Semua Bab THE BILLIONAIRE'S VENGEANCE: Pregnant With Twins: Bab 71 - Bab 80

"To the Sullivan residence, please," she told the driver, sinking into the backseat.During the drive, Audrey watched out the window as the landscape shifted back to the area where she grew up. Upon arriving, what she saw filled her with a bitter melancholy. The Sullivan garden, once her mother's pride and the symbol of their status, was overgrown. Grass grew wildly, and withered flowers hung from stone pots. It was the perfect reflection of her family's decay. Eliot's unbridled ambition and Alessandro's selfishness were turning the place into a ruin. It had never truly felt like hers; being the only child of a narcissist had been torture. Eliot Sullivan was a man of strict rules, someone who pointed out every mistake with an accusing finger, while her mother, Olivia, submitted in painful silence.Crossing the threshold, the air was heavy, loaded with a scent of stale alcohol. Her father's shouts echoed from the main living room. Audrey immediately guessed he was drunk; it was his usu

Audrey closed her bedroom door with her heart hammering against her ribs—a dull sound echoing against the silk walls of the room. She let herself slide backward down the wood, exhaling breath she didn't know she was holding. Her cheek still held the fresh trace of the ointment, but it was the heat of Alessandro's fingers that truly burned her skin.She couldn't decipher him. The man was an enigma made of sharp edges and deep abysses. How could he be the same individual threatening to take her children away and, minutes later, treating her wound with almost devout delicateness? That duality terrified her more than his declared hostility. Hostility was familiar terrain, a clear border; but that silent concern, that protective instinct emerging from the shadows of his coldness, was a trap for her endurance."Stop thinking about him," she scolded herself in a whisper, walking toward the bed.She shed the accumulated tension and sank between the sheets, but sleep felt like a distant shore.

The shopping mall's air conditioning blew fiercely, but it wasn't enough to cool the latent tension traveling like an invisible current between Audrey and Alessandro. The dark-haired man walked with a predatory elegance, drawing the gazes of half the floor while carrying bags from a luxury toy store. He had systematically ignored Audrey's protests about spoiling the kids; for him, seeing the spark of victory in Matthew's eyes upon receiving his remote-controlled car and Emma's hug around a giant silk stuffed animal was a satisfaction his wallet could afford without blinking.After the ice cream and children's laughter, the group advanced down the main hallway. Audrey stayed a couple of steps behind. She stopped to tie her untied shoelaces, and upon straightening up, her eyes were caught by a display window.It was an upscale, minimalist, and exclusive couture boutique. On the main counter, a pale pink silk dress, almost nacre, rested on a mannequin. Audrey felt a pang of melancholy ti

During the drive back to the mansion, Alessandro drove with an almost gelid precision, his hands gripping the steering wheel with such force that his knuckles stood out like marble beneath the skin. The silence in the car wasn't peaceful; it was a dense, electric mass that seemed to consume the cabin's oxygen. Audrey, sitting beside him, felt that pink dress—the one that barely an hour ago made her feel beautiful—was now incriminating evidence.The twins, detecting the storm on their father's face, remained unusually quiet in the back, entertained by their new toys but casting stealthy glances in the rearview mirror. The dark-haired man didn't say a single word until the motor stopped at the property's entrance."To your rooms. Now," Alessandro ordered the children without raising his voice, but with an authority that admitted no reply.Emma and Matthew bolted from the car. The brown-haired woman tried to follow them, seeking refuge in the afternoon routine, but Alessandro's voice sto

"Just what I needed. Unemployed."She wondered why Marcus hadn't told Helen the truth. Surely the blond man was wondering why Audrey's boss didn't know who she really was. The web of lies and omissions began to suffocate her. She needed to clear her head. She took a quick shower, letting hot water wash away the tension from her shoulders, and dressed in a long, flared skirt and a simple blouse. She wanted to go out for a walk, feel the air on her face.Walking down the stairs, the maids' murmur in the foyer stopped her."...his fever won't break with anything," one said, worried. "The doctor came early, but the master is still burning up. He says it's a cold, but we already know Mr. Alessandro never gets sick, and when he does, it hits him hard."Audrey approached, surprising the women."What's wrong? Is Alessandro sick?""Yes, ma'am. He woke up with a very high fever. He's in his room, but he refuses to let us call an ambulance."Audrey hesitated a second. He was a jerk, a control fr