All Chapters of THE HEIR'S UNWANTED BRIDE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CELESTE'S POV The door had barely clicked shut behind him before I was already reaching for the folder, and I told myself for half a second that I was only moving it out of the way so it would not get knocked to the floor, except that it was a lie I did not believe, because my hands were already opening it before my brain had finished deciding whether it was allowed. "For your records," he said, on his way out, phone pressed to his ear, already halfway into the hallway. "Read whatever you want in there. It's yours to keep, Celeste." He had not meant it as permission. Saying it while leaving to attend the urgent call, which made his voice tense the same way I had seen four nights ago, while he knelt beside me in the hedges.Normally he would have turned to make sure I wanted to go through the file or not but he didn't.However, knowing what is at stake as his wife to be and ways it could change my life, it was better going through the documents by myself to be sure of what I was ge

CELESTE'S POV Chasing Vivienne down the hall was a waste of my time, besides she has always set this kind of trap for me since childhood to make me always need and run after her, but this time around I vowed not to do so, besides I was too tired to even try."Who else was there," I heard myself say loudly as the door clicked shut behind her.Nobody answered me, obviously, because nobody was there to answer, and I sat with the binders Margaret had left scattered across the low table and the folder Damien had taken back still sitting somewhere behind a locked drawer. I understood, clearly and all at once, that everyone in my life right now was holding a piece of something and deciding for themselves how much of it I was allowed to have. Except that I was tired of being the last one handed the file. So I got up, ignoring the way my ankle felt and went to the drawer by the bed where I had asked the hotel staff to put the few things Nadia had brought over for me. Underneath the folded

DAMIEN'S POV "That's enough for today," I said to the tailor, and it was quiet enough that it took her a full second to understand the fitting was over. Years ago, I had learned that a raised voice gave people permission to raise theirs back, and I did not want Margaret Harrington handed that permission in a room full of witnesses who did not work for me. "Mr. Chen, we still need to mark the hem…" "Tomorrow," I said. "Same time. I'll have my office confirm it with you directly." She gathered her pins into the little velvet tray without arguing, and the two assistants followed her out with their eyes down. I stood still till all three left before I turned to look at Margaret again. Doing that was intentional because my reaction would have been different if I looked at her while there were still people in the room who worked for the tailor and not for me. "I don't know what you think you heard," Margaret said, while gathering her shattered self, a minute earlier. "I k

CELESTE'S POV “You don’t have to sign anything you don’t understand.” Adrian had said it slowly that afternoon, sliding the document toward me instead of summarizing it for me the way everyone else in this house preferred to. His words where still sitting in my chest, at eleven fifteen that night when my phone rang.“Did you sleep at all?” Adrian asked. “No..Not yet. I’m still on page thirty.” “Celeste.” His voice dropped, carefully. “I can’t tell you what to think about that clause. I signed documented papers that prohibit me from telling you what it means. This is not about protecting Damien, It’s me protecting my license.” “Then tell me what you can.” “Read it the way you read everything else. Not for what it says, but for the hidden details behind the letters.” “That’s not an answer.” “It’s the only one I’ve got tonight.” “Adrian.” I made myself say it slowly. “If I asked you whether that clause protects my family, would you be able to tell me no?” Silence. Three seco

CELESTE'S POV "It's me," Damien said through the door. "Open it." "It's four (am) in the morning." I angrily said. "I'm aware. Open the door, Celeste." I opened it a little. He had removed his jacket and his sleeves where folded up. None of the calm from earlier was left on his face. "You came back to say what, exactly." "That you're not wrong to ask questions." "You didn't answer a single one of them the first time." I answered. "I know." "So answer them now." "Not like this. Not at four in the morning with you standing in the doorway looking like you haven't slept." He replied "You haven't given me a reason to sleep." "Get some rest," he said. "We'll talk properly." "When." "Soon." "That's not an answer, Damien." "It's the only one you're getting this morning" "You keep saying that. Tonight, tomorrow, after the wedding. There's always a reason it isn't now." "Because the truth isn't something you hand someone standing in a hallway at four in the mo