All Chapters of Too Late To Claim The Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Leon The heavy silence inside Cora’s sleek creative lab was completely suffocating. The air felt thick, wrapping around my throat like a tight collar as her outrageous, humiliating conditions echoed in my ears over and over again. Fifty percent of the entire parent company's profits. Total creative veto over our legacy brand. Funding a luxurious, high-end return to New York complete with a Manhattan penthouse and a flagship boutique out of my own quarterly budget. It wasn't a business contract; it was a corporate execution.My heart was hammering against my ribs with pure, unadulterated rage. My vision literally blurred at the edges, a hot, toxic wave of fury rushing up my neck. She was mocking me. She was standing there in her tailored blazer, looking at me like I was a bug she wanted to squash under her expensive designer shoe, enjoying every single second of my desperation.I wanted to yell. I wanted to smash the glass vials on her marble counter and remind her that the Halefield

Leon I was pacing the length of my luxury hotel suite floor like a literal caged animal, my shoes digging heavy, frantic tracks into the plush carpet. The phone was pressed so tightly against my ear that my skull ached from the pressure, but the physical pain was absolutely nothing compared to the raw, screaming fury vibrating through the speaker. My father was back in New York, but his voice sounded like it was right inside my head, tearing my eardrums to pieces. "Are you completely out of your mind, Leon?!" my father roared, his deep voice shaking with a level of pure, unadulterated rage that I had never heard from him before. "A fifty percent profit split across the entire parent company? Handing over one hundred percent full creative control to an outside designer? Do you have any idea what this line-by-line breakdown of her demands actually means? It makes Halefield Luxury look incredibly weak to our primary investors! It makes you look like a spineless amateur who got rolled b

Leon The grand, historic Parisian venue looked like something out of a classic movie, its towering stone pillars illuminated by brilliant, golden floodlights that cut right through the dark night air. Carved statues lined the high roof, looking down on the high-profile, exclusive international perfume gala taking place inside. It was the biggest event of the season for the global beauty industry, a gathering of the absolute elite, and I was completely locked out of it.I stood right near the edge of the velvet red carpet, my fingers digging tightly into the fabric of my trousers inside my pockets. I was wearing a perfectly tailored tuxedo, my bow tie straight and my hair neatly combed, but it was all a fake front. I had spent the entire evening standing out here on the cold pavement like a common spectator, watching billionaires, models, and international dignitaries glide past the velvet ropes.I had tried to get in, of course. I had marched up to the front desk with all the confide

Cora The steady, rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor was the first thing that brought me back to reality.I winced instantly, the blinding white lights of the private hospital room hitting my face like a physical blow as I slowly rolled my head to the side.My mind was a complete fog, my memories of the gala stairs feeling blurry and distant, but the sharp ache in my arm told me I was hooked up to an IV line.The heavy wooden door creaked open, the sound making me turn my head back toward the entrance of the quiet room.My heart did a sudden, warm flip in my chest as Riley and Ricky quietly tiptoed inside, their small faces pale and their big hazel eyes wide with worry.They looked so tiny against the massive white walls of the hospital, their little hands clutching at the edges of their jackets as they looked for me."Maman?" Riley whispered, her voice shaking just a tiny bit as she took a hesitant step closer to the high bed.I forced myself to swallow the dry taste in my mouth, pu

Leon I was practically vibrating with nothing but anger as I stood on the opposite side of the sterile white bed.My green eyes tracked Julian’s hand as he casually let his fingers brush against the edge of Cora’s hospital blanket, the familiarity of the movement making my stomach violently churn.Every single nerve in my body was screaming at me to lunge across the mattress and rip him away from her.Seeing him standing there, looking so effortlessly put together in his custom designer suit, made my father’s harsh, constant comparisons echo loudly inside my ears.Julian knows how to handle a real asset, Leon.Julian doesn't let his personal life destroy his business to the ground, Leon.He was the golden child of the extended Halefield family, the successful cousin who had always managed to look like a saint while I was left bleeding in the mud of corporate warfare.And now, he was standing in a hospital room, acting like he was the sole protector of the woman I had spent five years