THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: Marry To Rival's Son novel Chapter 179

CHAPTER 179

After Elena left, Mia pushed herself out of bed, her bare feet hitting the cold floor. She could see Stefan’s silhouette outlined against the glass. He sat in the leather armchair by the window, still as a statue, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him.

He hadn’t looked up when she approached, his focus locked on something unseen, but the moment her hands touched his shoulders, she felt the tension coiled in his muscles.

His fingers slid around her waist without hesitation, pulling her onto his lap with a gentleness that contradicted the storm she could feel brewing beneath his calm exterior.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice heavy with regret. The words felt to small for what she’d put him through, but they were all she had.

His dark eyes finally met hers, and she saw the conflict there – love warring with frustration, relief battling with anger. “For what?”

“For going out without telling you.” She traced the line of his jaw with her fingertip, feeling the slight stubble that had grown overnight. “For making you worry.”

Stefan exhaled, slow and sharp. “Mia, I don’t think you understand why I’m angry.” His jaw was tight, his tone controlled, but she could feel the storm beneath.

“I’m not mad because I don’t think you can’t stand your ground. You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

She blinked, caught off guard by the admission.

“I’m mad because you didn’t just risk your life, you risked our baby’s too.” His hand moved instinctively to her still-flat stomach, his palm warm against her skin through the thin fabric of her nightgown.

“Our child, Mia. The life we created together.”

Her throat tightened, and she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. When he put it like that, when he made it about the baby instead of just her own safety, the weight of what she’d done hit her differently.

“We’re supposed to be partners,” he continued, brushing a strand of hair from her face with infinite tenderness. His touch was soft, but his words carried the weight of steel.

“We tell each other everything. You’re pregnant, Mia. You already have our child to worry about – that’s your job now. Let me worry about everything else. Until you deliver, that’s all I ask. Please.”

–

The vulnerability in that last word broke something inside her chest. Stefan, was asking – not demanding, but asking for her trust.

Her eyes stung as she nodded, unable to speak past the emotion lodged in her throat. “I promise,” she finally managed. “I’ll always tell you things. And when the weight gets too heavy…I’ll let you carry it for me.”

His expression softened, the fire in his eyes dimming to warmth. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth – the first real smile she’d seen from him since last night. “Good. That’s my girl.”

Her cheeks turned different shade of red at the simple praise, heat spreading through her body in a way that had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with the way he was looking at her.

“I’ll need you to tell me everything that happened yesterday,” he murmured, his voice dipping lower, rougher, as

1/3

HER DOCUMENTS OR HER MOTHERS OFE

+25 Bonus

his hands began to wander along her curves. “But first… how about I make you feel good?”

Mia let out a startled giggle, her body already responding to his touch despite everything that had happened. “You never get tired.”

“Never. And that’s why you love me,” Stefan teased, lifting her easily into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. Her legs wrapped around his waist automatically, and she could feel his smile against her neck as he carried her back toward the bed.

Hours later, when the sun had climbed higher in the sky and the city had fully awakened, Stefan stood at the construction site with Mose and Ethan beside him.

The collapsed project stood before him, completely damaged.

“Structural integrity was compromised from the inside,” Mose said, his voice clinical as he reviewed the report on his tablet. “The steel beams were weakened systematically. This wasn’t an accident.”

Ethan kicked at a piece of debris, his jaw clenched. “How many people knew about the construction timeline?”

“Too many,” Stefan replied, his eyes scanning the destruction with cold calculation. “But not many knew about the specific materials we were using.”

They already knew who was involved. The evidence pointed to a conspiracy that reached deep, roots twisted with greed and jealousy that had been growing in the shadows for months.

He had been patient for far too long, holding back out of a sense of family loyalty that had been repaid with betrayal.

But now? That saving grace was gone. They had crossed the line when they put Mia in danger, and he wouldn’t forgive again. Couldn’t afford to.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. “It’s time,” he said when the voice answered. ” Clean house. All of them.”

He would protect his family. His real family. The one he’d chosen, not the one he’d been born into.

Back at the penthouse, Mia sat curled on the plush sofa with Margaret and Elena, a cup of herbal tea growing cold

in her hands.

Margaret was telling some story about her latest art class, her animated gestures making Elena laugh for the first time in days, when Mia’s phone buzzed against her thigh.

She glanced at the screen casually, expecting to see Stefan’s name or maybe a text from her doctor about her upcoming appointment. Instead, she saw two words that made her blood freeze in her veins.

Unknown Number.

Her pulse spiked, slowly and carefully, she rose from her seat, clutching the phone tightly enough that her knuckles went white.

She forced a smile for Margaret and Elena, mumbling something about needing to use the bathroom, and slipped into her bedroom before anyone could notice the color draining from her face.

Her hands trembled as she opened the message, and the words on the screen made her legs go weak.

Unknown Number: Do you still want to see your mother?

2/3

HERFIDICULENTS OF HER MOnextr

+25 Bonus

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify