Semua Bab The Billionaire's Exchanged Bride : Bab 1 - Bab 10

Ariana ~The Bridal SuiteThe heavy silk of the custom designer gown felt like lead against my skin. I stared at my reflection in the full-length gilded mirror, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. My fingers trembled as I tried to smooth down the delicate, intricate lace at my waist, a cold sweat breaking out across my collarbone. The heavy mahogany door burst open, slamming hard against the plaster wall. Mother swept into the room, her eyes flashing with pure panic and venom. She grabbed my bare shoulder, her artificial nails digging in deep enough to bruise. "She's gone," she hissed, her voice a frantic, venomous whisper. "That ungrateful, selfish little bitch took a private flight to Paris an hour ago. If the Vaughn family finds out they've been publicly humiliated on live television before the ink on this corporate merger is dry, your father and I will lose everything. We'll be ruined."I swallowed hard, my throat burning as tears pricked the back of my eye

Ariana ~The morning light cut sharp angles across the hardwood floor of the master suite, casting long, pale shadows over the edge of the velvet rug. I sat curled up in the corner of the oversized window seat, staring out at the manicured lawns of the estate while the phone pressed tight against my ear. "I still can't believe you actually let them do this," Julian’s voice murmured through the speaker, low, frantic, and dripping with a bitter edge. "Ariana, you’re legally bound to a monster. Do you have any idea what Ethan Vaughn does to people who cross him? If he finds out you swapped places with your sister... if he finds out you’ve been lying to him since the second you walked down that aisle...""Keep your voice down," I whispered back, my fingers gripping the edge of the phone until my knuckles turned stark white. "Please, Julian. I had no choice. My parents would have dragged me through the dirt anyway, and you know how bad the debts were. I'm surviving. That's all.""Survivin

Ariana ~"I love you, Aria," he whispered against my lips. The words settled over me like a heavy, suffocating blanket. I froze. I kept my eyes shut for a second too long, my hands gripping the lapels of his shirt. My throat completely locked up. The lie was right there on the tip of my tongue, ready to be spoken to save my life, but I couldn't force it out. I just couldn't say it back. The silence in the library stretched, thick and dangerous. Ethan pulled back slowly. His warm hands fell from my face. I opened my eyes to see the soft, devoted warmth completely gone from his expression. In its place was a slow, distinct frown. His sharp obsidian eyes narrowed, studying my face with a dark, calculating intensity. He tilted his head, the muscles in his jaw ticking. "Nothing to say?" he murmured. His voice was dangerously low, carrying a completely different weight now. Panic flared hot and fast in my chest. I knew exactly what he was thinking. The real Aria would never stay quie

Ariana ~Ethan stopped mere inches away from me, the sheer heat radiating off his frame cutting off any remaining air in my lungs. His dark eyes burned into mine, filled with a raw, possessive hunger that made my skin tingle. He reached out, his warm calloused fingers tracing the bare curve of my shoulder before sliding down to grip my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest. "You've been playing the quiet, obedient wife for weeks," Ethan murmured, his voice a low, gravelly hum against my skin as his gaze dropped to my mouth. "I have to admit, I prefer the woman who looks like she's ready to start a war."His thumb brushed across my bottom lip, and his head dipped down, closing the distance between us. The air grew thick, charged with an intensity that made my heart race for an entirely different reason. He wanted intimacy. He wanted to pull me deeper into this marriage, to claim every piece of the life he thought belonged to him. Panic spiked, sharp and cold, beneath the su

Ariana ~His fingers resting against my pulse felt less like a touch and more like a death sentence. Every single heartbeat hammered violently against his thumb, betraying the raw, suffocating panic clawing at my throat. *He knows.* The thought flashed through my mind in blinding neon red. The driver had talked. Or worse, Ethan had tracked the vehicle’s telemetry the second I stepped out of range. He wasn't just a suspicious husband; he was a master chess player who watched every single square of the board. I forced my jaw to stay relaxed. I couldn't flinch. If I pulled away, if I showed even a fraction of the terror tearing me apart inside, the game was over. Slowly, deliberately, I reached up and wrapped my hand around his wrist, pulling his fingers away from my throat with an expression of pure, unadulterated annoyance. "Are you seriously tracking the car's movements now, Ethan?" I snapped, letting out a sharp, cold laugh that sounded dangerously close to cracking. I arched an