Sold as a Substitute Bride, Claimed by the Ruthless CEO

k was warm in El

Stevenson manor, a sprawling house on Lon

tepfather, Lawrence Stevenson, worked late in his study, and she was t

y. Her knuckles were inches from the wood

he opening. It was low, but sharp with an excitement

ame that froze the

ian

er ribs, a frantic, trapped bird. She pressed her body flat a

s. Her voice was pure disgust. "Mom, I refuse to marry that notorious t

am. The glass in h

mbia Law. This wasn't her world, this web of arranged m

irl, why would I give such a marriage to you?

guised scorn and triumph. "That country b

enson family. They never specified which one. Once she's married, our business deal with the Holloways is

ay beneath her. Eliana bit her lip so hard she tasted c

udden warmth over the past few months, the invitations to join them from he

nt, each movement a scream of protest. She fl

he narrow stairs to the attic room, the small, forgotten space

She began throwing her few belongings inside. Her passport. Her Soc

d to r

o of her and her grandmother in the garden of their small-town home upst

grandmother, she had to get out. S

o a tight ponytail. She checked the window. It was on the second floor, overlooki

her suitcase in a bedsheet and lowered it

t. She listened, holding her br

d night air was a slap to her face, but

ju

e, but she ignored it. She grabbed the suitcase and ran, using the shadows

on gate. Freedom was

al latch when she heard the low rumble of an

e gate, its headlights cutting through the darkn

hard, chiseled jawline of a man half-hidden in shadow. Th

motionless as the nigh

t visit, Mis