All Chapters of The CEO'S Unexpected Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

First Person POV – LuciaThe car was too quiet.I sat beside Ryan in the back seat, both of us dressed for war.. or something close to it.. but neither saying a word.My eyes stayed on the window, watching the city lights blur past, even though my thoughts were too loud to focus on anything outside.He came home late last night. I heard the door creak open around midnight, the sound of his shoes hitting the floor with that controlled rhythm he always walked with. I’d already been lying in bed, pretending to sleep.When I cracked my eyes open, I saw him standing by the door, his blazer still on, tie slightly loosened, tension clinging to his shoulders like armor. He looked... drained.But I didn’t ask.Because I was still too caught in my own mess.The news. The whispers. My name next to the word criminal again.Evelyn and Johanna had taken everything from me once.. and now, even after all this time, they were still finding ways to drag me into the dirt. To turn me into the villain i

First Person POV – LuciaI was dreaming of him.Theo.His hand was brushing against my cheek, soft and warm, the way he used to do before everything went dark. Before the hand that used to hold mine let go and let the world destroy me. In the dream, he was still that version of him. Gentle. Familiar. And I was still the girl who trusted too easily.His lips were close.He whispered something I couldn’t hear.And then—just like that—his face shifted.Ryan’s mouth replaced his. His touch replaced Theo’s.The kiss we shared at the gala.Real. Too real.My heart jolted, and I sat up straight in bed, breath stuck in my throat.“Wake up,” I muttered under my breath. “What the hell is wrong with you?”It was an act.A show.Ryan kissed me because he had to. Because the media needed a headline that didn’t tear me apart.Not because he wanted to.Not because it meant anything.So why was it still in my head?Why did I feel like that kiss had touched something I hadn’t let anyone reach in yea

First Person POV – LuciaFor some reason, the air felt even more tense the second Ryan’s eyes locked with mine.I stepped back from Carl almost instinctively. Just a few inches, but it was enough to make everything feel awkward and exposed. My back brushed the wall gently, grounding me.I didn’t even know what I expected.Ryan to lash out?To smirk and pretend he didn’t care?To walk away like he usually does, cold and unreadable?I stood there, frozen, still caught in the feeling of Carl’s fingers on my cheek, but even more caught in the weight of Ryan’s stare. I didn’t dare speak first. My mind was racing through a thousand things.. none of them helpful.. when Carl’s voice broke the silence.“Well, that’s one way to make an entrance.”Ryan didn’t blink. “Don’t touch her again.”Carl tilted his head like he hadn’t heard him right. “You’re acting like I did something wrong.”“You know exactly what you’re doing Carl,” Ryan said. His voice was low and even, but I could see the tight

First Person POV – LuciaThe first thing I heard was the sound of water running.It was faint at first, like it was miles away. But the steady rhythm grew louder as I blinked my eyes open, squinting against the soft morning light streaming in from the open blinds.The bathroom light was on.The shower was on.And then it hit me.Last night.I pulled the blanket tighter around me, suddenly too aware of the silence, the mess, the storm that hadn’t just happened outside, but inside me. My body ached in that unmistakable way—my legs sore, skin hypersensitive, lips still tingling from how his had moved against them.I wasn’t just tired.I was completely… stripped.Emotionally.Mentally.Physically.I’d let Ryan in.Willingly.And not just into my body.The thought alone made my chest pull tight.I lay there for a second longer, still trying to process it all. My heart was somewhere between confused and embarrassed—nostalgic and stupid.And it made everything worse that I couldn’t stop thin

First Person POV – LuciaIt was dark. Too quiet. The kind of silence that made your ears ring like they were begging for sound.I was lying in bed, eyes wide open, flat on my back. Ryan was beside me, breathing deep and steady like always, his chest rising and falling like he had no idea the world was unraveling three inches to his left.Of course he didn’t.Of course he could sleep through this.My fingers gripped the edge of the blanket so tight it hurt. I wasn’t sobbing. Wasn’t panicking. But my skin felt wrong.. like it was stretched too tight over everything I didn’t want to feel.My mind wouldn’t stop.Lily’s words.That photo.The way my mother had smiled.. so young, so alive.. and the woman next to her... Ryan’s aunt.How the hell had he not told me?And what else hadn’t he told me?I turned my head just slightly and looked at him in the dark. He looked peaceful. Like he hadn’t kissed me like he meant it. Like he hadn’t touched me like I was real, like I mattered. And then