(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

The night had grown so late. Ariana once again entered the room that had been used for her preparations earlier. The reception was not yet over, but she was exhausted. Extremely tired. Especially because she had been forced to look elegant by wearing stilettos all night. Something she had avoided for so long. And she had no idea when the event would end. She didn’t care anymore.

What mattered was that she had fulfilled her duties as a bride earlier. Welcoming the guests. And after that, it wasn’t her obligation to accompany and engage with them all night long. After all, she didn’t even know them. They were Brooks family guests and her unfamiliar husband’s guests. Not hers.

Fortunately, the peach dress she was wearing was easy to take off. The only thing that puzzled Ariana now was, where was her change of clothes? The jeans and shirt she had been wearing earlier were nowhere to be found. As a result, she sought out the housemaid who had been accompanying her since earlier, asking her to fetch Karenina’s clothes for her to wear.

The servant arrived carrying a sleeveless dress with a skirt that was slightly above the knee. Ariana pleaded. For God’s sake, couldn’t there be a simple outfit she could wear? She longed to wear her long pants again.

Ariana emerged from the bathroom wearing Karenina’s clothes, her hair still wet from showering. She would have to record tonight in her diary, a record for her as she had showered three times today. Imagine, three times. And it seemed like she might catch a cold because of it.

Ariana was truly exhausted. It felt like she had never been this tired in the last fifteen years. Exhausted both mentally and physically.

A wolf whistle caught Ariana’s attention. Her unfamiliar husband was sitting leaning against the back of the bed, holding a phone in his hand. His navy suit jacket had been discarded, and the long sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows. And his feet? In an impolite manner, he was still wearing his expensive shoes. Typical of rich people. So conceited.

Fortunately, the buttons on the man’s shirt were still intact, so Ariana didn’t need to peek at the man’s chest hair. Something she had always been curious about the feel of.

Ariana shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Have you seen my car keys?” she asked, searching around the room. The phone she had briefly held to call her mother had been taken back by Mrs. Brooks just before the reception. And Ariana was sure her car keys were taken by that woman as well.

“What do you need the car keys for?” Gerald asked without taking his attention away from his phone.

“To throw them away!” Ariana replied flatly.

“If you want to throw them away, why are you looking for them?” Gerald looked at his wife with a suppressed smile. Ariana scowled, unwilling to engage with the man. “Your car has been delivered to the apartment basement. Tonight, I will be the one to drive you home,” Gerald replied again.

“My phone?” Ariana scanned the room again. She saw Gerald shaking his hand. Oh God, so the phone the man had been holding earlier belonged to her? Ariana quickly walked over and tried to reach for her phone. “How did you unlock my phone?” she exclaimed and forcibly snatched her phone back from Gerald. He just smiled.

“There are many ways to Rome,” he replied as succinctly as possible. Ariana sighed. “I thought you had some nude photos. But it turns out you don’t. Maybe I can see them in another way,” he said disappointingly. Ariana looked at him with a disgusted expression.

“I’m tired. I want to go home and sleep,” Ariana looked at Gerald, who was still sitting in his position. “Didn’t you say you’d take me home? Why are you just sitting there?”

“I want payment upfront,” he said again. Ariana frowned, and the man tapped his lips with his index finger. Ariana sighed. Instead of granting her husband’s request, Ariana chose to play with her phone.

“I’m not that poor. There are still plenty of online taxis I can order to take me home,” she muttered as she walked towards the door.

Aware of what his wife was about to do, Gerald quickly rose and snatched the phone with his right hand. Meanwhile, his left hand grabbed Ariana’s right arm, guiding her-or more accurately, pulling her out of the room.

They walked toward the front door. Gerald just nodded whenever he heard greetings from the workers or guests who were still there.

Ariana was led to a black sports car that she was sure must be very expensive. Gerald opened the passenger door for her. Ariana got in without saying much. Then the man walked towards the driver’s seat.

The scent of the car, a blend of Gerald’s cologne along with tiredness and sleepiness from lack of rest, as well as the subtle hum of the car’s engine, made Ariana feel like she was being rocked to sleep. Somewhere in the minutes that followed, she truly closed her eyes.

Gerald observed the beautiful face of his wife, now free from all the makeup she had worn earlier. Her thick black eyebrows arched beautifully, not drawn on like most women he knew. Her eyelashes were long and curled. Her nose was small and pointed, perfectly placed on her face. And her lips, small, full, and seductively red. Her cheeks were rosy, blemish-free. She had fine golden hairs that reached her jawline and continued down behind her ears. Her chin was pointed, like a crescent moon.

Beautiful.

That was the word that came to Gerald’s mind to describe his wife. He had never noticed Karenina in such detail, even though she had been his fiancée for the past three months. But Ariana, his wife. A girl he had only seen for twenty-four hours. Even though they had the same face, there was something about her that felt like a strong magnetic pull. So much so that Gerald hesitated to look away.

They arrived at Gerald’s residence. With no intention of waking his visibly exhausted wife, Gerald finally lifted her petite body with both hands and carried her inside the house. His mother and grandmother, who were still awake, simply watched in silence.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor where their bedroom was located, a servant who had been following him since earlier helped him open the door. Without being asked, the servant also arranged a blanket and placed pillows on the bed. Gerald gently laid his wife’s body down. He asked the servant to leave with a wave of his hand.

After removing the high heels Ariana had been wearing, Gerald tilted her body to unzip the dress on her back. He slowly took off the knee-length dress, leaving her in a matching pink tank top and lace panties.

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Seeing her slender body with milky-white skin, who wouldn’t be tempted? But Gerald could restrain himself. Waiting a few days wouldn’t make a difference. He preferred to wait to make love to his wife when she was conscious, rather than forcing his desires and turning it into an act of assault.

Gerald placed the dress on the sofa in his room. He then covered his wife’s body and let her continue to slumber in her dreams.

Gerald headed to the bathroom, choosing to freshen up before lying down beside his wife.

***

Ariana felt something was different when she woke up. Did Amber start taking hair growth vitamins? Or had the girl gained weight since the last time? Because the arms and legs currently draped over Ariana’s body felt much hairier. It also seemed heavier than the last time Amber sneaked into her room and slept there.

Ariana tried to move, but Amber’s embrace tightened even more. And the girl’s head seemed to have nestled into her neck, rubbing against it ticklishly.

Wait. Was that something moving at the lower back of her body? Was there a mouse sneaking into her blanket? Ariana tried to move again, but Amber’s arms and legs only tightened. “Quiet, my love. You’re waking up ‘my little friend’ like this,” a voice whispered from behind her.

It was a man’s voice, deep and sounding drowsy. Slowly, Ariana’s awareness returned. She lowered her gaze and saw a strong, hairy man’s arm. A man? She was sleeping with a man? Oh God, her father would be furious if he found out about this.

But wait. Her father? Ariana began to remember the events of her wedding ceremony yesterday afternoon. So, that was real? Not just a dream. And that meant, the man behind her right now?