The Billionaire’s Debt Bride のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

Mara POV“Such a lovely couple.”Evelyn’s voice slides through the darkness, and I feel Lucien go rigid beside me. I turn to find her gliding onto the terrace in a very fine expensive dress, her smile sharp and knowing and predatory.I’ve seen her at enough of these events to recognize the gleam in her eyes when she senses weakness. When she knows exactly where to strike to inflict maximum damage.“Though I must admit, Lucien,” she continues, accepting a champagne flute from a server who materialized from nowhere, “you look even more miserable now than you did when we were together. At least then you were honest about your inability to love.”“Evelyn.” Lucien’s voice could cut glass, frost forming on each syllable. “This isn’t the time or place.”“Isn’t it?” She takes a delicate sip, her gaze moving between us like she’s watching a particularly entertaining tennis match. “I’m simply making an observation, darling. You look absolutely miserable pretending to be in love with your little

Mara POVDiana calls Friday night while I’m still staring at the note.“You’re thinking too loud again,” she says the moment I answer. “I can feel it from across the estate.”“How do you do that?” I ask.“Sister telepathy. Also, you’ve been weird all week. Diana-levels of overthinking everything.” She settles in, and I can hear her pulling a blanket around herself. “What happened?”So I tell her. The gala confrontation with Evelyn. Lucien’s confession in the car. The week of small gestures and careful attention and notes that show he’s been paying attention to details I didn’t know he noticed.“So he’s proving it,” Diana says when I finish. “Not just saying he loves you but showing it. Through action.”“Yeah.”A pause. “And you’re still not ready to accept it.”“No,” I say firmly. “I’m not.”“Mara…”“Diana, I’m done.” The words come out harder than I intended. “I’m done being the one who’s always reaching, always hoping, always making myself smaller so he can figure out his feelings.

Mara POV “Shall we retire?” Gregory suggests, and I’ve never been more grateful for a dismissal.Lucien and I escape upstairs in silence, the weight of performance pressing heavy on both our shoulders. I change in the bathroom, taking longer than necessary, and when I emerge in pajamas he’s already in bed, carefully on his side.But not all the way to the edge like before. Not putting maximum distance between us.Just… on his side. Leaving space for me to choose how close I want to be.I slide under the covers, and we lie there in the dim light from his bedside lamp. Neither of us speaks. Neither of us sleeps.Minutes stretch into hours. I hear the grandfather clock in the hallway chime eleven, then eleven-thirty, then midnight.“We never got to finish our conversation,” Lucien finally says into the darkness. “That night. Before Evelyn interrupted everything.”My breath catches. I know exactly what night he means.“Lucien…”“Please.” His voice is raw. “Let me say this. I need to expl

Mara POVSaturday night at Gregory’s estate unfolds with all the warmth of a hostile corporate takeover.The dining room glitters under crystal chandeliers, the mahogany table extended to its full twenty-person capacity. Apparently, more Cross family are coming in this evening. Cross family branches I didn’t know existed materialized in black tie—distant cousins with trust funds and condescending smiles, business partners who reek of old money and older prejudices, society friends who treat Gregory like he’s orchestrating their lives from his throne at the head of the table.And seated three chairs down from Gregory himself, perfectly composed in midnight blue silk that look so very expensive, is Evelyn.“Business guest,” Helena mutters as we take our seats, her hand briefly squeezing my shoulder in solidarity. “Gregory’s idea of a power move. Don’t let her get to you.”Too late. Just seeing her here, in this house, at this family dinner like she still belongs, makes my skin crawl.I’

Mara POVI think of Helena’s words from yesterday. She weaponized everything. Every weakness he’d shared, every dream he’d confessed. The warning sits heavy in my chest, but so does something else—the memory of those seven terrible days after we slept together. The week of silence. The walls that slam up whenever things get too real.The contract documents Evelyn has, waiting for the perfect moment to detonate our lives.“I don’t need to hear anything from you,” I say, but even I can hear how hollow it sounds.“Don’t you?” Evelyn moves closer, voice dropping to something almost intimate, almost kind. “I saw how you looked at him during dinner. Like you’re still trying to figure out if this is real. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still bracing for him to run.” Her head tilts, studying me. “He already did run from you, didn’t he? After something happened between you?”The accuracy makes my stomach clench.“Let me save you some time,” she continues, gentler now, more dangerous