All Chapters of The Price of His Youth: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

On the night before the wedding, my fiancé’s female best friend, Marisol Vance, sent me a set of photos.In the photos, she wore the custom haute couture wedding gown I had commissioned, leaning into Lucian Darke’s arms, with the provocative caption: [Borrowing your groom and your dress for a moment—after all, Lucian said I look better in this than you do.]Soon after, my social feed was flooded with their wedding photos.In the images, the two of them staged a mock kiss, the caption reading: [More than friends, not quite lovers. If we had been born ten years earlier, there would have been no place for anyone else.]My fingers tightened around my phone, turning faintly pale, and before I could reply, the comment section was already filled with their mutual childhood friends egging them on:[Marisol and Lucian are the perfect match!][This is what divine friendship looks like—I’m so jealous I could cry!][Evangeline won’t mind, right? Everyone knows Lucian is loyal above all.]I

Early the next morning, just as dawn began to break, the makeup artist was applying my makeup, hesitating as if she wanted to say something.“Are you really not going to wear the wedding dress?”“Nope.” I felt disgusted by anything that had been touched by something unclean.“I’ll wear this suit instead.”At exactly eight o’clock, it was time for the groom to come fetch the bride.But downstairs, everything was eerily quiet. There were no fireworks, and there was no sign of Lucian.My bridesmaid, Valerie Bohr, rushed in, her eyes reddened with anger.“Eva, this is too much! That bastard Lucian still hasn’t shown up! I just called the groomsmen—guess what they said?”I put on my earrings unhurriedly, my tone calm. “What did they say?”“They said that Lucian had taken the wedding car!”Valerie stomped her foot in fury. “They said Marisol suddenly had a depressive episode and was threatening to jump off a building.“She insisted on riding in that limited-edition limousine

I snapped my fingers.The massive LED screen behind me suddenly lit up.Instead of the wedding photos that were supposed to play, a series of images and screenshots appeared on the screen.Countless photos showed Lucian and Marisol in questionable situations: Lucian feeding Marisol a piece of cake, Marisol sitting on Lucian’s lap while he played games, and records of the two of them checking into hotels late at night…Then, a recording echoed throughout the entire hall.It was Marisol’s soft voice:“Lucian, when are you going to break up with that old hag? I feel nauseous just looking at her face.”Lucian’s indifferent voice followed, “Just bear with it, baby. That old hag is boring, but she’s really easy to fool.“She gives away millions in investments without hesitation. Once I take full control of Drake & Co., I’ll dump her—and then I’ll be with you every day.”The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.Everyone stood frozen in shock.Lucian’s face turned deathly pale,

I was not paying attention to Lucian’s miserable situation for the moment, because not only did Marisol fail to learn her lesson, but she had even tried to strike back.That night, a trending topic exploded on social media:#Heir abuses power to bully others, forcing a depressed patient to her death#When one clicked into it, there was a long post written by Marisol.The post included a photo of a wrist wrapped in gauze, faintly stained with blood, as well as a picture of her receiving an IV in a hospitalIn the article, Marisol portrayed herself as an innocent, fragile girl, each word dripping with grief.[I truly never expected that simply wanting to wear a wedding dress one last time to fulfill a dream in my final moments would cause such a storm.[Lucian and I had grown up together since childhood, like family, and there was never anything inappropriate between us.[Evangeline is a lofty, privileged young lady. She looked down on our relationship, and I accepted that.[But

Lucian was released from the police station three days later.Because Marisol’s injuries were not serious, and the rich man did not want to escalate the matter or damage his own reputation, both sides chose to settle the dispute.However, just as he stepped out of the gate, he received a call from the hospital.“Mr. Drake, we regret to inform you that your mother… has just passed away.”Holding the phone, Lucian stood at the entrance of the police station as if struck by lightning.Outside, the rain poured heavily, soaking through his body, yet he felt nothing.He rushed to the hospital in a frenzy, only to see a cold body covered by a white sheet.The nurse told him that before she died, Miriam had been calling out his name—and mine.She passed away in regret, lamenting that she had enabled Lucian’s bad behavior, that she had missed out on such a good daughter-in-law, and that she had ever spoken up for that “vixen” in the first place.After handling his mother’s funeral, Luc