All Chapters of Married To The Devil I Betrayed: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

By Wednesday morning, Lucian had stopped asking himself whether Matteo had betrayed him.That question had already been answered.The more dangerous question now was how long.How long had his cousin been standing close enough to shake his hand while quietly pulling pieces out from under him?How long had Lucian been defending the wrong person?And how much of the wreckage behind him carried Matteo’s fingerprints?Those were the questions that made sleep difficult.He arrived at Moretti Industries earlier than usual, before most of the executive floor had even switched on their lights. The silence suited him. It gave him room to think without performance, without interruption, without people trying to read his face.Nora was already waiting outside his office with coffee and a folder.She handed both over with the kind of efficiency he trusted more than most people.“You have the board review at ten. Legal wants confirmation on the Virelli adjustment. And Matteo asked if you were free

There were some truths that did not arrive like revelation.They arrived like punishment.Lucian had spent years believing the worst mistake of his life was losing Elena.Now he understood that losing her had only been the consequence.The mistake had come first - It had been quieter, smaller, a choice made in anger, pride and wounded trust.A moment where belief would have required courage and doubt had been easier.He had chosen easier.And everything after that had simply been the bill.By Thursday morning, the city outside his office was loud with ordinary life, but inside him, everything felt strangely still.The report from the night before sat on his desk, untouched since midnight.He did not need to reread it.The details had already settled into memory like scars.Matteo.From the beginning.Not just the recent leaks.Not just NorthBridge.Elena.Adrian.The accusation.The destroyed merger with Hart Biotech.Years of damage, all threaded together by a man Lucian had defended

Lucian had stopped believing in accidents.Not in the harmless sense people liked to assign to bad timing or coincidence, but in the deeper sense—where every outcome had a source, every silence had a cause, and every collapse had a hand behind it.Nothing in his world simply happened.It was either arranged, allowed or overlooked long enough to become inevitable.By Monday morning, that belief had settled into him so firmly it almost felt like instinct.The city outside Moretti Industries was already awake, already moving, already pretending nothing beneath its surface was shifting. But inside Lucian’s office, the air felt different. Not tense in an obvious way, but weighted, as if the building itself understood it was standing on the edge of something unstable.He stood by the window long before anyone arrived, watching traffic move like it had somewhere honest to be.Matteo’s scheduled “private leadership discussion” was no longer just a rumor.It was real.And worse, it was no long

By Thursday morning, Moretti Industries looked like a company pretending not to bleed.The elevators still opened with polished efficiency. Assistants still moved across marble floors with tablets pressed to their chests. The boardroom still stood at the top of the building like a cathedral built for expensive lies.From the outside, it was all glass and confidence.Inside, Lucian could feel the fracture in every room.The emergency leadership review had been scheduled for eleven.By nine-thirty, everyone already knew.No one said it directly, of course. People in powerful places preferred implication. They lowered their voices when he walked past. They straightened too quickly when he entered a room. They smiled with the kind of careful professionalism people reserved for funerals and quarterly losses.Nora stood outside his office when he arrived, holding coffee and a folder.“You have exactly ninety minutes before a group of wealthy men pretend concern while trying to remove you fr

By Friday morning, Moretti Industries had perfected the art of pretending nothing was wrong.The reception staff smiled too easily. Executives spoke with careful brightness. Assistants carried files with the kind of efficiency that usually meant everyone was quietly preparing for disaster.From the outside, it looked like discipline.Inside, it looked like fear dressed in expensive tailoring.Lucian stood in the executive conference room watching the city through the glass walls while Anton reviewed internal reports behind him.“Governance signed off on the access restrictions,” Anton said. “Matteo won’t notice immediately, but he’ll feel it. Finance approvals now require secondary review, and I moved compliance oversight to people who still believe in consequences.”Lucian turned from the window.“That sounds almost romantic.”Anton adjusted his glasses.“At my age, legal caution is romance.”Nora, seated at the far end of the table with her laptop open, didn’t look up.“Please don’t