2026-05-07 23:52:42
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CHAPTER 231
Alex's hand tightened on Mia's shoulder, and she could feel the tension in his touch, the particular stillness that came over him when he was processing information and deciding what to do with it.Mia tried to think through it.She had checked the news this morning. There had been nothing about the Vinda family crisis, nothing about her father disowning her, nothing about the broken arrangement with Simone Greene. The information was private, contained within the family sphere, known only to those who had been there last night or who had been explicitly told.Yet somehow, the bureau officials knew.Which meant someone had told them. Someone had ensured that the flag on the marriage application came with context, with information designed to undermine her position and render her unable to fight back. Someone had weaponized her circumstances against her."Who told you," Mia asked, and the question came out with a kind of terrible clarity. "Who gave you this information.""Again," the o
CHAPTER 230
Alex moved toward Mia with the intention of offering something like comfort, his hand reaching out to her shoulder.She looked at him and shook her head slightly, a gesture that said she was fine, that she did not need him to fix this, that she was managing the particular humiliation of standing in a government office while being mocked by people whose power over her situation was absolute."Do not worry," she said quietly, her voice steady even though her hands had clenched at her sides. "We will figure this out."It was the wrong thing to say, or perhaps the right thing said in the wrong place, because the moment she said it, the officials erupted into fresh derision."Look at that," one of them called out, not bothering to hide his amusement. "The lovebirds. How touching. How completely, utterly delusional."The woman who had been speaking before leaned back in her chair and shook her head with theatrical disappointment. "They are not even fit for each other. She is clearly someone
CHAPTER 229
The man beside her nodded slowly, folding his arms across his chest."The Vinda name is not small," he added. "Even damaged, it is not something you throw into the garbage overnight. If people find out what happened in that villa, if they find out what Tom Vinda decided about you, the kind of stories that will follow you out of this city will be impossible to outrun."He exhaled. "Reputations like yours do not recover from that kind of exposure. Not easily. Not quickly."The female official leaned slightly closer to the glass, lowering her voice another degree."So here is my advice," she said. "Free of charge. Think very carefully about this marriage registration. Think about whether signing that document today is worth what comes next. Because whoever is on the other side of your secret already knows you are here. They already know what you are trying to do."Her painted nail tapped once on the glass panel. "Reconsider. Go back. Fix things with your family. Marry the man they chose
CHAPTER 228
The color drained from Mia's face slowly, the way ink bleeds into water.She had woken up that morning and done the one thing she always did when things felt uncertain. She checked her phone. She scrolled through every major news platform she knew, every gossip page, every social media channel where information about families like hers moved fastest. There had been nothing. Not a single headline. Not even a whisper about the Vinda family or what had happened at the villa the night before.She had convinced herself that meant she had time. That meant the walls had not cracked yet.But these three officials behind a government counter in a civil affairs bureau knew. They had said it plainly. They had said it with the confidence of people who had been briefed, not people who had stumbled onto rumor.Her mind moved quickly, pulling at every thread. Who could have told them? How fast had Tom moved? And why here, why this office, why now?Her lips pressed together and then parted slightly w
CHAPTER 227
The other male official leaned forward on his elbows, shaking his head with exaggerated disappointment."I have to be honest," he said, voice loud enough that it carried across the whole waiting area. "Every time a woman like her walks in here with someone decent, I think, good for her. Then she walks in with something like this." He waved a hand toward Alex as though presenting a failed exhibit. "A worm in a pressed shirt. What a waste.""It is always the beautiful ones," the female official agreed, clicking her tongue. "No sense. Absolutely no sense. She could have anyone and she drags in this slug and asks us to stamp it official."The man with the cup set it down and looked directly at Alex with something between pity and disgust."No offense to you personally," he said, in a tone that made it clear he meant every offense possible. "But what exactly are you bringing to this woman? You look like the type that cannot afford the bus fare home. Men like you should not even be allowed
CHAPTER 226
The female official behind the counter had been quiet through most of it. She was the youngest of the three, with sharp painted nails and the sort of bored expression that comes from a person who has decided the world owes her something. She had been observing Mia the whole time with the look of someone waiting for the right moment to open her mouth.That moment had arrived.She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and looked at Mia with a slow smile spreading across her face."Oh, look at that," she said to her colleagues. "The rose has finally decided to speak up."The two men beside her burst out laughing. One of them slapped the desk lightly, shaking his head as though this was the funniest thing to happen all week. The other covered his mouth with a fist, shoulders shaking.Mia's expression did not change. Her eyes stayed on the female official without blinking."I asked you a question," Mia said. "I expect an answer."The female official tilted her head and looked at Mia
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