Sean instantly looked up, not missing a single word Jessica said. But what he heard next nearly broke his heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s married.\u201d With that, Jessica coolly walked away in her high heels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sean was stunned for a long moment. He slumped down where he stood, muttering to himself, \u201cMarried? How is that possible? Nina said she would only ever marry me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But no one answered him. Everyone had left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After some time, a waiter walked in. \u201cSir, we\u2019re closing now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking at the waiter\u2019s sympathetic expression, Sean felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He struggled to his feet, his numb legs almost making him collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stumbled towards the door, his shattered heart aching with a dull, persistent pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had to find his Nina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
***\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina was taken to the Bronner Estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was her first time at the Bronner Estate, home to a family as prominent as the Millers. There were two prominent families in Los Angeles. One was the Miller family, and the other was represented by this magnificent estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words \u201cThe Bronner Estate\u201d were carved on a plaque, and Nina couldn\u2019t help but feel impressed. From the looks of it, this Bronner family was leagues above the Miller family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The estate was huge. Well\u2013trained servants passed by Nina, calling out in unison, \u201cGood day, Ms. Collins.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had received news a few days ago that Mr. Bronner\u2019s fianc\u00e9e would be arriving at the estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The old master had them clean the entire estate from top to bottom, even replacing the beds for the pet dogs, afraid that Ms. Collins would get a bad impression of the Bronner family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the Bronner family placed such importance on her visit, the staff naturally didn\u2019t dare to be neglectful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina nodded in acknowledgment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A man approached her side, and Nina turned to look, freezing for a few seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man before her was tall and handsome, with a cool and detached air. He was dressed in a white suit, giving off the air of a Prince Charming figure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His back was perfectly straight, and his dark, slightly upturned eyes held a subtle sparkle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.0%\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:55\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 15\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing Nina looking at him, the man smiled and extended his hand. \u201cHello, Ms. Collins. I\u2019m Zackery Bronner,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery was Mr. Bronner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina snapped out of her daze and put her hand in his. Zackery took it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
28 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
The warmth of his palm made Nina feel a bit dazed. She clearly remembered that Mr. Bronner was supposed to be ugly. But the man in front of her was incredibly handsome, he could have passed for a movie star!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As if knowing what Nina wanted to ask, Zackery smiled, his expression softening. \u201cYou\u2019re wondering why I\u2019m not ugly, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing him say something so blunt out loud, Nina felt a little embarrassed and didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery didn\u2019t seem to mind. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t want to get married. It\u2019s better to let everyone think I\u2019m ugly than be constantly pressured to marry. That way, no one would want to marry me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina hadn\u2019t expected that at all, and for a moment, she was at a loss for words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she was still confused. \u201cThen why agree to the marriage alliance with the Collins family? I thought you didn\u2019t want to get married?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery smiled. The sunlight hit the side of his face, making him seem as if he were glowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
63.6 %\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:56\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Loomwood Galleries Framed Pilgrim Murals by Iris Vaughn 15 Sean instantly looked up, not missing a single word Jessica said. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-girl-in-the-shadows-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}