THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE

Sophie was sent back to our parents’ house, but she refused to accept defeat.

The following night, taking advantage of the chaos still gripping the estate, she slipped back into the Cross house through a rear entrance — a gap in the security system she’d noticed during her brief days “playing” me.

She’d brought a bottle of strong sedatives, which she slipped into a glass of whiskey in Julian’s study, calculating that if she could get him disoriented enough to stage some kind of “intimate evidence” between them, she’d have grounds to force him into marrying her instead — fulfilling the engagement as it was originally meant to be.

But after everything that had just happened, Julian had already had additional security cameras installed throughout the estate.

The security team caught Sophie breaking in within minutes of her spiking the drink.

Julian never touched the glass.

He stood and watched as she was escorted out of the house, his gaze so cold she didn’t dare look up at him even once.

“Did you really think you could force my hand with a cheap trick like that?” he said, his voice never rising, but carrying enough weight to make her shake.

“You were never, not for a single second, an option.”