Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

LELLA“Slow down.”I almost choked when Viktor talked, cutting off the silence in the air.I have been trying to finish the food he prepared as quickly as I can because I want to get out of here as quickly as I can. But it seems he noticed me filling my mouth nonstop.I drank some water and set my fork down for a moment, glancing at the crystal glass of deep red wine in his hand.​"Are you not going to eat? I thought you were supposed to have a meeting today."​Viktor leaned back against the counter, swirled the wine in his glass, and watched the legs of the liquid coat the sides. "I had a meeting in DC. I ate on the flight back," he simply said.​The realization hit me. He hadn't just 'landed back in New York' by coincidence. He was out of town, likely busy with the very empire, and he had cut his trip short the moment the news of the "accident" broke. He came back because of what happened to Conrad and handled the fallout that involved me.​"You came back because of what happened,

LELLAI stared at the blinking cursor on my computer screen as the data points blurred into a hazy mess. My hands were ice-cold, my head was aching, and I didn't sleep a wink last night.​I closed my eyes, the conversation with Joaquin from last night echoing in my ears.—-“You're getting married, Lorelei Alvarez.”I stared at Joaquin’s face, twisted in a mixture of protective fury and deep-seated regret and looked back down at the ring on my hand, trying to digest his words in my head.I… what? Getting married? “What the hell are you saying, Joaquin?”Joaquin stood up with a weary sigh. ​"Our father signed the contracts two years ago, right after you vanished. He sold you to the Volkonsky empire to save our family’s assets in Spain. I’ve been fighting him for twenty-four months to keep your name out of the papers, to keep Viktor’s hands off you–”“WAIT!” I screamed, causing him to stop talking. “W-Who… W-Who's the groom again?”I swallowed hard as my hand gripped the small box tigh

LELLAThe silence in my apartment was shattered the moment the door was open. ​I barely had time to breathe before his hand landed on my cheek. I gasped, clutching my face as the slap made my skin sting.He walked past me and entered my living room.​"Two years," he hissed. "Two years of making me look like a fool. You think running away to this... this unpleasant place makes you independent?"​I stayed silent with my head bowed. I didn't know how he’d found me. Perhaps Joaquin had finally cracked under the pressure, or perhaps my father had known all along that my brother was funneling me money and had simply waited for the right moment to strike.​"And as if your disappearance wasn't enough," he continued while pacing the living room, "You were in a relationship with Conrad. My daughter, the future Mrs. Viktor Volkonsky, was playing house with her own fiancé’s nephew? Do you have any idea how close you came to destroying our family's leverage?"As if I knew Viktor was my ‘fiancee’ a

LELLA​I didn't press him further. Every time I opened my mouth to argue, I remembered the sting of my father's slap and the way Viktor had looked at the bruise. I spent the rest of the flight staring out the window, watching the Atlantic disappear beneath us, feeling like I was being delivered straight back to the lion's den.​When the jet finally touched down at a private airfield in Madrid, the air that greeted us was warm and smelled of olive trees. The smell of the home I had fled.​A line of black cars was already waiting on the tarmac. My eyes were busy looking around, finding my pink luggage. When I finally saw it, the men in black put the luggage in the trunk, I only sighed that I couldn't even run from this man again.I was in deep thought on the road, thinking of a way to escape from this man. Just then, I noticed the road we were on. I jolted straight up in my seat as my blood turned ice. The convoy began to climb the winding roads toward the exclusive hills of La Mora

LELLA“Ah!” I exclaimed all of a sudden, startling Viktor. He looked at me with a puzzled face. I immediately touched my stomach and curled a bit. “Ahh…” I groaned, trying to sound like I'm in pain. In a second, I felt Viktor’s hands on my arms, supporting my weight. “Are you okay?” I can sense the panic in his voice.I slowly shake my head as I keep groaning in pain. “My stomach hurts.”My eyes widened when he carried me in his arms. I held tightly onto his neck as he ran out of his room. I thought he was going to take me to my room, but we passed that room, causing me to panic internally.“W-Where are we going?” “Hospital.”My whole system froze.Hospital?Was pretending sick a bad idea?“There’s… no need for that," I whispered.He looked at me with pure worries in his eyes. “You're sick, Lella. Of course we need doctors now.” He hissed, and I felt his hands tighten on my thigh and waist.Guilt loomed over my chest. I bit my lower lip as he carefully entered the car and made me