All Chapters of Signed the Devil’s contract: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

AMARA’S POVI hadn't held a microphone in my life before that morning, and my hands shook so badly that Adrien had to steady them beneath the table where the cameras couldn't see."You don't have to do this," he murmured, for the third time that morning. "I can speak alone. You don't owe anyone an explanation.""I know I don't owe them anything." I looked out at the room full of journalists, cameras already flashing before we'd said a single word, appetite for the story practically radiating off them. "But if I let you speak for me, they'll keep writing whatever story serves them best. I want them to hear it from me. Just once. Then I never have to explain myself to strangers again."His grandfather sat in the front row, dressed sharply despite his frailty, his cane resting against his knee, watching us both with an expression of fierce, unwavering support. Kally sat beside him, having flown in the night before, her hand pressed against her chest like she could hold my nerves steady f

AMARA’S POVThe house had finally gone still that night, the twins asleep hours ago, the phone calls from lawyers and journalists mercifully silent for the first time in days. I found Adrien on the balcony off our room, a glass of wine untouched on the railing beside him, staring out at the dark sprawl of the estate grounds."Couldn't sleep either," I said, stepping out to join him."Too much on my mind." He glanced over at me, and something in his expression softened the moment our eyes met, the exhaustion of the week melting into something gentler. "Come here."I crossed the space between us, and he pulled me back against his chest, his arms wrapping around me from behind, chin resting against the top of my head. We stood like that for a long moment, just breathing, the cool night air settling around us like something protective."We survived it," I said quietly. "The press conference. My father. All of it.""We did." His lips brushed against my temple, unhurried. "You survived it.

AMARA’S POVFor the first time in weeks, an entire day passed without a single call from a lawyer, a journalist, or anyone connected to the mess Scott had left behind him.Adrien took the morning off entirely, something I'd learned was rare enough to count as an event in itself, and we spent it in the garden with the twins, a blanket spread across the grass while Zuri narrated an elaborate story involving her stuffed animals and an invented kingdom under constant threat from dragons only she could see."You have to be the guard," she informed Kian solemnly, handing him a plastic sword nearly as long as he was tall. "Protect the kingdom while I talk to the dragon."Kian took the assignment with his usual gravity, positioning himself at the edge of the blanket like the fate of the imaginary kingdom truly rested on his small shoulders. Adrien watched them both with an expression I'd come to recognize as pure, unguarded contentment, so different from the careful control he wore for the re

AMARA’S POVThe days following the breach passed in a blur of security meetings, hushed phone calls, and a tension that never fully left Adrien's shoulders no matter how many times I tried to ease it out of him.The two men from the footage had been identified within forty-eight hours, both with loose ties to Scott through a private investigator he'd hired years earlier, though neither had been located yet. The detective handling the case assured us it was only a matter of time before they surfaced, but time felt like a luxury none of us had the patience for anymore.It was Kian, unexpectedly, who gave the investigation its first real breakthrough.We were sitting at breakfast three mornings after the incident when he set down his spoon with the careful precision he brought to everything and looked directly at the detective who'd come by that morning to update us on the case."The man on the left had a tattoo," Kian said, matter of fact, as though commenting on the weather. "On his wr

AMARA’S POVThe courtroom felt smaller than I expected, all dark wood and hushed murmurs, though the weight pressing against my chest as we walked in made it feel like the largest room I'd ever stood inside.Adrien's hand stayed firm around mine the entire way to our seats, his grandfather following slowly behind us with his cane, refusing every offer of assistance despite his frailty. Kally sat on my other side, having flown in the moment I told her the hearing date was set, unwilling to let me face this particular morning without her beside me.Scott sat at the defense table when they brought him in, and something in me braced instinctively for the confident, easy arrogance I remembered from that dinner months earlier. Instead, the man who shuffled in wearing a plain suit looked smaller somehow, diminished by weeks in custody, the swagger stripped entirely from his posture.He didn't look at either of us as he took his seat.The proceedings moved with a formality that felt strange g