LOGINShare
Chapter 167: The Design Process
publish date:
2026-02-04 00:24:17
Latest chapter
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 475: THE WILL
The screen on the wall was muted, but the headline was screaming.ISABELLA VOSS DEAD AT 68.Aurora sat on the edge of the sofa in the penthouse living room. She was holding a cup of tea, but her hands were steady.She had expected to feel something when this moment came. Relief? Joy? Grief?She felt... nothing.It was just a fact. Like the weather. Or the stock price.Isabella Voss—the woman who had murdered her parents, kidnapped her son, and haunted her marriage for twenty years—was gone. Her body had finally succumbed to the cancer that had been eating her alive."Did you see it?" Liam asked, walking into the room.He looked tired. He had been on the phone with the lawyers since 6:00 AM, managing the fallout."I saw it," Aurora said. "No ceremony planned. Cremation. Ashes to be scattered at sea.""Fitting," Liam said. "She wanted to be everywhere and nowhere."He sat down next to her. He took her hand."Are you okay?""I don't know," Aurora admitted. "I feel... blank. Like the last
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 474: THE MOTHER
The study in the penthouse was usually a place of strategy. Whiteboards. Maps. Solutions.Today, it was a place of execution.Liam stood behind his desk. He wasn't looking at a screen. He was looking at Ethan. His face was gray, the lines around his eyes deep with a sorrow that looked physical.Marcus stood by the window, his back to the room, staring out at the city as if he couldn't bear to watch what was about to happen.Ethan sat in the leather chair. He was wearing his favorite hoodie—the one Mia had borrowed last week because she was cold. It still smelled like her. Vanilla and solder."Say it again," Ethan said. His voice was flat. Mechanical."Her mother is Evelyn Vance," Liam said.Ethan frowned. The name sounded familiar. A ghost from a story he had heard years ago."Vance?" Ethan asked. "Like Arthur Vance? Our lawyer?""His ex-wife," Liam said. "They divorced twenty years ago. Evelyn kept her maiden name professionally. But her married name... the name on Mia's birth certif
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 473: MIA
The coding workshop in Brooklyn smelled of roasted coffee beans and overheated processors. It was a "Next Gen Innovators" hackathon, the kind of event Ethan usually avoided because the code was sloppy and the egos were loud.But Liam had insisted. Networking, he had called it. Go see what the other humans are building.Ethan sat in the back row, his hoodie pulled up. On his screen, lines of Python cascaded like rain. He was bored. He was refactoring the lighting algorithm for the London store rollout in his sleep."You missed a semicolon on line 42."The voice was low. Smoky. Amusement curling around the edges.Ethan spun his chair.A girl was leaning against the table behind him. She had dark, choppy hair cut into a bob that looked like it had been done with kitchen scissors. She wore a vintage band t-shirt and combat boots that were scuffed to gray.She was looking at his screen."Excuse me?" Ethan said."Line 42," she said, pointing a finger with chipped black nail polish. "The loo
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 472: THE INSTALLATION
The gallery space in Chelsea was not a white box. Tonight, it was a lung.Hope stood on the mezzanine level, looking down at the empty exhibition floor. The walls were lined with the translucent resin panels she had poured, backed by the LED grid Ethan had coded.Right now, the room was dormant. A soft, rhythmic pulse of deep indigo washed over the floorboards, matching the resting heart rate of the idle servers."Systems nominal," Ethan said, standing beside her. He was wearing a tuxedo, but he was holding a tablet like a shield. "Latency is under ten milliseconds. The thermal cameras are tracking.""It's breathing," Hope whispered."It's idling," Ethan corrected, though there was a note of wonder in his voice that betrayed him. "It's waiting for input."The doors opened.The guests began to filter in.It started as a trickle. The board of directors. Julian Thorne. Elena Kostas. Then the clients. Ms. Wu from Zenith Retail, flanked by a team of skeptical executives. Then the press.Ho
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 471: THE LOCKED ROOM
EthanThe lock clicked.A heavy, mechanical thud that vibrated through the floorboards and settled into the base of Ethan’s spine.He stared at the door. It was solid oak, reinforced, soundproof. His father had built this office to be a fortress. Now, it was a cell.Ethan turned.Hope was standing by the window. She had her arms crossed, her vintage blazer pulled tight around her chest. She wasn't looking at him. she was looking at the city, her jaw set in a line so sharp it could cut glass."He actually did it," Ethan said."Of course he did," Hope snapped, not turning around. "He's Dad. He thinks structural containment solves behavioral problems.""This isn't a behavioral problem. It's a logistics problem. We have five days.""No," Hope said. She spun around. Her eyes were blazing—that slate-blue fire she inherited from Mom. "We don't have five days. We have five hours. If we don't have a concept when he opens that door, he's going to fire us both.""He won't fire us. We're the heir
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride CHAPTER 470: THE PRODUCT
The Innovation Lab at AVA-Cross headquarters was a glass box suspended over the city. It smelled of ozone, fresh coffee, and the specific, metallic scent of high-performance servers running at capacity.Liam Cross stood at the head of the conference table.He looked at the calendar projected on the wall.ZENITH RETAIL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: 5 DAYS.He looked at the feedback email from Ms. Wu. It was short. Brutal.Mr. Cross: We have reviewed the preliminary concepts from both your divisions. The technology is impressive. The design is beautiful. However, Zenith is not looking for two separate stores. We are looking for a unified experience. If you cannot integrate these visions, we will find a partner who can.Liam rubbed his temples. The headache that had been lurking behind his eyes for weeks throbbed in time with his pulse.He looked at his children.Ethan was sitting on the left side of the table. He was seventeen, wearing a hoodie that cost more than most people’s cars, typing furiou
Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 96: AVA's Victory
The car ride home was silent.But it wasn't the heavy, suffocating silence of the past. It was a silence born of exhaustion and a strange, humming sense of peace.Aurora sat in the back of the black SUV, her head resting against the cool leather. Her eyes were closed, but she could still see the li
Last Updated : 2026-03-23Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 91: The Culprit
The rain had stopped, but the air in the small apartment in Queens was heavy with the smell of damp plaster and impending disaster.Liam Cross stood in the center of the room, the laptop open on the table, the map of his son's life taped to the wall. The word BURN was scrawled in red marker next to
Last Updated : 2026-03-23Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 86: The Stalker
The penthouse was no longer a sanctuary. It was a cage with glass walls.Two days had passed since Vanessa’s visit to the Cross Empire tower. Two days since she had listened at the vent, since she had held the lighter in her hand.Aurora didn't know about the lighter. She didn't know about the reco
Last Updated : 2026-03-23Runaway Heiress: The Billionaire’s Forgotten Bride Chapter 94: Almost a Confession
The Intrepid Awards Gala was not a party. It was a ceasefire held on neutral ground.The massive aircraft carrier, docked on the Hudson, was transformed into a floating palace of light and steel. A transparent tent covered the flight deck, protecting the thousand guests—designers, models, celebriti
Last Updated : 2026-03-23
You may also like
Watch Out, CEO Daddy!
Wine Warms The Flowers1.4M viewsPursuing My Ex-Wife Isn't Easy
Inked Snow3.3M viewsSpoiled by Mr. Russell
Luminous Night1.0M viewsOne Night Stand With My Boss
BELLA1.5M viewsThe Hockey Captain’s Curvy Obsession
Sommy Writes60 viewsCLAIMED BY MY BROTHER'S TEAMMATE
Beth Writes121 viewsEx-Husband Forgot Ever Divorcing Me
Jane A.M.S.74 viewsThe Billionaire’s Blood Debt: Ruined by My Enemy
Sarah Jenkins173 views
