บททั้งหมดของ THE BILLIONAIRE'S REPLACEMENT BRIDE: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

SCARLETMy knuckles turned a ghostly shade of white as I gripped the edge of the marble sink, the world tilting violently around me.“Margaret, please,” I choked out, the polished confident mask I’d worn minutes ago at the dinner table shattering into nothing. “He’s your husband. He’s stable because of these specialized treatments. What are you doing?”A low, menacing laugh cut through the phone. “My husband? Come on, Scarlet, you can do better than that. Family suddenly matters to you when you’re trying to pull the emotional blackmail card?”“That’s not true. That’s not what is happening, and you know it.” “If you really want to bring up family ties, then why don’t you step down for your sister, you greedy hypocrite.” My blood went cold as I remembered the contract I signed with Julian. “I can’t do that...”“Then you might as well just say goodbye to your father now.” Margaret cut me off before I could even finish. “And one more thing, Scarlet. If you even breathe a single word of

JULIANThe silence that followed Vivian’s little proposition was thick enough to rattle a weaker man. She stood there in my living room, her chin tilted up, looking extremely proud of herself, thinking she had locked me in some kind of cage, but what she didn’t know was that I would find Scarlet, no matter what it cost me. I didn’t believe a single word that came out of her mouth about Scarlet.“I don’t think you heard me the first time,” I said, taking a slow step forward, my towering frame forcing her back. “Let me make this entirely clear to you, Vivian. You are not staying here. You are not stepping into her place. And you are never, under any circumstance, going to be my wife.”Vivian’s smug smile faltered for a brief moment, then her lips twisted into a bitter, resentful smile. “You’re throwing a tantrum, Julian,” she said, trying to match my indifferent stare. “You can play the stubborn billionaire all you want tonight, but we both know you’ll come to your senses before the

JULIANI hadn’t slept. It had been six hours since Scarlet vanished, and I hadn’t had even the tiniest wink of sleep. And now instead of a location from the intelligence team, I had a boardroom full of my father’s old allies and my mother, all watching and waiting to see me break.The conference room on the top floor was already full when I walked in, a dozen faces instantly turning towards me. On the left side, some representatives from Victoria’s company were seated, and on the right were the already existing board members.Eleanor sat at the far end in flawless white, her hands folded, like she hadn’t spent months trying to tear me apart in front of this very board.She looked up at me as I entered the room, her face holding a venomous smile that seemed to hold a promise of what was to come. Danger.“Julian,” she said softly, like she was some kind of doting mother when in reality she was a fucking snake. “Thank you for coming in on such short notice.”I’d had about enough of her

SCARLETEverything that followed the call was blurry. All random, disjointed pieces that I couldn’t properly assemble in my head. The dread in my stomach had since morphed into a hollow void as the minutes slowly ticked by. My own voice sounded distant as I changed my father’s name over and over like a desperate mantra that might keep him alive. “Please, Dad. Just hold on.”Then a van pulled into the hospital parking lot. Six of Julian’s medical staff moved into the hospital room, and within seconds they took complete control of the situation. “We’re moving now!” The lead transport medic shouted over the roar of the rain.I ran alongside the stretcher as they wheeled him out into the vehicle. The rain smacked against my face, but I barely felt it. The only thing I cared about was my father’s limp body on the stretcher. Julian’s hand suddenly found mine right before we climbed into the ambulance. He squeezed softly, reassuring me of his presence. He didn’t let go of my hand the who

SCARLET“The press conference is tomorrow.”The warmth in my chest curdled instantly. “What press conference?” I asked, dropping my hand to my side.“Victoria proposed it the night of the signing,” he said calmly. “It was set forty-eight hours ago.”I did the math without meaning to. My mind flashed back to the dinner and everything that came after it.“That's tomorrow.”“Yes.”Of course. Of course that was what mattered. Everything made sense now– the way his face looked at the clinic, the fear he had carried with him into the room, and the way he held my hand through the ambulance ride all the way to the private hospital. Of course all of it had a deadline sitting behind it the whole time. Of course all of it tied back to the merger he couldn't afford to lose.I'd almost let myself forget for one foolish, unguarded minute that everything between us existed because of a contract that had an expiration date. He was just a man protecting an asset, nothing more, nothing less.“So what