Semua Bab The Reclusive CEO’s Substitute Bride: Bab 1 - Bab 7

Elena’s POV“Do you, Alyssa Vance, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”The priest’s voice booms through the stone arches, echoing like thunder. Incense curls thick in the air, choking instead of a blessing. Cold sweat gathers beneath my silk gloves as my heart slams against my ribs.Through the veil, I stare at the man opposite me. Alexander Sterling towers over the altar in a black tuxedo, his scar glinting beneath the hard shield mask that hides his eyes. A billionaire with a reputation for ruthless corporate takedowns—and right now, he believes he is marrying my sister.A low snarl cuts into my ear. My father’s grip claws into my sleeve, his breath hot and desperate.“Answer the priest,” Arthur Vance hisses. “If you hesitate, Alexander’s guards will see your fear. His banks will freeze our credit lines, and I’ll call the clinic to shut off your grandmother’s machines by morning. Say the words.”Tears burn behind my eyes, but I force them back. I am not Alyssa. I am E

Elena’s POVThe West Wing bedroom suite feels exactly like a luxury prison cell. After a brief bath to wash the heavy wedding makeup from my face, the silence inside the large room starts to feel like a heavy cage. Every tiny click of the grandfather clock in the hallway echoes inside my brain like a ticking bomb.I pull my personal phone out from my pocket, my thumb tapping the screen to check the private page for BrightPath Blooms, my secret online flower shop.The screen lights up, displaying our tiny balance: thirty-five pounds.Hot tears spill down my cheeks. My boutique is not making money fast enough to save me. My mind flashes back to yesterday’s emergency — the clinic demanding fifty thousand pounds to keep my grandmother’s machines running. My father paid the bill only to chain me into Alyssa’s gown. One slip of my voice, and the fraud collapses.I need air. I need soil.I dig through Alyssa’s bag until I find a plain knit sweater and trousers — the closest thing to my old w

Elena’s POV His grip crushes my wrist, pinning me flat against the door. My chest rises fast against his broad frame. Darkness swallows the study, rain hammering the windows in rhythm with my heart.Alexander towers over me, breath hot at my ear, teeth grinding.“Answer me, Alyssa.”“You think you can play games?”“You sneak into my wing for leverage?”His voice drops lower, colder.“Deception is the one sin I never forgive.”“If you don’t give me a reason—”He leans closer, words cutting like blades.“By sunrise, your father’s assets will be gone.”“Your family name dragged through the dirt.”The threat hits me like ice water, but as his towering frame presses closer, I notice something beneath his anger. His massive chest moves up and down way too fast. His skin feels wet with sweat against mine, and his large, powerful hand trembles slightly even as it holds me tight against the woodHe is not just angry, a quiet voice whispers inside my head. He is having a severe panic attack.T

Elena’s POVMy heels hammer the marble as I flee the suffocating dining hall. Emerald silk clings to my chest as I gasp for air. I think I’ve won. I think my retort about his crashing stock charts bought me time.I am wrong.Alexander Sterling is not a man you walk away from.A sharp gasp erupts from my lips as a shadow falls over me and his hand slams against the wall, trapping me in cedarwood, tobacco, and cold rain.“Did you truly think a single insult would end our conversation, Alyssa?” His gravelly baritone hisses at my ear.“Let me go!” I twist and turn, struggling to break free from his hand. My heart hammers with panic as his other hand seizes my wrist.Before I can utter another word, his long, powerful fingers wrap tightly around me. His grip is absolute, unyielding. With a slow, terrifyingly clinical deliberation, he begins to tug the fabric of my white silk glove down, dragging it past my knuckles and exposing my bare hand to the dim morning light of the hallway.The brig