All Chapters of LOVING THE WRONG BRIDE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Isabella"What do you mean?"He didn't answer. He stepped out as the door clicked shut behind him.I sank onto the bed, shaking, staring at the space where he'd been sitting.Something was tucked half under the pillow, as if it had been placed there deliberately—and forgotten just as deliberately.The next morning, I woke before dawn, my heart already racing.I wanted to call my brother, but I didn't have access to my phone. Adrian's security was everywhere, but today, I made up my mind. I was going to call my brother. Brother Julian.I slipped out of bed and padded down the hallway, my bare feet silent against the marble. Rosie was in the kitchen, wiping down the counter, and when she saw me, her hands stilled."You're up early," she said quietly.I signaled to her, gesturing with my hand for her to come closer. "I need your help." I glanced over my shoulder, checking the empty hall, scanning around to make sure no one was watching. "Is there a back way out of this house? One nobody

Isabella's POV"What's going on here?" he asked.Adrian stood there, arms crossed, eyes dark and unreadable, staring straight at me.He flicked his hand, and the room emptied — the security guard, his assistant, gone, like he'd swept dust off a table.I stood frozen, my back against the cold marble wall, watching the door close behind the last of them.Then he turned to me."I heard everything," he said, closing the distance between us in three slow steps, his eyes fixed on me.My stomach dropped. "Heard what?""Don't." His voice was quiet, but it cut sharper than a shout. "Where did you go?" His tone dropped even lower."I was just walking. Getting some air." The lie slid out easier than it should have.His eyes narrowed, searching my face the way he always did when he knew I was hiding something and wanted to watch me squirm before he called me on it."Did you tell anyone?" he asked."No." I shook my head — too fast.He studied me a moment longer, then let it go. For now."Next time

Isabella's POVIt has been almost a week now, and I have barely let myself breathe, let alone rest. The bathroom mirror fogs over before I do.I press my palm to the glass and wipe a streak clean, just enough to see my own eyes staring back at me like they don't recognize this life either.Six days. Six days of small smiles that catch me off guard. Adrian's hand finds the small of my back like it belongs there. His arm heavy across my waist, and hating myself a little for how safe it feels — and for how he keeps finding his way there."What are you doing here?" I ask, still half-tangled in the sheets.He doesn't answer. Just a small smile plays on his face.I towel off and go downstairs, and Rosie is already setting a plate in front of my usual chair — the eggs done exactly the way I like them, the coffee cooled to just the right temperature by the time I take my first sip."He asked me to check," Rosie says, not quite meeting my eyes. "Before you even came down."I sit. I don't say t

Isabella's POV "Who is it?" I asked again."Security," he said."What for?""They need my attention at the station.""They told Tim they want me there tonight. It's urgent."I watched his jaw tighten from across the room, watched the color drain out of something behind his eyes before he smoothed it away like he always did — like nothing ever touched him."And what did you tell them?""I'll go first thing in the morning," he said.He stood, crossed to the door, and pushed it shut behind whoever had delivered the message. The click echoed. Silence dropped over the room like a blanket over a cage.I sat curled in the armchair by the window, arms crossed, pretending I hadn't heard the fear underneath his calm. I wasn't supposed to care. I didn't care.He stood there, looking at me. "Isabella." He crossed the room toward me, sleeves rolled to his forearms, tie long gone. "It's late. Let's get you to bed.""I don't need you telling me when to sleep." The words came out sharper than I meant

Isabella's POV"What's going on here?" His voice was low, dangerous.His mother's expression shifted instantly — soft, wounded, performing. "Nothing, darling. Isabella and I were just having a little chat.""That's not what it sounded like from the hallway." Adrian's gaze locked on mine, searching. "Isabella?"I opened my mouth to answer, and that's when I saw it, a flicker of something behind his mother's eyes. Not embarrassment. Not guilt. Satisfaction.She'd wanted him to walk in on this. She'd planned it.Staring at her calm, composed face, I finally understood: this wasn't about breakfast, or greetings, or my supposed lack of manners.This was a war. And she had just fired the first real shot.Adrian left her standing there, cornered me, and pulled me toward the room.The second we stepped inside, he went rigid beside me. A sharp hiss slipped through his teeth, so quiet I almost missed it."Adrian?"He didn't answer. His jaw worked like he was grinding down words he refused to l