His Unwanted Bride: The Substitute's Secret

Chapter 4

Word Count: 769 | Released on: Today at 15:42

was a girl who couldn't ha

ound the examination room, avoiding Elianna's gaze. There were faint,

er touch. It was a subtle stiffening, a flinch she tried to hide

lm, softened even more. "I'm just going to check

other signs, small tears and inflammation that, combined with the br

sional mask. She asked the attending nurse to

sat opposite the girl, creat

you?" Elianna aske

lled in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks. But she shook

so desperate. It was

, drawing from a well of darkness deep inside herself. "It's okay to be scared. But you are

voice a torrent of panicked words. "No! No police! It wasn't his

s my

ruck Elianna

ted with anger and disappointment, years ago. "If you hadn't insisted on those ridiculous piano lesso

ld accusation merged into a single, deaf

ts at her sides, her knuckles whi

done something wrong. She mumbled a hasty apology and practi

stool, her strength gone. She leaned her head again

n't save

ne had been th

bt that the girl was now feeling-it washed over Eli

police. The perpetrator was likely

no teacher.

f physical nausea. He had been a celebrated artist, a guest lecturer at Ju

restroom. She leaned over the sink, dry-heaving, her body convuls

g it on her face again and again, tryi

was the same one from last night, her

m. Not really. After all these ye

nd to be a happy, fulfilled wife. The irony was

rcing the mask of Dr. Lancaster back i

bag. She picked up her phone to check th

uld unlock it. A new me

Adr

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

His Unwanted Bride: The Substitute's Secret

Hui Hui Romance

“Elianna was nothing more than a substitute wife, pushed into a cold, transactional marriage with billionaire Adrien Leach after her perfect older sister, Ivette, suddenly ran away. For a year, they lived as strangers sharing a zip code, which was exactly what Elianna needed to hide her darkest secret-a severe, trauma-induced phobia of physical touch that left her trembling and terrified at her husband's slightest proximity. But this fragile, loveless balance was completely shattered at the annual family gala. Just as Elianna swallowed her panic to play the dutiful wife, Ivette unexpectedly returned. The golden child burst in, demanding her rightful place beside Adrien, while their own mother looked at Elianna with familiar, crushing disdain, ready to cast the understudy aside. Hiding in the shadows of the balcony, Elianna felt the suffocating weight of her past closing in. She waited for Adrien to terminate their contract, fully expecting him to agree that she was just a pathetic, temporary placeholder who couldn't even bear to be touched. Instead, she heard Adrien's voice cut through the dark, delivering a ruthless warning to the sister who thought she had won. "It's not a deal, Ivette. I married her because I'm in love with her." Standing frozen behind the glass door, Elianna's blood ran cold as she realized her fake, business-deal marriage was hiding a terrifying secret of its own.”