Semua Bab Stolen Heiress : Bab 1 - Bab 5

The emerald gown itched between my shoulder blades like a warning I should have heeded. I counted the crystals in the nearest chandelier three hundred and forty-seven because counting was how I survived these nights. Counting seconds until I could leave. Counting the ways my sister might choose to destroy me. Tonight, I had dared to hope for something different. Xavier had promised. With a quiet smile, he'd said this morning, his thumb brushing my wrist with a tenderness that made me believe. I’ll stand beside you. Everyone will see. I had clung to that promise like a lifeline. It had carried me into this gown, through the doors of Thornhart Manor, into the glittering ballroom where the coastal elite swirled in their masks and malice. No one saw me. They never did. Not until the screaming started. The sound cut through the string quartet like a blade. My head snapped up. Guests surged toward the tall windows and the stone balcony beyond, phones rising like weapons, hun

"Celine’s POV" The black town car glided through the iron gates of the Thornhart estate like a hearse carrying me to my own funeral. I sat rigid in the back seat, hands folded so tightly in my lap that my nails dug crescents into my palms. Three days had passed since I had signed the marriage contract under my parents’ cold stares and the silent threat of the guards. Three days since I had abandoned the half-packed suitcase on my bedroom floor and accepted the only door still open to me. Escape had been an illusion. They had made sure of that. The Laurent mansion was no longer home. It was a cage I had been traded out of, only to be delivered into another. Every mile the car traveled away from my family felt like another chain tightening around my throat. Xavier’s voice still echoed in my head at night, a porcelain doll, boring, forgettable and Clara’s mocking laughter followed me into sleep. My own parents had looked me in the eye and chosen to institutionalize me rather than

"Celine’s POV" The wedding unfolded like a vivid dream stitched together with forced smiles and whispered cruelty. I stood at the altar in a gown that felt like chains disguised as lace, my chestnut hair pinned tightly, pearls digging into my scalp. The Thornhart ballroom had been transformed into a lavish floral cathedral, but all I registered was the weight of every judging eye. Clara sat front row beside Xavier, her lips curved in vicious delight. As I walked down the aisle, she leaned toward a guest, voice carrying just far enough: “Look at her. Still playing the tragic victim. At least she’ll finally be useful as someone’s full-time caretaker.” Her words sliced deep, reopening every wound from the gala. I kept my chin lifted, but humiliation burned hot in my chest. Xavier smirked beside her, his earlier betrayal still fresh and bleeding inside me. My parents watched with cold approval, having sold me off for shipping alliances and debt relief. The vows passed in a haze. Luci