All Chapters of Bound by a Billion Dollar Marriage: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

The bald man hadn't expected this much composure from someone in her position. Impressed despite himself, he grabbed a length of pipe and turned it over in his hand, almost casual. "So what are these terms?"Isla shifted further behind her hostage, using his bulk as cover, balancing carefully on her good leg. She knew exactly how precarious her position was no room to show a crack."Men like you work for money. Which means someone already paid you a deposit. I'd guess your boss doesn't even know you're holding two hostages instead of one grabbing Bianca was just a convenient way to squeeze extra cash.""Collect her father's ransom, then leave. The second I'm clear, I release your friend here myself. You walk away with two payouts instead of one, nobody loses a man, and I never breathe a word about any of this to anyone. Deal?" Isla's voice carried clean and steady across the empty warehouse.She'd noticed something useful: when the bald man had aimed his phone camera earlier, he'd del

Isla let go, allowing him to take the knife away entirely.Grayson pulled out a handkerchief and gently cleaned the blood from her hands, handling her with a careful precision, like something priceless.He measured every ounce of pressure, terrified of adding to her pain but beneath that gentleness, his eyes carried something darker. Rage. The kind that came from watching someone you cared about get hurt."Mr. Vale..." Isla croaked, her mouth pressed into a wobbly line.Watching him handle her filthy hands with this much care left her somehow both overwhelmed and unmoored.Like a lost kid finally spotting a familiar face in a crowd. That sense of safety, that certainty that someone's actually here for me.I'm not facing this alone anymore.Isla's throat tightened, watching his lowered eyes, his sharp, composed profile, torn between gratitude and quiet devastation."Mm," Grayson answered, low."I almost killed someone back there," Isla said, her whole body trembling slightly.Grayson g

"Dad, why is nobody allowed on the twentieth floor? Why does Grayson get through?!" Bianca had changed into a hospital gown, seated herself in a wheelchair, and wrapped bandages around her wrists the picture of a serious patient.Hair down, playing every angle of the sympathy card though not enough to skip her makeup routine, apparently.Richard pushed her wheelchair along, sighing. "The nurse said the whole floor's booked out. Only assigned staff can go up.""Then why hasn't Grayson come back down yet? Have they figured out who's up there?" Bianca had been stewing for two hours, patience thoroughly gone.Marcus had gone to see Isla, and Bianca hadn't gotten so much as a glimpse of Grayson. If this dragged on much longer, she was worried Marcus might slip away before she got her moment."Dad, you need to figure out a way to lure Grayson down here I want him to see with his own eyes that Isla's flirting with another man even while lying in a hospital bed." Bianca clenched her wrapped w

Isla put on her most sincere expression. Beyond the leftover redness from crying, her eyes read as pure, wide-eyed confusion. Say what now? I have no idea what you mean.She held his stare, unblinking. "He was just concerned about my injuries, told me to take care of myself. That's it."Grayson lowered himself into the chair beside the bed, studying her with that unnervingly composed, unreadable face.He tilted his head slightly, mouth curving with faint skepticism. "Is that so."The drawn-out, slow delivery made Isla's heart lurch again.He clearly doesn't believe me.Even if he had every right not to, there was no way she was admitting she'd actually asked Marcus to help track down her grandmother's location."Mm-hm." Isla nodded with a smile.Watching her play soft and harmless only irritated Grayson further."You two were leaning in pretty close. Looked like you were whispering something."Whispering? He literally walked in before we could exchange more than a sentence. What "whis

Isla stayed hospitalized, and the butler stopped by that evening to check in.She'd been quietly anxious all day, but once he assured her that Grayson was fully aware of the situation and had already promised to look into everything no consequences, just rest and recovery the knot in her chest finally loosened.Thank god. He believed the real story.The maid set a change of clothes at the foot of Isla's bed, bowed, and stepped out.On her way out, Isla caught her murmuring something to Grayson about taking good care of himself."Phew... thank god the real Grayson doesn't have a problem with any of this." Isla had genuinely feared getting blamed if word had gotten out about the whole hotel-waitress job she'd kept hidden, that would've been a whole separate disaster."Mr. Vale, aren't you heading home?"Where else would he go?"I'm staying," Grayson said, watching her from the doorway, his dark suit striking against the sterile white room.Isla stared, blank, clearly not expecting that