Semua Bab His Forbidden Mate: The Billionaire stepbrother’s claim : Bab 51 - Bab 57

Day twenty. Adrian's arraignment.We're not required to attend. Patricia Chen makes that clear. "You've done enough. You don't owe him your presence."But Lucian needs to go. I feel it through the bond…the burning need to look Adrian in the eye and see him powerless. So we go.The courthouse is chaos. Media everywhere. Protesters on both sides…some supporting Adrian, claiming he's being framed, others demanding justice for Diana. Security escorts us through a side entrance.Inside, the courtroom is smaller than I expected. More intimate. There's no hiding here. No distance between us and the man who tried to destroy us.Adrian sits at the defense table in an orange jumpsuit. Prison has aged him. Gray at his temples. Lines around his mouth. But his eyes are the same. Cold. Calculating. Predatory.He sees us enter. His gaze locks on Lucian, then slides to me. He smiles.The bond recoils."Don't look at him," Lucian says quietly. "Don't give him anything."But I can't look away. This man

Day twenty-four. The interview is scheduled for tomorrow.We chose NPR. No cameras. Just voices and truth. Ira Glass himself will conduct it. Harper negotiated complete editorial control… we approve the final cut before it airs."Are you nervous?" Brandon asks, watching us prepare talking points."Terrified," I admit. "This is the last time we tell this story. It has to be right.""It will be. You've lived it. You just have to be honest." He pulls up notes. "I've been tracking public sentiment. Support is holding at seventy-three percent. The murder charges against Adrian shifted a lot of skeptics.""What about the other twenty-seven percent?" Lucian asks."Conspiracy theorists. People who think mate bonds are pseudoscience. Religious groups who consider it demonic." Brandon shrugs. "You'll never convince everyone. But you've convinced most. That's victory."At the facility, Dr. Chen pulls us aside."I wanted to give you this before you go." She hands us a USB drive. "Complete documen

Day twenty-eight. Three days left.The facility feels different knowing we're leaving. Every hallway, every testing room, every researcher…they're all part of a chapter that's closing."Final neurological scans today," Dr. Walsh says, attaching the familiar sensors. His hands are gentler than usual. "I'm going to miss you two.""You'll have the data," Lucian says."Data isn't the same as the people." Dr. Walsh pulls up screens showing our brain activity. "You know what's remarkable? Your patterns have stabilized completely. No more stress spikes. No more defensive responses. You're in perfect equilibrium.""We're healing," I say."You're healed," he corrects. "As healed as you can be while still carrying the scars. The bond will always remember the trauma. But it's not controlled by it anymore."I watch the synchronized patterns on his screen. Our brains firing in harmony. Our hearts beating together. Two people who've become something more."What happens to the research after we leav

The Swiss Alps look like a postcard.Snow-capped mountains against impossibly blue sky. Villages that belong in fairy tales. Air so clean it almost hurts to breathe.Viktor's driver navigates winding roads with practiced ease while Lucian and I press our faces to the windows like children."It's beautiful," I whisper."It's quiet," Lucian says, and I hear the wonder in his voice.No sirens. No traffic. No reporters. Just mountains and sky and silence so complete it feels like a physical presence.The house appears around a curve. Stone and timber, three stories, perched on a hillside with views that steal my breath. Smoke curls from the chimney. Someone's prepared it for our arrival."This is ours?" I ask stupidly."For as long as you need it," the driver says in accented English. "Mr. Volkov's instructions. The house is yours."Inside, it's even better. Rustic but luxurious. Stone fireplace. Exposed beams. Windows everywhere flooding the space with light. And in the corner of the mai