All Chapters of Cinderella and Her Three Knights: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Ella’s POVThe leather folder felt like a brand against my skin, tucked hidden and heavy beneath my blazer. I had spent the night staring at the Monroe Provision, the legal jargon blurring into a singular, terrifying truth: I was the anchor for the entire Blackwood empire. My mother hadn't just been a friend to the Chairman; she had been his silent partner, and I was the heir to the land they stood on.But I was the only one who knew.To the brothers, I was still just Ella. The intern. The girl who had somehow slipped under their skin.I arrived at the office early, my movements precise, my face a mask of professional distance. I needed to keep the brothers in their separate lanes. If they started talking to each other, the web I was weaving would snap.I sat at my desk and pulled out my phone. I needed to move the target off my back and onto someone else. I dialed Marcus Hale’s restaurant line."Heyy," the voice came through, rough and impatient."It’s Ella. Adrian’s fixers are going

Ella’s POVThe sound of Lucian’s car fading into the distance left the room feeling cavernous and cold. I stayed standing in the center of the rug, my chest aching with the weight of the words I hadn't said. The scent of him—leather and woodsmoke—clung to the air, a ghost of the intimacy I had systematically destroyed over the last three weeks.I looked at the unmade bed, the pillows still bearing the indentation of where he had been sitting, brooding in the dark. I felt a sudden, desperate urge to fix something—anything. I reached out, smoothing the heavy duvet, trying to erase the evidence of his turmoil."Why are you in my brother’s bed?"The voice was like a whip-crack in the silent room.I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat. Julian stood in the doorway. He was still in his jogging gear, his face flushed from the morning’s chaos, but his eyes were wide and sharp with a sudden, painful clarity. He wasn't the "safe" brother in this moment; he was a man who had just walked

Ella’s POVThe Central Bank was a fortress of marble and hushed whispers, a place where the air felt thick with the weight of old money. I walked through the vaulted lobby, my fingers curled tightly around the silver key in my pocket. The Chairman’s words echoed in my head like a warning: I don't trust any of them.I was heading toward the private vault elevators when I saw him.Lucian.He was standing near the high-priority teller windows, looking devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit. But he wasn't alone. Naomi was draped over his arm, her hand resting possessively on his sleeve. They were reviewing a set of documents, their heads bent close together.For a split second, my blood ran cold. Was he the traitor? Was he at the bank at the exact same time as me to intercept the ledger? But as I watched them, the suspicion was quickly swallowed by a sharp, jagged flare of jealousy. Seeing him with her—seeing the way he didn't even look up when I entered—hurt more than any betrayal sho

Ella’s POVThe gravel of the estate driveway crunched like breaking bone under the tires of Julian’s car. The silence inside the vehicle was suffocating, a taut wire stretched to the snapping point. Julian’s hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel, his jaw set in a line of cold, suppressed fury.He hadn't spoken since we left the restaurant. He didn't need to. The air between us was thick with the ghost of Lucian’s presence in that restroom.As the car pulled into the main courtyard, the headlights swept over a figure standing in the shadows of the arched entryway.He had clearly dropped Naomi off and driven like a madman to beat us back. He stood there, his leather jacket open, his chest heaving, looking like a dark omen. He didn't wait for us to exit. He marched toward the car before the engine had even fully cut out."Get out," Lucian roared, slamming his fist against the driver’s side window.Julian stepped out of the car, his movements precise and lethal. "You've got a he

Ella’s POVThe hospital corridor was a blur of sterile white and cold shadows as I watched Lucian’s retreating back. Isadora’s arm was looped through his, her head resting on his shoulder—a picture of pure, uncomplicated familial love that I felt entirely excluded from. The weight of the will, the "Monroe Provision," and the predatory gazes of the other brothers felt like a physical burden, a crown of thorns pressed firmly onto my head.I made it back to the estate in a daze. The drive was a silent vacuum, the chauffeur’s eyes fixed firmly on the road as if the very air inside the car was radioactive. When I finally stepped into the grand foyer, the house felt different. It wasn't just a mansion anymore; it was a cage made of gold and glass, and I was the bird that everyone wanted to put in their specific room.I retreated to my bedroom, locking the door and leaning against the heavy wood. My breath came in short, jagged gasps. I was an heir. I was a bride-to-be by force. I was the pe