Lahat ng Kabanata ng BRIDE FOR LEASE: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Chapter 31: One HeartPOV: Jennifer The car screamed down the highway to Zurich. Rain hammered the windshield like it had the night the bridge exploded. Like the night everyone thought I died. David drove with one hand. The other held mine so tight my bones ached. The baby blanket from Ward 4B sat between us on the seat. Singed J facing up. Proof I’d lived. Proof he’d never let me go. Ravenna sat in the back, phone pressed to her ear. “Swiss police are twenty minutes out. Harry’s sniper has line of sight on the east playground. Elena’s class is out there right now.” “Then we’re not making it in twenty minutes,” David said. He floored it. The engine roared. For the first time since Ch 1 I wasn’t scared of his driving. I was scared of what we were driving toward. My phone buzzed. Harry again. No text this time. Just a photo. Elena on the swings, laughing, locket catching the sun. Red dot on her chest. Clause Eight. If Jennifer lives, Elena dies. If Jennifer dies, it all bur

POV: JenniferThe city looked different after midnight.Zurich was quiet beneath the stars, the streets shining from the rain that had finally stopped.But inside the car, nobody spoke.Elena was asleep against David's chest.Her small fingers were still wrapped around his jacket.David stared through the window.I stared at the brass key in my palm.Box 77.Elise had given it to me less than an hour ago.My mother-in-law.The woman David had mourned for eleven years.The woman everyone believed was dead.Alive.Watching.Waiting.And somehow, she'd known about me.Not Clara.Not the woman David had publicly presented to the world.Me.Jennifer Kline.I looked at David."Do you believe her?"His jaw tightened."I want to.""That's not what I asked."He finally looked at me.His eyes were exhausted.Not physically.Emotionally."Yes," he said quietly. "I believe my mother is alive."He looked down at Elena."But I don't believe she told us everything."The words settled heavily between

Chapter 35: The Locket POV: Jennifer The explosion kept echoing in my head. Even after the flames swallowed the archive. Even after the windows shattered. Even after the smoke covered half the street. I could still hear Gabriel Vale's voice. Your family. My family. David's family. The Four Families. None of it made sense. “Jennifer!” David's hands were on my shoulders. “Look at me.” I forced my eyes up. “Are you hurt?” I shook my head. “Elena?” “She’s okay.” He turned. Elena was sitting inside the SUV, trembling but conscious. David released me and climbed into the vehicle. I followed. Victor got behind the wheel. “Drive.” The SUV pulled away from the burning archive. Nobody spoke. Elena was between us. David held her tightly against his chest. His face was pale. His sleeve was still stained with blood from the gunshot earlier. I stared at him. “You said your father wasn't involved.” “I don't know what to believe anymore.” Victor kept his eyes on the

Chapter 37: The HeirPOV: JenniferThe words echoed through the night.It's time to bring the heir home.Home.The word sounded wrong.Elena was already home.With me.With David.Not with them.Never with them.David held her against his chest.His body was positioned between her and the men surrounding us.I stepped beside him.“How did you find us?”The man in the gray suit smiled.“You opened Box 77.”David raised his gun.“You're not taking my daughter.”The man looked amused.“You still think this is a negotiation.”Victor stepped forward.“Gabriel.”The man smiled.“Victor.”So it was him.The same man from the photograph.The same supposedly dead Gabriel Vale.He removed his gloves.“It's been a long time.”Victor's gun was already aimed at him.“You should have stayed dead.”Gabriel laughed.“I tried.”His eyes moved toward me.“Death became inconvenient.”David stepped forward.“Who are you working for?”Gabriel's smile disappeared.“Everyone.”“That isn't an answer.”“It is

Chapter 39: The MotherPOV: JenniferI couldn't move.For twenty-eight years, I had imagined my mother's face in a thousand different ways.Sometimes she was smiling.Sometimes she was crying.Sometimes she was standing beside my father.Sometimes she was disappearing into smoke.But never like this.Never alive.Never standing ten feet away from me.Never looking at me as if she'd seen me yesterday.My mother took another step forward.“Jennifer.”My name sounded different in her voice.Like something sacred.Like something she'd been saving for years.I tightened my arms around Elena.David stood beside me.His gun was still raised.“Stay where you are.”My mother looked at him.Then smiled sadly.“You have your father's eyes.”David's expression hardened.“You knew my father.”“Yes.”“You knew Edward Loriss.”Her smile disappeared.“Yes.”“And you know what happened eleven years ago.”She looked at me.“I know everything.”My heart tightened.“Then tell me.”Silence.“Tell me why yo