had built from his father’s legacy, the company he had given his life to protect—was now slipping from his grasp. Celine stood at the edge of the room, her fingers clutching the hem of her blouse. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Duke had told her to stay out of this mess. But when she saw the crowd of reporters waiting outside, the stock values crashing on every screen, and the tightness in Duke’s jaw as he faced the board, she couldn’t stop herself. “On what grounds?” Duke’s voice cut through the tension, low and cold. “I’ve done nothing but secure this company from collapse. Every risk I took was to—” “Protect your wife?” one of the