All Chapters of The Billionaire's Forgotten Bride : Chapter 261 - Chapter 270

Chapter 261The silence in the library was suffocating.Ethan Cole stood perfectly still, the encrypted satellite phone pressed to his ear. He looked at Dante Blackwood, bleeding on the rug, radiating smug, aristocratic victory. He looked at Zara, her blue eyes wide with terrified anticipation, holding her hand protectively over her pregnant stomach.The Warlord had spent his entire life playing chess on a global scale. He knew when he was in checkmate."Fine," Ethan growled into the phone, his voice vibrating with a cold, suppressed rage that shook the windows of the chateau. "Call off the AI. Deactivate the Dead Hand protocol. Dante walks.""A wise decision, Ethan," Elias Frost chuckled smoothly. "The protocol is deactivated. You may keep your empire, for now. But remember, the Great Game is never truly over. I will be watching."Click.The line went dead.Ethan slowly lowered the phone. He tossed it to Marcus, his face an unreadable mask of carved granite."Get him up," Ethan order

Chapter 263Six Months Later. The Aegis Citadel, Upstate New York.The world outside the fortified concrete walls of the Aegis Citadel was blanketed in a serene, blindingly white layer of January snow.Inside the subterranean fortress, Zara Cole was anything but serene."I am perfectly capable of walking to the command center, Ethan," Zara huffed, swatting her husband’s massive hand away as he hovered protectively behind her.She was eight months pregnant. Her stomach was beautifully, undeniably rounded beneath her tailored black maternity dress, making her usually sharp, intimidating silhouette noticeably softer. But the Ice Queen’s temper was as lethal as ever."You’re supposed to be on bed rest, Zara," Ethan argued, easily keeping pace with her as they walked down the brightly lit corridor. He wore a simple black t-shirt and tactical slacks, his gray eyes scanning every shadow out of pure habit. "Dr. Evans said your blood pressure needs to remain stable.""My blood pressure is high

Chapter 265The collision between the Cole twins was not a fight. It was a localized, apocalyptic seismic event.Ethan and Julian slammed together with a sickening crunch of bone and muscle. Their identical gray eyes locked, blazing with equal measures of absolute, homicidal fury.Julian was fast terrifyingly, mechanically fast. His combat conditioning under Elias Frost’s torturous regime had stripped away all hesitation. He slashed his serrated blade toward Ethan’s throat with blinding speed.Ethan parried the strike with a brutal upward block, the sparks flying as the steel blades clashed. He didn't try to out-speed his brother. He used his sheer, overwhelming mass. Ethan drove his knee upward into Julian’s stomach, following it instantly with a devastating headbutt that cracked sickeningly against Julian’s nose.Julian staggered backward, blood pouring over his lips, but he didn't even wince. He laughed a hollow, soulless sound that chilled the air in the medical wing."You’ve grow

Chapter 267Five Years Later. Rebuilt Aegis Global Headquarters, New York City.The new Aegis Tower did not scrape the sky; it pierced it. Built on the exact footprint of the fallen monolith, the new structure was a towering spire of self-healing carbon-fiber and polarized obsidian glass. It was a monument to resurrection. A declaration that the Cole family could not be buried.Inside the newly minted, cloud-level boardroom, the atmosphere was as frigid and absolute as it had been half a decade ago.But the man sitting at the head of the table was not Ethan Cole.Twenty-year-old Leo Cole leaned back in the high-backed leather chair, his long fingers steepled beneath his chin. He wore a razor-sharp, bespoke charcoal suit, a silver tie pin glinting under the recessed lighting. The boy who had hacked global syndicates from his bedroom was gone. In his place sat a six-foot-two titan, his jawline carved from marble, his steel-gray eyes radiating an ancient, terrifying authority that made m

Chapter 26914 Hours Later. The Aegis 'Hades' Vault, Iceland.The frozen, volcanic landscape of Iceland was unforgiving, a barren expanse of black basalt rock and driving snow.Hidden beneath the crust of a dormant volcano, utilizing the geothermal heat to power its independent grid, was the Aegis Hades Vault. It was entirely off the grid, guarded only by autonomous defense turrets and fifty feet of solid bedrock.The heavy, matte-black Aegis VTOL drop-ship descended through the blinding blizzard, settling onto the disguised landing pad carved into the side of the crater.The ramp hissed open.Leo Cole stepped out into the freezing wind. He wore a sleek, carbon-fiber tactical suit designed to resist extreme temperatures, a suppressed sidearm strapped to his thigh, and a heavy, encrypted super-laptop slung across his back.Marcus followed close behind, flanked by six elite Aegis ghost-operators wielding suppressed assault rifles."Thermal scans of the perimeter are negative, Boss," Mar