Chapter 11

Lena’s PovThe morning sun spilled through the kitchen window, but I couldn’t shake the tightness in my chest that had settled there since Raphael’s visit the night before. I moved through the motions of making breakfast beside Iris, cracking eggs into a bowl and stirring them with more force than necessary, trying to look like a woman who hadn’t spent half the night staring at her ceiling.Iris noticed anyway, because Iris always noticed everything. “You’ve cracked four eggs and you only needed two.”I glanced down at the bowl and let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “I guess I’m not really paying attention.”“You don’t have to pretend with me,” Iris said, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed. “I know what happened last night shook you.”“I just don’t want Eli to see me like this,” I admitted, setting the bowl down. “He’s been so happy here. I don’t want him to feel like something’s wrong.”Iris softened. “He’s outside right now building sandcastles with Noah like t

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Chapter 12

Damien’s PovI woke up to the sound of Marcus pounding on my bedroom door, and I already knew before he said a single word that whatever news he was bringing wasn’t good. I opened the door and saw the look on his face, the same look he used to have back when a deal was about to collapse in front of investors.“It’s worse than we thought,” Marcus said, holding up his phone so I could see the screen. “It’s everywhere online. Someone leaked that Damien Laurent has been living quietly in this town for weeks.”I stared at the headline scrolling across his screen, my name printed beside a blurry photo of the café where Lena worked, and my stomach turned in a way that reminded me exactly how much I hated this part of my life. “How did they get a photo of the café?”“I don’t know,” Marcus admitted, “but it’s not just online chatter anymore. There are reporters gathering outside the resort right now, and a few of them have already been spotted near the café asking locals questions.”I felt my

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Chapter 13

Lena’s PovThe house was too quiet without the phone ringing every ten minutes.I stood at the kitchen counter, coffee going cold in my hands, and watched Damien sit cross-legged on the living room floor. A stack of dinosaur puzzle pieces spread out around him like fallen leaves. Eli knelt beside him, small fingers hovering over a piece shaped like a tail.“This one goes here,” Eli said, pointing.“Are you sure?” Damien asked. “Looks like it belongs over there to me.”“No, Daddy. Here.”Damien held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. You’re the expert.”I bit back a smile and sipped my coffee.He’d told me that morning his calls were cancelled, some server issue on the other end, nothing urgent enough to drag him into the office. I’d braced myself for him to disappear into his study anyway, phone glued to his ear, voice low and clipped the way it always was during business hours.Instead, he was on the floor. In real clothes, not a suit. Building a stegosaurus with our son.“What’

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Chapter 14

Damien’s PovSleep wasn’t coming. I’d given up trying an hour ago, staring at the ceiling until the shapes of the crown molding stopped making sense. Eventually I gave in and slipped outside, the night air cool against skin that had been too warm under the sheets.The porch light was off, but the moon gave enough to see by. I sat on the top step, elbows on my knees, and let my mind do the thing it always did at this hour. Wander back.I didn’t hear the door open behind me, but I felt it, that shift in the air that meant I wasn’t alone anymore.“Couldn’t sleep either?” Lena’s voice was soft, careful not to break whatever stillness had settled over the yard.“Saw your light,” she added, sitting down beside me, close enough that our shoulders almost touched.“Guilty.”She pulled her cardigan tighter around herself. Neither of us said anything for a while. The kind of silence that used to feel unbearable between us now felt almost comfortable, like we’d both grown into it.“Can I ask you

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Chapter 15

The wine was excellent, a private reserve from a vineyard most people had never heard of, and Raphael took his time with it, swirling the glass before he drank. Across the room, Celeste paced, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor, agitation radiating off her in waves.“You’re too calm,” she said. “Do you understand what’s happening? They’re getting closer. Every day they spend together, it gets harder to pull them apart.”Raphael set his glass down with deliberate care. “Sit down, Celeste.”“I don’t want to sit down.”“Sit down,” he repeated, quieter this time, and something in his tone made her stop mid-stride and lower herself into the chair across from him.He studied her for a moment, the way her hands twisted together in her lap, the tightness around her mouth. Fear did strange things to people. It made them reckless. Celeste wanted blood, wanted chaos, wanted Damien and Lena torn apart in some dramatic collapse that would satisfy her impatience. She’d never unders

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Semua Bab The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride and Secret Heir: Bab 11 - Bab 15

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15