The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 61 - 챕터 70

Nobody moved.The knock came again.Slow.Measured.Not loud enough to sound threatening, yet impossible to ignore.Aria felt every muscle in her body tighten.The hidden room suddenly felt smaller than before.Victor raised his weapon and stepped in front of the group.Ethan moved instinctively beside him.Despite the injury he’d been carrying for hours, there was no hesitation in him.Only focus.Daniel looked toward the wall where the sound had originated.“I’ve officially decided I don’t like this place.”Eva folded her arms.“Just now?”“Fine. I’ve disliked it from the beginning.”The attempt at humor landed weakly.Everyone was listening.Waiting.The silence stretched.Then another knock.This time from the far side of the room.Victor frowned.“That’s impossible.”The wall was solid concrete.There shouldn’t have been space behind it.Margaret’s voice crackled through the radio.“What’s happening?”Ethan pressed the button.“We heard something inside the bunker.”A pause.Then

For a moment, nobody said anything.The message seemed to hang in the narrow corridor, heavier than the damp air around them.Aria read it again silently.If you still trust Ethan Blackwood, you’re already exactly where they wanted you to be.The words settled uncomfortably in her chest.Not because she believed them.Because they were designed to make her question herself.And whoever had written them knew exactly where to strike.Daniel was the first to speak.“Well, that’s rude.”Victor kept his eyes on the corridor ahead.“It’s also deliberate.”Ethan remained silent.Aria glanced at him.His expression hadn’t changed.But she knew him well enough now to recognize the slight tightening in his jaw.The message had affected him.He simply wasn’t showing it.Eva folded her arms.“Somebody wants us turning against each other.”“Which usually means we’re getting close to something,” Victor said.Aria looked back at the writing on the wall.The ink was still fresh.The woman they’d been

For a few seconds, nobody said anything.The photograph remained in Aria’s hand.The words written across the back seemed far heavier than the ink that formed them.Ask Ethan about Geneva.She looked up.Ethan had recovered most of his composure, but not all of it.The brief flicker of surprise she’d seen was gone now, replaced by the calm expression he wore whenever he was thinking three moves ahead.Unfortunately, Aria knew him well enough to recognize when that calm wasn’t entirely genuine.“What’s Geneva?” she asked.The question hung between them.Victor’s gaze shifted to Ethan.Eva’s followed.Even Daniel stopped making jokes.That alone said enough.Ethan glanced at the photograph before answering.“A city.”Daniel rolled his eyes.“Thank you, geography professor.”Nobody laughed.Aria folded her arms.“You know that’s not what I meant.”A muscle moved in Ethan’s jaw.For a moment, she thought he might refuse to answer.Then he exhaled quietly.“About eight years ago, I was par

Aria barely realized she was holding her breath.Below them, the woman still stood in the center of the hall, the photograph clenched lightly in her hand.She looks like Lillian.The words echoed through Aria’s mind.Not because of what had been said.Because of how it had been said.There had been affection in the woman’s voice.Sadness.The kind that couldn’t be faked.Elias studied her carefully.“You always say that.”The woman looked away.“Because it’s true.”For a brief moment, neither spoke.Then Elias nodded toward the upper floors.“Find her.”The woman’s expression immediately hardened.“No.”The answer surprised everyone.Including Elias.“I won’t do this your way.”A tense silence settled between them.Several of the armed men exchanged uneasy glances.Clearly, they weren’t accustomed to people refusing Elias.Yet he didn’t seem angry.Only tired.As if this argument had happened before.“You’re running out of time, Sophia.”The name landed heavily.Sophia.At last, the m

Nobody spoke.The words seemed to settle over the room like dust.I was there when your mother died.Aria stared at the phone.Then at Ethan.Then back at the screen.The message was still there.Unchanged.Unmistakable.For several seconds, nobody moved.Even Daniel remained silent.Which, Aria was beginning to realize, was never a good sign.Victor recovered first.“Let me see.”Ethan handed him the phone.Victor read the message.Once.Then again.His expression darkened.“Whoever is sending these knows exactly what they’re doing.”Aria folded her arms tightly across her chest.“Do they?”Everyone looked at her.She took a slow breath.“Because I’m starting to wonder if they’re the first person who’s actually telling the truth.”The words landed harder than she intended.Ethan didn’t react immediately.But she saw the flicker in his eyes.The hurt.Brief.Controlled.Gone almost instantly.Still, she noticed it.And part of her regretted saying it.Only part.Because she was tired.