Lahat ng Kabanata ng BOUND BY SECRET, BAILED BY LOVE: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

The question sat between them like something alive.Are you afraid of what might happen if we stop pretending?Arielle felt the air in her lungs disappear.Lucien stood beside her chair, close enough that she could feel the warmth from him. Close enough that if she moved even a little, their arms would touch.Her fingers tightened around the edge of the table.“Yes,” she said finally.Lucien didn’t move.“Why?” he asked.The word was soft.Too soft.Arielle forced herself to stand.The chair scraped lightly against the floor as she pushed it back. Now they were standing face to face, barely a step between them.“That should be obvious,” she said.Lucien’s eyes searched hers.“Humor me.”Her chest rose slowly with a breath.“Because this isn’t real.”His expression didn’t change.“Not yet.”The quiet confidence in his voice made her stomach twist.“See,” she said quietly. “That right there.”“What?”“That’s exactly why this is dangerous.”Lucien tilted his head slightly.“Dangerous for

Morning came slowly.Arielle woke before the alarm on her phone.For a moment she stayed still in bed, staring at the ceiling while soft sunlight slipped through the curtains.Her mind was already awake.Too awake.Dinner with Lucien.The conversation.The question he asked.The way he stood so close.She pressed her palms over her eyes briefly.This is getting messy.That thought had followed her to sleep and was waiting for her again when she woke up.She turned onto her side and grabbed her phone.No new messages.Just the quiet morning.After a quick shower, she pulled on simple clothes. Jeans and a light sweater again.Comfortable.Safe.Downstairs, the house smelled faintly like coffee.She paused at the bottom of the stairs.The kitchen was quiet except for the soft sound of a spoon against a cup.Lucien sat at the island.White shirt. Dark trousers. No jacket yet.His sleeves were rolled slightly, and his hair looked less perfect than usual, like he had run his hand through it

The house didn’t calm down for the rest of the afternoon.By evening, Arielle felt like she had spoken to twenty different people about flowers she didn’t care about and tablecloths that all looked the same.She stood in the garden now while the event planner walked around pointing at different spots.“The stage will go here,” the woman said.Arielle nodded.“And the musicians will be near the fountain.”Another nod.“And the engagement announcement will happen right there.” She pointed toward the stone steps leading down to the lawn.Arielle followed the direction of her finger.Right there.That’s where Lucien would stand beside her in front of hundreds of people.Pretending.Her stomach twisted again.“You’ll stand here,” the planner continued. “Mr. Moreau will stand slightly to your left. Cameras usually position themselves from that direction.”Arielle barely heard the rest.She could already imagine the scene.Lights.Cameras.Lucien’s hand around hers.Everyone watching them li

Arielle closed her bedroom door with her hip and leaned against it.Voices downstairs. Chairs moving. Someone arguing about flower arrangements near the staircase.The engagement party was tomorrow.Tomorrow.She dropped onto the edge of the bed and stared at her phone.The guest list had already been finalized days ago.Lucien’s side looked like a corporate conference.Her side looked… respectable.At least on paper.She had written a few names when the planner asked.Old classmates.Distant acquaintances.People who would never actually come.No one had questioned it.Why would they?Lucien Moreau’s fiancée obviously had a life before him.At least that’s what everyone assumed.Arielle stared at the only name in her contacts that actually mattered.Nina.She pressed call.The phone rang twice.Then….“ARI?!”Arielle pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.“Yes, hello to you too.”“Why are you calling me in the middle of the afternoon like this? Are you dying?”“Not currently.”

The music didn’t stop.That was the strangest part.Even as the whispers began to spread, the soft violin in the background kept playing like nothing had changed.Arielle could hear it.Too clearly.It mixed with the low murmur of voices around her.“…only one person?”“…from her side?”“…that’s odd…”She kept her smile in place.Not too wide.Not stiff.Just enough.Her fingers tightened slightly around the champagne glass in her hand.Cold glass. Slippery.Grounding.Beside her, Lucien hadn’t moved.But she felt it.The shift.His posture had gone still. Too still. Like he was holding something in place.Someone laughed too loudly across the table.Arielle didn’t look.Didn’t react.But she felt the weight of it.Nina stood a few steps away, holding a drink she clearly wasn’t interested in. Her eyes kept darting between Arielle and the crowd, confusion written all over her face.She hadn’t signed up for this part.Arielle inhaled slowly.Then exhaled.Steady.“You should have told m