All Chapters of To Hate and To Hold: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The email notification chimed on Elena's phone just as she was forcing down breakfast alone in the dining room. She nearly dropped her spoon. The sender was the Vineyard Trust Bank. The subject line read: Transaction Alert.Her fingers, sticky with jam, fumbled to open it.Credit: $2,000,000.00. From: Thorne Consolidated Holdings. Current Balance: $2,000,817.33.She read the numbers once. Then again. The zeros blurred on the screen. A sound escaped her—a choked gasp. She slapped a hand over her mouth. The other hand held the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white."Mija? Is everything okay?"Her father's voice came through the phone on her other ear. She'd called home ten minutes ago, just to hear a familiar voice. She'd been staring at a bowl of fruit, saying nothing."Papi," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Check the account. Right now.""What? Why? Elena, you're scaring me.""Just check it."She heard the rustle of him putting down the phone, the distant creak of his offic

The week following Cassian’s disruption passed in a tense, muffled silence. Julian was more absent than ever, burying himself in work at Thorne Consolidated. The promised vineyard visit loomed, a spectral reprieve Elena clung to with desperate fingers. But first, there was another performance to endure. “The New York Historical Preservation Society’s Winter Benefit,” Henderson informed her on Thursday morning, placing a heavy, cream-colored envelope beside her breakfast plate. “Tonight. Black tie. Mr. Thorne will return to escort you at seven.” Another gala. Another stage. The memory of Cassian’s cruel appraisal and Julian’s subsequent fury was a fresh bruise. She opened the envelope. The invitation was engraved, coldly elegant. Mr. Julian Thorne and Guest. Guest. That was all she was. A plus-one. An accessory with a two-million-dollar price tag. Julian returned just before seven, a storm cloud in a Brioni tuxedo. He acknowledged her with a curt nod as she descended the stairca

Julian's words hung in the air between them, his hands still gripping Elena's shoulders. The blueprints lay spread across the table behind her, damning evidence of plans she hadn't known existed.Elena shoved him hard making him stumbled back a step, surprise flashing across his face."Don't touch me," her voice shook, but not from fear. It was from rage so pure it felt like fire in her veins. "Don't you dare touch me right now.""Elena, if you would just listen….""Listen? Listen to what? More lies?" She grabbed the nearest blueprint, holding it up between them like a weapon. "Potential expansion,water rights acquisition. You've been planning this the whole time, haven't you?"Julian's jaw clenched. He reached for the tumbler of scotch on his desk and took a long drink. His hand was steady, controlled. Everything about him was controlled except his eyes, which burned with something Elena couldn't name."It's not what you think," he said."Then what is it?" Elena threw the blueprint a

Marco's text message glowed on Elena's phone screen as the car turned onto the highway. *Who is he really, Elena? I saw the prenup online.*She stared at the words until they blurred, her brother's question echoing in her mind. Who was Julian really? Her husband? Her employer? The man who made blueprints of her vineyard in secret? The man who'd asked her to teach him how to be honest?Elena typed and deleted three different responses before giving up. What could she possibly say that wouldn't be another lie?The drive back felt endless. By the time the estate's iron gates appeared, her stomach had twisted itself into knots. She expected Julian to be waiting in his study, cold and furious about the leaked prenup. Expected another fight, more broken glass, more words that cut deeper than they should.What she didn't expect was to find his sleek black Mercedes parked in front of the vineyard's main house when the car pulled up three hours later.Elena's heart stopped. "What?"The driver

The words were still sitting in her chest when they got back to the estate.*Fire him. Or I'll buy the land under his feet and have him trespassed.*Elena went straight to her room — she didn't trust herself to say anything to Julian right now. She sat on the edge of her bed, pressed her palms flat against her thighs, and just breathed.Fire him.Dante, who had shown up before dawn every harvest season for seven years. Who had saved the east block when the soil turned and nobody else knew what to do. Who had stayed when they couldn't pay him properly, because he believed in the vineyard the way Elena believed in it.Julian wanted to have him thrown off the land because a man at a meeting had smiled at her.She changed out of the cream dress, pulled on comfortable clothes, and went downstairs.Henderson appeared in the kitchen doorway with a silver tray tucked under his arm,his pale eyes lifting when he saw her."Mrs. Thorne. Can I get you something?""Wine or whatever's open."He brou