All Chapters of REBIRTH OF THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CHAPTER 12I stood at the top of the grand staircase, gripping the cold, polished banister so hard my knuckles turned a ghostly white.It was like my body wasn't mine anymore. I had successfully puked my stomach into the toilet that at one point I believed if I puked again, it'll be my intestines next.The silence in the mansion was eerie, heavy, and suffocating. Usually, the East Wing corridors would at least have a few maids scurrying around. But today, the silence was absolute. Victoria had stripped the house bare. She had dismissed every single servant, turning this grand, glittering fortress into an empty tomb—and placing the entire burden of its upkeep onto my shoulders.I took a slow, shallow breath through my mouth, desperately trying not to inhale too deeply. My face throbbed with a dull, localized ache where Victoria’s fingers had dug into my jaw twelve hours ago on the gravel road. The heavy layer of foundation I’d plastered over the bruises looked more ugly now, being smug

Chapter 14His questions hung in the dead silence of the kitchen, like a trap. A trap I didn't know if it was wise to fall into.For a single, fleeting second, my throat locked up. A wave of pure, desperate temptation crashed over me so hard it almost made me sob out loud.Tell him.The words practically clawed their way up my neck. Tell him your fever is burning you alive. Tell him your face is purple under this makeup because his mother slapped you and dragged you through the gravel last night. Tell him you're carrying his baby and you're terrified out of your mind.He was looking at me with those dark eyes, completely unguarded for once since I'd met him. If I told him right now, maybe—just maybe—the man who held me so gently a minute ago would step up and protect me?But then the ghost of his voice at the breakfast table sliced right through the delusion: "Don't ruin everyone else's morning. Just go."My blood ran ice-cold. Fuck no! What was I even thinking? He didn't care about

Chapter 16The heavy silence in the kitchen dragged on, thick enough to choke on.Kade didn't break eye contact. His dark eyes stayed locked right on my face, tracking every single detail—the cold sweat slicking my forehead, my shaking hands, the sheer, pathetic terror I couldn't hide even if I tried."Kade," Victoria repeated. The sweet tone was completely gone, replaced by that sharp, razor-edged authority she used when she wanted to remind everyone who really ran this house. "Your coat is in the foyer. The car is waiting. You cannot be late for the board meeting."Slowly, Kade turned away from me to look at his mother. His hands slid into his suit pockets, his shoulders rigid. The air around him went instantly ice-cold."It'll be rescheduled." he said. He said it so coldly that I didn't believe him.Victoria’s manicured eyebrows twitched. "I beg your pardon?""Tell Vance to start without me or push my presentation to four," Kade replied, his voice completely dead of emotion. He pul

CHAPTER 18The knock on the door–when it finally came– made my heart jump into my throat."Enter," Kade said, not even moving from the chair he was sitting on.Dr. Evans walked in. He had this little leather bag with him, he looked all polished and serious in his expensive suit, like he’d just stepped out of a fictional hospital. Apparently he’s been the Lannister family doctor before Kade Lannister was even born. The servants had said it. "Kade," he said, giving him a quick nod before turning to me. "I came as soon as I could.""She collapsed in the kitchen," Kade said flatly. He didn't even greet the elderly doctor. He just pointed at me like I was a broken kitchen appliance he was tired of dealing with. "Fever, nausea, cut thumb. Figure out what’s wrong with her.""I see." Dr. Evans dragged a stool over to the bed. "Hello, Mrs Lannister. Let’s take a look."Mrs Lannister.Hearing that title did something to me. It annoyed me as much as it strangled me. It was like a collar for str

CHAPTER 20The silence in the room after Dr. Evans left was so heavy it practically buzzed in my ears.I lay there on the saggy, squeaking mattress, staring up at the water-stained ceiling. My fever was finally starting to break, leaving my skin damp, cold, and gross, but my head was clearer than it had been all day.“You’re going to have to save yourself, Aurora.”His words kept looping in my head like a broken record. Over and over. Save yourself. Save yourself. You need to already be gone.I slid my hand down under the duvet, resting my palm flat against my lower stomach. It felt flat. Normal. Like nothing had changed. But everything had changed. There was a tiny, fragile life in there, growing in the middle of a literal war zone, completely dependent on me. A girl who couldn't even stand up to her mother-in-law without bursting into tears.I reached under my pillow, my fingers brushing against the cold plastic edge of the foil strip. I pulled out one of the little white prenatal t