These two chapters are a bonus to celebrate the new collection received , and I will stand by my word and release two extra chapters for each new collection received 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Bonus Chapter(1/2)
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The headline hit like a slap.
"Leon's Lies: Billionaire's Ex-Fiancée Breaks Silence on Control, Coldness, and the Truth Behind Castellan's Power Plays."
Aria was on her way to a casting callback when the notifications exploded.
Pings. Tags. Messages. Calls.
By the time she reached the studio, three tabloids had already picked it up. A fourth was running a "psychological analysis" of Leon's supposed "dominance complex."
It was everywhere.
And in the center of it all was a woman Aria barely remembered.
Celeste Vane.
Flawless.
Silver-tongued.
And cruel beneath the gloss.
Aria stared at the headline again.
At the words "cold," "strategic," and — worst of all — "emotionally unavailable."
"I loved him," Celeste said in the interview clip. "But Leon Castellan only knows how to love when he's in control. The moment you ask to stand beside him instead of behind him, he shuts down."
She didn't make it to the callback.
She turned around, got into the car, and called Leon.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
And again.
By the time she reached Castellan Holdings, she was vibrating with unease.
But Dahl was waiting at the private elevator.
"I'll take you up," he said shortly. "He's already in containment mode."
When she stepped into his office, Leon was standing by the window, sleeves rolled, jaw clenched, a storm wrapped in a suit.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said before she could speak.
"You didn't tell me she was planning a press run."
"I didn't know."
"She makes it sound like you're incapable of feeling anything real."
Leon turned.
Looked at her.
And there was nothing unreadable in his expression now.
Only pain.
"Because I wasn't real with her."
The silence that followed wasn't cold.
It was raw.
Heavy.
Aria stepped closer.
"You want to tell me?" she asked softly.
Leon exhaled, slow and steady.
"She liked what I gave her. The image. The wealth. The control. It wasn't love. Not really. But it was convenient. And it was easy to confuse convenience with devotion when I was building an empire."
He met her gaze.
"Until she said no for the first time. And I realized I didn't know how to love someone who wasn't compliant."
Aria's chest ached.
"But you're not like that with me."
"I try not to be."
"You're not perfect," she whispered. "But you've never made me feel small."
He looked at her then.
Really looked.
And said, quietly, "That's why I'm terrified every day."
They sat together on the couch.
No cameras.
No press statements.
Just the two of them, sharing truths uglier than any gossip column could print.
Leon took her hand.
"I don't need you to defend me," he said. "But if you're going to stay… I need you to see all of me."
"I already do."
"And you're not scared?"
Aria leaned forward.
Pressed her forehead to his.
"I'm scared of what happens if I walk away before we're finished becoming who we're supposed to be."
The next morning, Leon issued a single statement to the press:
"I will not comment on private relationships. I've made mistakes. But I've never loved anyone the way I love Aria Rousseau — openly, equally, and without disguise."
It trended for 72 hours.
Aria didn't post a word.
She didn't need to.
Because when she arrived at a charity gala that weekend, hand-in-hand with Leon Castellan, head high and eyes steady, the cameras didn't matter.
The world saw everything it needed to.
And none of it could be faked.