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The Billionaire’s Delinquent Bride
img img The Billionaire's Delinquent Bride img Chapter 5 The Flight To LA
5 Chapters
Chapter 6 VI img
Chapter 7 Time Out img
Chapter 8 Schubert's Impromptu Opus 90 img
Chapter 9 Independence, Here I Come! img
Chapter 10 Details img
Chapter 11 My Frustration img
Chapter 12 Our Conversation img
Chapter 13 The Résumé img
Chapter 14 The Résumè II img
Chapter 15 Found Her img
Chapter 16 The Interview img
Chapter 17 The Interview II img
Chapter 18 His Surprise img
Chapter 19 The Message img
Chapter 20 Cheers To Friendship img
Chapter 21 Chit Chat img
Chapter 22 Another Interview img
Chapter 23 The Dance Instructor img
Chapter 24 The Dance Lesson img
Chapter 25 Launch Time With Sofia img
Chapter 26 The Interaction img
Chapter 27 The Throbbing img
Chapter 28 K-drama img
Chapter 29 Where Are You Hurt img
Chapter 30 Want Some img
Chapter 31 Get Whatever You Want. img
Chapter 32 Positive. img
Chapter 33 You Can't Count For Yourself img
Chapter 34 Deal. img
Chapter 35 She's Your Wife. img
Chapter 36   Are you okay img
Chapter 37   Good Thinking. img
Chapter 38 Inspections img
Chapter 39 Springy img
Chapter 40 Springy II img
Chapter 41 Springy III img
Chapter 42 Springy IV img
Chapter 43 Springy V img
Chapter 44 Midriff img
Chapter 45 Midriff II img
Chapter 46 Midriff III img
Chapter 47 Midriff IV img
Chapter 48 The Concierge img
Chapter 49 The Concierge II img
Chapter 50 The Concierge III img
Chapter 51 The Concierge IV img
Chapter 52 The Concierge V img
Chapter 53 The Entourage img
Chapter 54 The Entourage II img
Chapter 55 The Entourage III img
Chapter 56 The Entourage IV img
Chapter 57 The Entourage V img
Chapter 58 Midpoint img
Chapter 59 Midpoint II img
Chapter 60 Midpoint III img
Chapter 61 Midpoint IV img
Chapter 62 Midpoint V img
Chapter 63 Date img
Chapter 64 Date II img
Chapter 65 Date III img
Chapter 66 Date IV img
Chapter 67 Date V img
Chapter 68 The Consequence img
Chapter 69 About What img
Chapter 70 The Consequence II img
Chapter 71 Flaring img
Chapter 72 The Saga img
Chapter 73 The Saga II img
Chapter 74 The Saga III img
Chapter 75 The Henpeck img
Chapter 76 Alpharetta img
Chapter 77 Contrariwise img
Chapter 78 Disguise img
Chapter 79 Disguise II img
Chapter 80 Disguise III img
Chapter 81 Disguise IV img
Chapter 82 Disguise V img
Chapter 83 OMINOUS img
Chapter 84 OMINOUS II img
Chapter 85 OMINOUS III img
Chapter 86 OMINOUS IV img
Chapter 87 OMINOUS V img
Chapter 88 Scour img
Chapter 89 Scour II img
Chapter 90 Scour III img
Chapter 91 Scour IV img
Chapter 92 Scour V img
Chapter 93 Nestled img
Chapter 94 Nestled II img
Chapter 95 Nestled III img
Chapter 96 Nesteled IV img
Chapter 97 Nestled V img
Chapter 98 The Verdict img
Chapter 99 The Verdict II img
Chapter 100 The Verdict III img
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Chapter 5 The Flight To LA

The panel beeps and turns green. Thank God. I step inside my condo. The spectacular early summer view of the city greets me.

My white Steinway baby grand in the sunken living room floor gleams under the sun. I sit down and play a few scales. It always helps anchor my thoughts.

Charles wants to win. So he's going to do everything in his power to ensure I can't get a job. In fact, he's probably already done it. By now, I'll be lucky to find employment scrubbing public toilets for the city.

But I'm not going to give in and marry someone he picks from the dossiers. Nor am I going to pick one out myself so he can feel good about giving me a "choice."

Basically, I need to go to someplace beyond his reach and influence. That means out of the country. And I'd better do it before he can stop me.

All he has to do is make a call to somebody in the Ministry of Justice and have my passport flagged for a travel ban.

Too many politicians owe him favors, and I won't even be able to sue because they'll all laugh like we're buddies and say, "No hard feelings, just a misunderstanding."

I stop mid-scale and pull out my phone. Fortunately, the service is on a separate contract under my name.

I text Ivy and Tony, hoping one of them is awake, since it's almost eleven p.m. in Los Angeles.

They might not be. Ivy's hugely pregnant and often exhausted. And Tony likes to go to bed with her and rub her back and feet.

Me: Hey. Can you get me a ticket to L.A.? I tap my fingers on the Steinway, waiting. Then stand up abruptly because I shouldn't be wasting time like this. I need to start packing.

My phone rings. It's Ivy. I answer instantly, putting her on the speaker so I can pack and talk at the same time. "Hey, girl." "What's going on?" she asks.

"Are you okay?" "I'm fine." I pull out a huge suitcase and start throwing in my dresses and purses.

"I just need to get out of here. Don't need a round-trip ticket," I add, since most ticketing agents will want to have a return date. "Oh no..." Ivy sighs. "This doesn't sound good."

"It isn't the best situation." The understatement of the month. But I don't want to go into detail. It's too much for an international phone call, plus it's late in L.A.

"When are you coming?"

"As soon as possible." Before it occurs to Charles to make that phone call to the Ministry of Justice. "Like, now. Immediately." The suitcase is full.

I pull out another and start stuffing it with shoes and accessories. Must have shoes and accessories to go with the clothes and purses I already packed.

"Are you in trouble?" "No, nothing like that," I say, not wanting her to worry. Stress is bad for pregnant women.

My honorary nephew and niece deserve only the best. "It's just my brother being a jerk. A long story. I'll tell you everything when I get there."

"Okay. What do I need to get you a ticket? I have your name, but don't I need your passport number and stuff, too?"

"Probably. Let me text you a picture of my passport. Give me a sec." I rummage through dresser drawers until I find my passport. I take a photo of the page with all my details.

"Sending it now." There's a pause.

"Okay, got it. I'll send you the ticket info soon. How about something that leaves in the next three hours? I see one here."

I think for a second. It shouldn't take that long to pack, and it's about fifty minutes to the airport. Since I have no clue how to catch an airport bus, I'll just have a taxi come pick me up.

"That's fine. Thanks, Ivy!" "My pleasure. Can't wait to see you," she says, still sounding a little worried.

This is all Charles's fault. I finish shoving everything I need into two suitcases, but I still want the rest of my stuff.

I stop to think for a moment. Who is someone Charles can't screw with? I call Mr. Patrick, my dad's chief executive assistant.

"Ms. Ben," he answers immediately, his tone professional. "The chairman's in a meeting."

"Hello, Mr. Patrick. I'm not calling to talk to my dad. I need to ask you for a small favor."

"Anything." "I'm going to Los Angeles and can only take two suitcases. Can you pack up the rest of my things and overnight them to Ivy Blackwood's home address? It should be on file."

My family maintains the addresses of everyone we associate with. "Certainly. Anything else?"

"No, that's it. Thank you. You're a gem." I smile although he can't see it. I don't ask him to keep it from Dad because it wouldn't be right to test his loyalty that way. But he isn't the type to gossip, and he won't tell Dad what I wanted unless asked.

"My pleasure. Have a lovely trip." "Oh, I will." I hang up, feeling smugly triumphant. So Charles hasn't been able to turn absolutely everybody against me.

But then, he knows better than anyone how much Dad indulges me. We grew up together, after all. I make a mental note to ask Dad to give Mr. Patrick a fat bonus.

Or the fully comped use of one of our resorts. That should make him and his wife happy. My phone pings.

Ivy: Got the ticket. Emailed it to you just now. You need to leave soon to catch the flight, though. I check my email to make sure. First class to LAX. I smile.

Me: You're the best! I call the concierge in the lobby and ask them to arrange for a taxi pickup for the airport, then roll my suitcases out into the living room. I stop and put a hand over my fluttering belly. I've never done anything like this before.

It feels like cutting ties, making my desires known, insisting on them, in fact...and hoping for the best.

I've never not had the support of my family, and now here I am, not even telling them I'm leaving. But I know that if I do, they'll try to stop me. My parents love me to pieces.

Unfortunately, that means they can be a bit overprotective at times. But I can't let them run my life.

They don't have to sleep with my future husband and have his babies. I'm not having sex with a guy I feel nothing for. I blow a kiss at the baby grand.

"I'm going to miss you, sweetheart." Nothing calms my anxiety like playing the piano. If I could, I'd take it with me. But I can wait until I get to Ivy's place.

She has a Bösendorfer concert grand I can use. Inhaling deeply, I grab my bags and head downstairs to go to the airport.

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