All Chapters of BILLIONAIRE’S REVENGE BRIDE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The rain hadn’t stopped since morning. It drummed softly against the tall windows of our penthouse, a sound I used to find soothing before but now it only made the silence heavier. Shawn had left early, as he always did. No goodbye kiss. No “see you tonight.” Just the faint scent of his cologne lingering in the hallway and the echo of the front door closing behind him. For three years, that silence had grown like a shadow between us. I used to believe that love could heal everything that what we had was strong enough to outlast the world’s disapproval. My family warned me that he was too cold, too calculating. But I saw what they didn’t. I saw the man who stayed up with me when I couldn’t sleep, who remembered every small thing that made me smile, who held my hand like it was something sacred. That man hasn’t been home for months. I stared at my reflection in the kitchen window,my loose hair, hollow eyes , robe still wrapped around me though it was almost noon. There was a t

The silence between us was suffocating.He stood there like he belonged tall, composed, his tailored suit absorbing the morning light while I stood barefoot in an oversized T-shirt, holding the truth that could destroy what was left of my life.My throat was too dry to speak. “How did you… how did you even find me?”Slade’s eyes swept over me once not cruelly, but calculating, like he was memorizing a secret. “Finding people is easy when you have the right resources.”“That doesn’t answer my question,” I snapped.He stepped closer, slow, deliberate. “I remembered your name. I made a few calls. I had to be sure you were all right.”“All right?” I laughed, hollow and sharp. “I’m pregnant with a stranger’s child. Nothing about this is all right.”Something brief flickered in his eyes. “You weren’t supposed to be alone in this.”I shook my head, anger breaking through the fear. “We barely know each other. You don’t owe me anything.”“You’re right,” he said quietly. “But maybe I want to.”

Ariana’s POV The next few days passed in a blur of silence, signatures, and silk dresses. Since I’d signed the contract, Slade had barely spoken more than a few sentences to me. He moved through the mansion like a ghost always composed and always unreachable. The staff treated him like royalty, and me like a guest who wasn’t supposed to stay too long. It was easier that way. Or so I told myself. But every time I caught his reflection in the glass, every time I heard his voice from another room, something in me twisted as a constant reminder that I’d stepped into a life that wasn’t mine, one built on revenge, not love. On the fourth evening, his assistant, Evelyn, appeared at my door with a garment bag. “Mr. Knight asked me to deliver this,” she said. “You’ll need it for the gala tonight.” “Gala?” I repeated, blinking. “Yes. The annual Knight Foundation event. It’s his first public appearance in over a year and now, yours too.” My heart stuttered. “Does the whole ci

Ariana’s POVSlade’s hand swallowed mine as he guided us away from the announcement podium, his expression unreadable and carved from ice, perfected for the cameras. I didn’t know what the rest of the night still held, and honestly, I didn’t care.All I could hear were Shawn’s words, each one like a shard of glass embedded under my skin."Did you even wait a week before climbing into his bed?"The ballroom flashed with lights, faces, champagne, endless murmurs that blurred together until they no longer sounded like words but just noise pushing against my ears.“Breathe,” Slade muttered barely above a whisper, as if annoyed that I was forgetting the basic function of lungs. “We’re almost done.”We.The word tasted strange.He kept me close, a little too close, as we made our final rounds shaking hands, pretending and smiling because that’s what people like us….no, people like him were expected to do.My smiles were brittle. My cheeks hurt. My heart throbbed.But no one could tell.Tha

Ariana’s POV“I turned back angrily and.......”I walked straight into Slade’s chest.Hard.Like the universe itself had teleported him in front of me just to make my day worse.He didn’t move but just raised one eyebrow in that infuriatingly calm way of his, as if I had bumped into him on purpose.“Are you done being dramatic?” he asked.“I’m sorry me?” I sputtered. “You salted your own coffee with your face.”“That sentence makes no sense.”“Neither do you!”We stared at each other, breathing the same air, equally irritated, equally stubborn and unwilling to be the first to step back.It was the kind of silence that wasn’t silent at all.It vibrated with every unspoken insult we’d thrown at each other that day.Slade opened his mouthThen both our phones buzzed.At the exact same time.The vibration was sharp, insistent, like the world itself had decided to interrupt our fight because something worse was coming.Slade checked his phone first.A muscle in his jaw jumped.His entire