All Chapters of The mafia ceo's substitute bride : Chapter 51 - Chapter 55

[ SAMANTHA'S POV ]I froze completely. My mouth stayed open, my eyes going wide as my anger turned into pure shock."You..." I whispered, my voice barely making a sound against the vast ceiling of the foyer. "You are trying to be nice to me?""I know how I acted out there at the fence," David said, his voice low, rough, and gravelly. "I dragged you through the dirt and pinned you against this wall like an enemy. But when I looked down at your face... when I saw how much you feared me, I realized I don't want to fight with you anymore.""You dragged me through the rain!" I shouted, the hot sting of tears brimming in my eyes. "You slammed me against this paneling! You pinned me here like I was a criminal!""I know," he said softly, his chest rising and falling in fast, uneven breaths. "I spent months believing your mother and Linda every lies they told me about you. Every single word they spewed, I bought it. I thought you were scheming behind my back, trying to take advantage of me and

[ DAVID'S POV ]I sat behind my heavy mahogany desk, staring down at the glowing laptop screen. A small red light blinked steadily on a digital map of the city.A custom location tracker. I had hidden a tiny tracking chip inside the lining of her designer coat three days ago not to lock her down, but to keep her safe. In my position, danger never gives a warning. If she was going to walk outside my gates for two hours every day, I needed to make sure she was safe, not forced into a car by my enemies.The red dot stopped moving.I leaned forward, my fingers gripping the edge of the desk.Downtown Botanical Conservatory.Why the conservatory? Samantha had never talked about plants or flowers before. A cold feeling touched my chest. My heart started beating fast and heavy.Trust, I told myself, forcing my hands to let go of the wood. You promised her trust. You said you wanted to be good to her.Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. The red light did not move at all from the cente

[ DAVID'S POV ]The sound of Daniel’s body hitting the stone wall echoed through the humid greenhouse, followed instantly by the wet splash of water from the fountain. Samantha’s scream tore through the thick air, sharp and full of pure terror."David, stop! Please!" she sobbed, throwing her hands over her face.I stared down at the man lying against the damp floor, my chest heaving, my heart hammering like a war drum against my ribs. My knuckles burned with a raw, throbbing heat. I wanted to tear him apart. I wanted to break every single bone in his body for daring to touch her, for putting his mouth on her skin, for looking at her as if he had any right to be near her.She came here for him.The thought slammed into my brain like an iron bar, cutting off my breath. All the soft thoughts I had in the foyer, all the desperate hopes that I could fix what I had broken they all turned into ashes. She hadn't used her two hours of freedom to get fresh air. She hadn't gone for a walk to cle