Chapter 1128:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Bonnie exhaled softly, her voice fragile, barely carrying across the room. “Fine… This is the last time. Once it’s over, let me leave.”

Claude’s lips curled into a faint, satisfied smile, like a cat that had cornered its prey. “Agreed.” His gaze lingered on her a heartbeat longer. “I’ll wire you enough for a life of comfort, free from worry.”

Bonnie didn’t reply. She simply turned, the soft rustle of her gown punctuating her departure.

Claude moved to the towering window, the city sprawling beneath him like a glittering chessboard.

“Anna… soon, we’ll meet again,” he murmured, his voice low and tinged with longing.

He drew out his phone and dialed a number. The call connected instantly.

“I hope your chip won’t disappoint me,” Claude said, his voice terrifyingly calm and void of emotion.

A low chuckle answered from the other end, carrying confidence and unspoken assurance.

Once the call ended, Claude’s lips curved into a faint, cold smile. The kind of smile that hinted at plans already in motion, and danger lying just beneath the surface.

𝖣ow𝗻l𝘰а𝗱 𝘗𝘋𝖥𝘀 frе𝖾 𝗼n 𝗀𝖺𝘭𝗻𝗼𝗏e𝗅𝘀.𝖼𝘰𝘮

A few days later, Hannah received an invitation to Claude’s wedding at his mansion.

Though she hadn’t followed Claude’s movements closely of late, the news had reached her: he had successfully seized the chairmanship of Fontaine Galleria.

Since she had already agreed to attend, the invitation came as no surprise, merely the customary nod to social etiquette.

Viewing it as a simple social obligation, she decided against bringing bodyguards.

On the day of the wedding, Hannah drove over herself. The moment she arrived, a strange unease tugged at her. The parking lot was almost empty, unsettling in its starkness.

The scene inside the house only deepened her discomfort. There was no throng of guests, no wedding band, no lavish decorations or festive chaos.

Only a sparse scattering of a dozen or so people stood across the cavernous living room, their presence almost ghostlike. No officiant. No parents. Not so much as a wedding cake in sight.

A strange, unsettling atmosphere hung over the whole venue.

Claude approached her, his arm draped casually around Bonnie, who was resplendent in a simple white gown that whispered of quiet elegance.

“Anna, you made it,” Claude said, his voice gentle, polished, deceptively warm. “I hope the drive wasn’t too tiring.”

“Claude, congratulations.” Hannah forced a smile over the doubt coiling in her chest. She handed over the gift she had brought, then allowed herself a careful question, her eyes scanning the oddly empty room. “Why… are there so few people?”

Claude accepted the gift and passed it effortlessly to a nearby waiter, one hand still firm on Bonnie’s waist. His smile was perfectly natural, unshaken. “You know my relationship with my parents has always been… strained. They were more than happy to sit this one out and enjoy their peace. As for Bonnie’s parents, we paid them a special visit earlier. Their health simply wouldn’t allow the travel.”

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