All Chapters of Billionaire’s Pretend Wife To Be: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The air was still and cool, thick with the scent of damp earth and late-blooming roses. It was well past eleven, and the Conti Manor was asleep, its windows dark except for the occasional security light tracing geometric patterns across the expansive lawns. I pulled my thin silk wrap tighter, feeling exposed and slightly ridiculous standing alone at the mouth of the small, vine-covered stone grotto near the old hedge maze.I feel like a character in a spy novel, sneaking around my own home. But if Lucas is right, and this surprise is about making Alessandro happy, then it’s worth the risk. He’s been so distant since... since we broke the rules. Maybe this retro-party is the bridge back to the man who held me in the dark.A shadow detached itself from the deeper gloom inside the grotto."Lucas?" I whispered."Elara. Thank you for coming," he replied, his voice low and strained. He wasn't dressed in his usual crisp corporate uniform; he was wearing dark, casual clothes that made him loo

The rented office space was a sterile box on the ninth floor of a generic financial building, a perfect anonymous container for the final act of malice. Victoria sat at the executive desk, the only light source the cold, blue luminescence of her high-end monitor. She checked the final encrypted package one last time. Every pixel, every frame, every time-stamp had been meticulously manipulated. It was flawless.The images were high-resolution, damning, showing Elara leaning into Lucas’s space, her head bowed in a manner that, when paired with Lucas’s comforting gesture, looked like secret, passionate relief. The deepfake video clips were seamlessly integrated, crafting an visually undeniable narrative of a clandestine rendezvous and betrayal. The anonymous proxy chain was robust, untraceable, designed to look like a desperate leak from within the Conti organization, the work of a disgruntled employee seeking to expose a corrupted CEO.She checked the time displayed in the corner of her

The front doors of the Manor didn't just open; they were violently thrown back against the marble archway, the shudder rattling the crystal chandelier hanging twenty feet above the foyer. The sound of rapid, heavy, unforgiving steps echoed through the usually silent halls.Elara was in the sunken living room, reviewing the plans for the upcoming family dinner, a gentle smile on her face as she anticipated Alessandro’s return from the Board meeting. The abrupt noise, followed by the terrifying sight of Alessandro storming toward her, froze the smile on her lips.He wasn't merely angry; he was a glacier that had begun to crack, radiating a cold so intense it burned. His face was rigid, devoid of the softening she had seen in the last few weeks, replaced by the razor-sharp contempt of the CEO she first met.“Alessandro? What happened? Did the meeting go badly?” she asked, standing quickly and dropping the papers.He stopped three feet from her, his breathing shallow and rapid, his eyes b

The iron gates of the Conti Manor closed with a soft, definitive thud that echoed the sealing of a tomb. It wasn't the violent clang of a prison, but the quiet, dignified sound of immense wealth protecting itself from contamination. Elara was on the outside.The air was sharp and cold, carrying the damp scent of imminent rain. She stood on the curb of the quiet, exclusive street, the sheer shock keeping her rooted to the pavement. Above the high stone wall and the thick privacy hedges, the colossal Manor was dark, already receding into a cold, untouchable silhouette.(I’m standing here. I’m wearing an evening dress. It’s midnight. And I am utterly, absolutely alone.)She was in the designer dress Alessandro had bought her—a thin silk sheath that now felt less like luxury and more like a cruel joke. Her feet, cramped inside delicate, expensive heels, ached instantly on the rough asphalt. She had no coat, no handbag, no keys, and critically, no phone. Harrison, in his meticulous executi

The air in my office felt sterilized, exactly how I preferred it. I sat behind the immense, obsidian desk, a fortress of corporate power, reviewing the initial legal documents for Elara’s expulsion. Termination of Contract C-79. Breach of Fidelity Clause. The words were cold, clean, and offered a clinical finality that my mind craved. The physical act of signing these papers was the only thing preventing me from shattering. I had reverted to the machine, focusing on the metrics of containment. Lucas’s accounts were frozen. The board was in a state of controlled panic, but that was manageable. Everything was manageable, now that the liability, Elara—was gone.A sound, not of a chime or a polite knock, but of the outer door being thrown open with contemptuous force, ripped through the quiet.“What in God’s name do you think you’ve done, Alessandro?”It was Arthur. He strode in, shedding his jacket onto a leather chair like it was refuse, his face a mask of purple-tinged fury I hadn't se