All Chapters of The Billionaire’s Substitute Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

By Sunday morning, Aria felt much better.Not completely fine, but enough to move around without feeling like her body was dragging behind her. The fever had gone down, her head wasn’t spinning anymore, and her energy was slowly coming back.But something else had replaced the weakness.Embarrassment.She sat at the edge of the bed, staring at her hands, her mind replaying everything from the day before.Every single thing.The way she had held onto him.The way she refused to let him go.The way she had practically curled into him like she needed him to breathe.Her face burned.“What was wrong with me…” she muttered under her breath.That wasn’t her.She wasn’t clingy.She wasn’t soft like that.She definitely wasn’t the kind of person who begged someone to stay.And yet—That was exactly what she did.With Adrian.Of all people.She groaned quietly and stood up, pacing slightly.“Nope. I’m not dealing with him today.”Decision made.---Avoiding him sounded easy in her head.In rea

Aria didn’t wake up when he entered the room.She was lying on her side, facing the window, the curtains slightly open to let in the dim light from outside. Her face looked calmer than it had earlier, but the dried tear tracks on her cheeks told a different story.Adrian stood by the door for a few seconds.Just watching.His jaw tightened slightly.The guards had already told him everything.The whispers.The stares.The girls.The insults.The fact that she had walked through all of that alone without saying a word to him.That part annoyed him the most.Not because she handled it.But because she didn’t think to tell him.He turned away from the bed and stepped out of the room quietly, closing the door behind him.He didn’t waste time.As soon as he got to his study, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.It rang twice.“Hello, sir,” the voice on the other end answered quickly. Respectful. Careful.“Principal,” Adrian said, his tone calm but cold.“Yes, sir.”There was a pause

“Go get dressed.” Aria blinked at him from where she was still sitting on his lap, her head just slightly pulled back so she could look at his face. “What?” she asked. Adrian didn’t repeat himself immediately. He just held her gaze for a second, like he expected her to catch up on her own. “Get dressed,” he said again, calm. “We’re going out.” Her brows pulled together. “Out? Where?” “You’ll see.” That wasn’t helpful. Aria hesitated for a moment, studying him, trying to figure out if this was one of his usual controlling decisions or something else. “Now?” she asked. “Yes. Now.” She exhaled slowly. Part of her didn’t feel like going anywhere. She had just cried, her eyes probably still looked swollen, and her mood had only just started to settle. But another part of her— The part that had been stuck in that heavy feeling since yesterday— Didn’t want to stay in the house either. “…Fine,” she said quietly. Adrian nodded once and loosened his hold on her. She slid off

Aria stepped out of the car slowly when she got home, her bag hanging loosely on her shoulder. The ride back from school had been quiet, but her mind hadn’t been. It had been loud. Too loud.She shut the car door and stood there for a second, staring at the front of the mansion like she was trying to prepare herself before going in.The expelled girls.The whispers.The bathroom.Her jaw tightened slightly as she walked inside.Everything had changed so fast. Just a few days ago, people were talking about her openly, laughing, pointing, saying whatever they wanted. Then suddenly, silence. No one said anything anymore. No one dared to. And she already knew why.Adrian.She had confronted him the day before. She didn’t even try to pretend she didn’t know.“You expelled them.”He hadn’t denied it. Not even for a second.“Yes.”That was all he said. Just one word. Calm. Like it wasn’t a big deal.That had been the end of the conversation. Because arguing with him when he was in that mood

Aria didn’t calm down after leaving the dining room. If anything, the anger followed her upstairs and settled into her chest like something heavy she couldn’t shake off.She shut the bedroom door harder than necessary and stood there for a second, breathing out sharply. It wasn’t just about the girls anymore. It was everything. The control. The way he spoke like his decisions were final. Like her opinion didn’t matter.She walked further into the room, running her hand through her hair in frustration.“I decide what affects me.”Her jaw tightened as his voice replayed in her head.So that was it. He decided. Always him.She paced the room for a bit, trying to calm herself down, but it didn’t work. Every time she thought about it, her irritation came back stronger.A knock came at the door.She stopped.“Ma’am,” one of the maids said softly from outside. “Your breakfast—”“I’m not hungry,” Aria cut in, her tone sharper than intended.There was a small pause. “Alright, ma’am.”Footsteps