All Chapters of Forced to Wear My Sister's Wedding Dress: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

The morning after the kiss, Eva discovered that breakfast was considerably more difficult than she had expected.It was not because Julian was behaving differently. In fact, that was precisely the problem. He sat at the head of the table with the same composed manner he brought to every morning, his attention divided between his coffee and the documents he had brought with him. If anything, he seemed almost too calm.Eva, on the other hand, had spent the first five minutes trying very hard not to look at his mouth.She eventually gave up pretending she was succeeding.Julian lowered the document in his hand and met her eyes across the table."You've been staring at me."Eva immediately reached for her coffee. "I was thinking.""About?""Nothing important.""You were thinking very intensely for someone who claims it was nothing important."She tried to suppress a smile. "Perhaps I was wondering whether you always look this pleased with yourself in the morning."He watched her a moment

By the time Leo arrived at Julian office on Monday morning, Julian had already made up his mind about what came next.The photograph of the veiled woman lay on the desk beside his untouched coffee, he had looked at it several times since Leo had given him the name, but the name itself had told him very little.Christabel could have been anyone. The woman in the photograph had deliberately made herself difficult to recognize.Leo closed the heavy study door behind him, stepping quietly into the room. "You asked for me, sir?"Julian looked up from the photograph, his eyes dark and entirely focused. "We're seeing her on Friday."Leo's expression changed slightly, a hint of surprise breaking through his usual professional mask. "You want to approach her yourself?""I do," Julian said, leaning forward."That gives us four days," Leo noted, pulling out his ledger."Then I expect you to use them," Julian replied, pushing the photograph across the desk. "I want her current address, find out w

The following morning, shortly after six, the Castellan estate was still quiet when a hard knock shook the front door.Eva woke to the sound, startled by its force. It came again, louder this time, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone stumbling against the other side of the door.Before any of the staff could reach the door, a slurred voice shouted from the porch. “Open the damn door.”Julian was already on his feet.He reached the entrance just as another knock landed against the wood. When the door finally opened, Lucien stood beneath the porch light with his jacket hanging loosely from one shoulder, his tie was nowhere to be seen, and his shirt was partly undone at the collar.The sharp smell of alcohol reached them before he stepped inside.Eva stared at him.Lucien rarely drank enough for anyone to notice, which made the sight of him this morning even more unsettling. He had clearly gone far beyond his usual limit.Julian's expression hardened into a mask of pure disappr

"Answer me, Clara," Adrian said, his voice flat and quiet. He held the plastic bottle under the dim lamp light, his eyes moving from the medical label to his sister’s pale face. "How long has this been going on?"Clara slumped back against the base of her nightstand, her knees pulled tight to her chest. She looked entirely exhausted, the brittle confidence she usually carried completely gone."A year," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Maybe longer. It started after the accident, just to sleep. Then I couldn't stop. I couldn't handle the pressure in this house without it.""And the records?" Adrian stepped closer, looking down at the crumpled paper on the carpet. "The thousands of dollars listed here. Who are you paying?"Clara shook her head, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. "People downtown. They found out who I was and raised the price because they knew the Castellan family has money. Beatrice found out about it months ago. She’s been helping me clear the payments so the rec

Beatrice found grandmother Isabella in the drawing room early that morning. Her needlework was abandoned in her lap the moment she walked through the doors, a sharp complaint already written across her face."Adrian's audit," Beatrice began, not even waiting for an invitation to sit. "Surely there are better ways for Clara to spend her time right now than—""I approved it," grandmother Isabella said flatly, her eyes never leaving the linen fabric in her hands."Grandmother, if you would just look at her recent schedule—""I said I approved it, Beatrice." Isabella’s needle resumed its rhythmic push through the cloth. "Adrian had perfectly good reasons for wanting her assistance. I did not ask him for any further details, and I would strongly suggest you extend your nephew the same courtesy."Beatrice’s jaw tightened. A flash of pure frustration crossed her features, not because the excuse was hard to believe, but because she had absolutely no way to challenge it.She turned on her heel