All Chapters of REBIRTH OF THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Chapter 82The heavy glass doors of La beaute slid shut behind us, cutting off the blinding sparkle of the showroom, but the chill of the city air didn't do a damn thing to cool down my face.My left hand felt impossibly heavy. The twenty four-carat diamond ring caught the grey afternoon light, flashing like a tiny, expensive sun with every step I took. Every time I looked down at it, my pulse did a violent, panicky stutter.Alex walked right beside me, his long strides effortless, his hand tucked casually into his coat pocket while his shoulder brushed against mine. We didn't speak as we crossed the manicured sidewalk toward where his car was parked, but the silence between us wasn't empty. It was vibrating. It hummed with every single second of skin-to-skin contact from inside the store, with the phantom warmth of his breath on my freezing fingers, and with the way he had looked at me when he whispered my girl.Once we climbed into the car and the doors locked us inside, the cabin i

Chapter 84Ethan’s bedroom door was clicked shut just enough to leave a sliver of warm light spilling into the hallway. The quiet that settled over the apartment afterward was sudden and absolute, stripping away the manic energy of the afternoon and leaving only the gentle hum of the refrigerator and the soft city light filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows.I leaned back against the deep velvet cushions of the sofa, letting out a long, slow breath I felt like I’d been holding since we pulled up to the house. The tension in my shoulders finally gave way, melting bit by bit into the plush fabric.Footsteps sounded from the kitchen, unhurried and light, before Alex walked into the living room holding two mugs. Steam curled off the top of them, carrying the rich, smooth scent of dark hot chocolate and a hint of cinnamon.He handed one to me, his fingers brushing against mine as I took it.Don't look at his hands, my brain helpfully reminded me, immediately ignoring my own advic

Chapter 86 "We have to tell the press it's photoshopped. We have to issue a statement saying it's a fake, that I don't know who Kade Lannister is, that some crazy person made up—" "No," Alex snapped, cutting me off completely. His voice rang out sharp, low, and ringing with absolute finality in the quiet room. "We are not doing that." I stared at him through a blur of tears, completely disoriented. "What?! Alex, we have to! It's the only way out—" "It is a trap, Camille!" he told me, his grip tightening just a fraction on my wrists, grounding me whether I wanted it or not. "Listen to me. Look at the timeline. If you deny that photo, Kade wins. The papers are real. The state registry is real. The second you issue a denial, Kade drops the full archive of certified copies to the press, and you look like a lying, desperate corporate fraud. That is trap number one. That is exactly what he wants you to walk into." "Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!" I yelled, a fresh tear trackin

Chapter 88 The heavy mahogany doors clicked shut behind us, locking out the noise of the executive floor. Inside, the boardroom felt like a tomb. The air was frigid, thick with the sharp bite of stale coffee and the palpable, suffocating scent of corporate panic. Twelve board members sat around the polished conference table. A giant overhead screen was displaying a live feed of the financial news network, showing the stock price twitching downward alongside a massive, high-res image of that damn court wedding photo. Nobody smiled. Nobody welcomed us. I kept my chin level, my hands clasped loosely in front of my blazer, and my posture rigid as I walked toward the head of the table. Inside, my chest was a complete war zone. They know. They’re looking at me and seeing a lie. They think I'm a fake, a criminal, a fraud who tricked them into signing checks. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to turn around, run down the hall, and lock myself in a room where Kade’s reach couldn't to

Chapter 90The soft, ambient glow of the living room lamps did little to thaw the lingering cold in my chest.I sat on the edge of my plush sofa, barefoot, my silk blouse unbuttoned at the throat and my hair pulled up into a messy knot. Scattered across the glass coffee table were half a dozen printed pages sent over by the PR team, alongside an open bottle of Pinot Noir and two half-empty glasses.Alex sat at the opposite end of the couch, his blazer tossed over the back of an armchair, his dark tie loosened. He looked entirely too relaxed for a man who had spent his morning dismantling a hostile corporate board and his afternoon becoming the top trending topic on the internet. Must be nice to have ice water in your veins, I thought bitterly, swirling my wine."Alright, Cam," Alex murmured, tapping a pen against the stack of papers in his lap. "Let's run it from the top. The host tilts her head, gives you that sympathetic morning-show look, and asks: 'How did you two manage to hide a