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Home / Romance / Too Late To Claim The Bride / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Too Late To Claim The Bride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

42 Chapters

Chapter 1

CORA "I think we can start the party now," Annie announced, raising her glass, but before others could scream, the door flung open. "Not without me." I shared a look with Annie as mumbles filled the air. Candice strolled into the room with a wide smile on her face. "Why is she here?" Annie whispered to me. Candice looked around, her smile not wavering. "Why do you all look surprised to see me? I forced a tight-lipped smile. "I wasn't expecting you." Her smile widened. "Well, I'm your friend, right?" We weren't friends. She was more or less an acquaintance. "We thought you would be at the bachelor's eve, after all, Leon is your best friend," Annie pointed out. Candice turned to her. "I'll rather support my friend's bride." Annie scoffed. "Is that why you're wearing the same dress as the bride? Is that what you call support?" I pinched my best friend, but she swatted my hands off immediately. Annie was the definition of straightforward; she never backs out of

Chapter 2

CORAI woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache.As I rolled onto my side, something solid shifted beneath me. Not the mattress."A body".My eyes flew open.And there was a man on my head. Not Annie. Not any of the girls. Not even Candice.If I weren't still in my contact lenses, I would have thought Leon had suddenly got tanned, and he sneaked in in the middle of the night, but this didn't look anything like my husband.Before I could stop myself, I let out a piercing scream as I jumped out of the bed.The man stirred in his sleep, and then his eyes opened."Who are you?" I yelled.His brows furrowed in confusion. I looked down at my body, my heart hammering fast.Thankfully, I was still fully clothed. The man was fully dressed, too. It didn't look like anything disastrous had happened. I didn't even want to think about that at all.But how did a man end up in my room? I looked around the room to be sure I didn't enter another person's room. I knew I had gotten drunk. I co

Chapter 3

CORA"Good morning, love," Leon mumbled groggily beside me, pulling me close to his chest."We have to prepare for the flight," I whispered back.His hand rested on my waist. "It's still so early. We still have enough time, right?" he asked slowly, his eyes still shut.We slept late last night. Actually, we didn't sleep until the early hours of the morning, so I could understand why he was still so sleepy, but we had a honeymoon to go to.Our flight to Bali was in two hours."We have less than two hours," I replied, moving his hand gently to his side."We can still sleep a bit then. The airport is only ten minutes away," he reminded me.Of course it was, but I needed to get ready. We had to ensure we had everything."I'll let you sleep for thirty minutes.""Thank you, love. I love you." He blew me a kiss before rolling over to the other side and pulling the duvet over himself.I let out a chuckle and then headed to the bathroom.When I stepped in a couple of minutes later, I met Leon

Chapter 4

CORABarely twenty-four hours after our wedding, my husband was already requesting a divorce.The fact that he got it drafted so quickly was baffling. My eyes darted between him and the papers again, trying to confirm I wasn't in some sort of trance or something.I looked down at the papers again, and then a fit of laughter escaped my mouth."This is a joke, right? Are you trying to shoot some sort of content?"His face hardened. "This is serious."I chuckled. "I'm not going to fall for your prank. When did you start taking your social media seriously?""This is not some prank, Cora. We are getting a divorce," he replied sternly.I laughed. "I won't become your road to going viral," I replied, taking my seat on the edge of the bed."I've filed it already."My head snapped back. "What did you just say?""I filed the divorce already," he repeated, his expression remaining stoic.My pulse had started quickening. I could feel my heart racing fast already. This had better be a prank."You'

Chapter 5

CORA"Leon! Leon!!" I shouted, banging on the door for the umpteenth time that evening. I couldn't even tell how many minutes I'd been standing outside, begging him to come out so we could talk.After leaving the hotel, I went straight to our house only to find my things carefully packed outside. Every single thing. I don't know how he did it so quickly, but I wasn't ready to accept that our marriage would just end like that.The door opened slowly, and my face lit up, only for Candice to step outside."Why are you still here?"My stomach twisted. "I need to talk to Leon," I replied sharply.She folded her arms. "Well, he doesn't want to talk to you.""This was your plan, right?"She blinked. "What are you talking about?"Before I could reply, Leon appeared from behind her. A smile slipped out of my face, but he glared at me."I already told you there's nothing to talk about, Cora. We are done."I shook my head. "No, we are not. Candice planned this whole thing. She wants to ruin our

Chapter 6

Cora I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was the super bright white light from the ceiling. It felt like something heavy was pushing down on my face.I couldn't move even if I wanted to.My chest felt so heavy, like concrete was poured right into my lungs while I was passed out.For a second, I just stared at the blank ceiling tiles, wishing I could stay numb and half-asleep forever.But reality didn't let me. The moment I fully woke up, the voices came back fast.Chloe and Annie's words from earlier were playing in my head non-stop.Pregnant. Leon. Candice. Fuck.The click of the hospital door handle made me jump. I didn't turn my head, but I heard the soft squeak of rubber-soled shoes coming toward the bed.Chloe came in first, looking pale and stressed, followed closely by a middle-aged man in a white lab coat. The doctor held a clipboard, looking completely neutral."Ah, you are awake, Miss Woods," the doctor said, dropping into that calm, doctor-like voice.He stepped cl

Chapter 7

Cora The big entrance room felt like it was spinning.I stood completely frozen on the polished marble floor, staring at my parents, completely shocked.My ears were ringing, and for a second, I genuinely thought I had misheard him.Terminate the pregnancy. The words felt like a physical punch to my chest.Before I could even find my voice, my mother stepped forward, her heels clicking sharply against the stone.She didn't look angry; she just looked like she didn't care, which was so much worse.She smoothed down the front of her perfect designer dress, her voice dropping into that smooth, super calm tone she used for business problems."Your father is right, Cora," she said, her eyes boring into mine without a shred of maternal warmth. "You need to think about this clearly. The family can't have this kind of public drama. You ran off to New York, got involved with a man who dumped you, and now you expect us to clean up a mess that involves a child born outside marriage because of a

Chapter 8

Leon The view from my office was supposed to make me feel powerful.I sat at my grand mahogany desk, staring blankly out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the huge New York skyline.From up here, everything looked small, easy to handle, and totally mine. But it didn’t feel that way today.Instead, there was this weird, empty feeling bugging me, a dull ache that I couldn't shake no matter how many multi-million-dollar deals I signed.The heavy glass door to my office swung open without a knock.Candice strutted in, basically glowing in a super fancy, tight designer outfit that probably cost more than my first car.She had a bright, triumphant smile on her face as she marched over, instantly dropping a heavy stack of glossy marketing mockups right in the center of my desk."We did it, babe," she purred, leaning over the mahogany to plant a soft, lingering kiss on my cheek.She smelled strongly of expensive perfume and success, moving around the space with a casual arrogance, acting as if

Chapter 9

Cora The international airport was super loud, but to me, it just sounded like static background noise.I stood right in the middle of the crowded boarding gate line, my fingers trembling slightly as I was holding a new, one-way ticket to Paris.I kept staring down at the name printed on the boarding pass. It wasn't Cora Woods.It was a completely clean, newly registered legal alias that Chloe had used her underground connections to secure for me.Cora, the victim that New York gossip papers wrote about, was gone."I can't believe you're actually doing this," Annie was crying, hugging my neck and squeezing me so tight I could barely breathe.She was crying hard, her shoulders shaking violently against mine."It's going to be so quiet without you. But I promise I'm going to save up every single penny from my paycheck. I'll visit you for New Year's, Coco. I swear I will."I hugged her back just as tightly, burying my face in her shoulder to hide the tears spilling over my eyelashes."Y

Chapter 10

Leon The noise in the boardroom was incredibly loud.I stood right in the middle of the long, polished mahogany table, my hands resting flat on the wood while the long-time board members openly shouted at me.Nobody was hiding their contempt anymore.The air was thick with tension, so heavy it felt like it was actively choking the room.One of our oldest, meanest investors, a harsh man who had been with the company since my grandfather ran it, stood up.He pointed a trembling, angry finger at the giant digital screen dominating the front wall."Look at those numbers, Leon!" he roared, his voice cracking under the weight of his fury."Look at them! Our stock is crashing, dropping lower and lower every time the market opens.We have suffered a huge, terrible loss of our main big investors this month alone.They are pulling their money out because they don't believe in your vision anymore. The brand is bleeding, and you're just standing there!"I didn't blink.I kept my face perfectly b

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