Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE GUARDIAN'S BRIDE: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

CHAPTER 81: Something elseThe ride back home was suffocating. After I stormed out of father's house with Madelyn, there had not been another word said. My wife had not said a word. She hadn’t told me what that woman had been saying to her before I arrived, but I had a clear idea. The silence between us wasn’t peaceful, unlike at the island. It was heavy. Charged. Like a storm that had already passed but with a promise of more violent ones to come, leaving the air tasting of iron and smoke. I had earlier sent Julia to the office to tidy up a few things before she would head home, so it was just the two of us in the car. I kept my eyes on the window, jaw tight, one hand gripping my mobile phone tightly and the other resting against my thigh, clenched.Finally we arrived home, and as we pulled into the drive, I saw the lights in the foyer already glowing. Home. For Madelyn, I hoped it would bring some sense of relief and safety. I believed that today had been too much for her as well.

CHAPTER 83: A safe of SecretsThe silence of my office swallowed me the moment I closed the door behind me. The silence of the space was a welcome change to all that had happened, with all the words that had hit the air today. I did not bother switching on the main light; the glow from the desk lamp was turned on, and it was enough. The faint glow from the lamp cast shadows across the paneled walls, shadows that seemed to lean in as if they wanted to listen to the thoughts I tried so hard to bury. They say that no secret could be hidden forever under the sun. I had become a convicted believer in light of the recent events. So many hidden truths were coming to light.My jaw ached from being clenched too tightly, and I pressed my fingers against the side of my temple, as if the pressure would stop the pounding in my head. I walked to the desk and pulled out the drawer. I took out a foil and popped some pills, swallowing it with the bottle of water I found in the compartment refrigerato

CHAPTER 85: Sins of the pastThe moment Zachary and Madelyn disappeared through the door, I allowed the smile I had been wearing to drop like a shattered mask. My shoulders slumped slightly after being squared for so long. My lips trembled, not only from exhaustion, but also from the fury simmering beneath my skin. I had thought this plan through with Vance before we had pushed forward with it. I was aware that it was not going to be a walk in the park getting a Blackwood man to do our bidding, but it was even more difficult withstanding their disdain and abhorrence. I could still hear Zachary’s words ringing in my ears, sharp, deliberate, designed to remind me that I would never become a permanent feature in that family. Honestly, I had no desire to be. This was all for the success of my plan with Vance.I reached for my phone, my fingers itching to connect to my son. I needed to talk to him. To hear his voice. My son was my anchor, my strength. Everything I had ever done was for

CHAPTER 87: A mediocre presentation Four days.It had been exactly four days since that debacle that day at father’s house, yet the memory clung to me, making fresh anger erupt in my veins every second of the day. Red hot rage had not yet stopped flowing inside me, neither had I spoken to Father since that day. Strangely, Vance had neither tried to communicate with Madelyn nor had he released the clip despite the expiration of his twenty-four hours ultimatum.Currently I was at the office, in the boardroom where I had been sitting through a very mediocre presentation.The numbers blurred across the projector screen as the young man droned on, his voice cracking with every other word that he managed to speak. It was a disgrace. I sat there, jaw tight, fingers tapping against the polished mahogany table, fighting the urge to cut him off sooner than I already knew I would. I could feel the tension and the unease of the others in the room. They exchanged glances and shifted around uneas

CHAPTER 89: Truth nowAs soon as I left the penthouse, I headed straight to Blackwood estate. This time, much to my relief, there was no presence of Patricia in the mansion. I easily found father in his study. I didn't bother knocking. Armed with the folder and the burning in my veins, I pushed in the heavy oak door, and it creaked open, and the familiar scent of aged leather and burning wood from the fireplace washed over me.He sat behind his desk, spectacles perched low on the bridge of his nose, a document in his hands. He didn’t look up immediately, as if I were another servant disturbing him in the middle of some relevant task. But I was sure that he was aware of my presence. “Father,” I said evenly, though there was a storm beneath my skin.His hand stilled, and the pen hovered over the paper for a second. He finally raised his head slowly, his eyes narrowing in that calm, unyielding way that had always made lesser men quake. “Zachary.” He dropped the pen and folded the paper