The CEO’s Temptation
Claire thought her life couldn’t get any worse when her boyfriend broke her heart, but a night out with her best friends turned her world upside down. A spiked drink, an unforgettable one-night stand, and an awkward morning-after encounter lead her straight into the arms of Mackenzie Allister—a powerful CEO and the man who now claims she’s destined to be his wife.
Mack’s offer seems absurd, but his charm, persistence, and a shocking family rivalry involving her ex-boyfriend, Liam, pull Claire into a whirlwind of passion, deceit, and schemes. Forced into a marriage of convenience, Claire navigates the complications of corporate power plays, bitter betrayals from her closest friends, and a family determined to tear her apart from Mack.
As enemies close in, Claire must decide who she can trust and whether she’s willing to risk her heart for a man whose motives may not be entirely pure. Will she succumb to the chaos of revenge and ambition, or can love and loyalty triumph against all odds?
Baca
Chapter: Chapter 271: A Promise Beyond Tomorrow. *********************************Claire’s POV****************** The house was quieter than I’d ever known it to be. Not silent, no—silence was heavy, a void that pressed down. This was different. This quiet was alive. It carried the faint hum of distant voices, the occasional ripple of laughter drifting through the wide halls, the muffled chirps of birds beyond the terrace. It was the kind of quiet that told you everything was exactly as it should be. I leaned against the balcony rail, watching the gardens below. The grand fountain shimmered in the late morning light, each drop catching sunbeams as though even the water itself wanted to sparkle. For a long time, I’d been afraid I’d never stand here again—that I would remain trapped in Liam’s cage, forced into a life that was never mine. Yet here I was. Alive. Safe. Home. And in love. Behind me, the door creaked softly. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. Mack’s presence filled a room even before he spoke. He moved closer,
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-28
Chapter: Chapter 270: Morning Light. **********************************Claire’s POV****************** The first thing I felt was warmth. Not the jagged fire of fear or the bone-deep chill of dread that had haunted so many of my nights these past months, but warmth that settled low in my chest, that wrapped itself around me like a silken blanket. My eyes fluttered open to a room flooded with pale gold light, spilling through the wide windows of the grand bedroom. The curtains swayed with a lazy breeze, and beyond them, the faint song of birds carried in from the gardens. For a moment, I didn’t move. I let the reality sink in, the quiet truth of it: I was safe. I was home. I was wrapped in sheets that smelled faintly of lavender and Mack’s cologne. My skin still held echoes of his touch, the tender ache of his love from last night. It almost felt like a dream, but then I turned my head and saw him. Mack stood near the doorway, balancing a tray with one hand like it was nothing. He was dressed casually—just loose gray s
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-28
Chapter: Chapter 269: At Last. ***************************** Claire’s POV************************* Dinner had ended in laughter, the kind that warmed the soul and felt like sunlight after too long in the dark. Liz had been teasing Rowe mercilessly about his so-called “plans,” while Rowe turned the color of ripe berries and tried to dodge her barbs. Mack had been quieter, watching the banter with an expression I knew well—something caught between pride and longing, his hand resting at the small of my back as though afraid to let me out of reach. The plates were being cleared, wine glasses half full, when Mack suddenly stood and, without a word, bent and scooped me into his arms. I squeaked, startled, clutching at his shoulders. “Mack!” Liz’s laughter bubbled over, Rowe grinning into his napkin. Mack’s arms were steady, strong, as though I weighed no more than a feather. His grin was wolfish, boyish at the same time, flashing teeth and dimples. “Excuse me,” he announced grandly, looking at Liz and Rowe as
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-27
Chapter: Chapter 268: Tides of Tomorrow --- ****************************** (Mack’s POV)********************** The evening light washed over the terrace in shades of soft gold and violet, the kind of light that never lasted long but always lingered in memory. Beyond the balustrade stretched the garden, lush and alive, the roses heavy with late bloom, their fragrance weaving into the air with the scent of the sea drifting faintly from beyond the hills. We had finished dinner hours ago, yet none of us had moved far. The plates were gone, the table cleared, but the laughter kept us tethered here together—like None of us quite wanted the night to end. Claire sat tucked into my side, her hand resting in mine, her smile quiet but radiant in a way that made every scar and storm worth it. Liz and Rowe faced us across the table, the glow of the lanterns painting their features soft. For the first time in weeks, maybe months, there was no wariness, no weight of strategy or grief. Just four people—friends, family, survivors—l
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-27
Chapter: Chapter 267: The Garden of Quiet**********************************Claire's POV********************* I woke to the hush of morning, a silence so soft it pressed against my ears like a blessing. For a long while, I just lay there, my cheek on Mack’s chest, listening to the slow, steady rhythm of his heartbeat. After everything—the running, the fear, the noise of war rooms and gunfire—I couldn’t quite believe that this was my life now. Safe. Held. Anchored in him. The light that spilled through the curtains was golden, the kind of sunlight I’d almost forgotten existed. I traced absent-minded circles on his skin, watching how his chest rose and fell beneath my palm. Mack stirred faintly but didn’t wake, only let out a sigh, his arm tightening around me as though even in sleep he refused to let me go. For once, I didn’t feel the itch to move or the panic of time rushing forward. I just wanted to stay there forever, memorizing the weight of his body beside mine, the warmth of his skin. When I finally slipped out of be
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-26
Chapter: Chapter 266: Mack’s Denouement. ********************************Mack's POV*********************** The garden was a world of its own, carved out of centuries, glowing beneath the slant of the moon. I stepped barefoot onto the stone path, damp with dew, and let the coolness ground me. For the first time in months—no, years—there wasn’t the taste of gunpowder or metal in the back of my throat. There was just silence, threaded with the hum of night insects and the faint perfume of roses that someone, probably my mother once upon a time, had planted in neat rows along the hedges. Claire was ahead of me, her dress brushing against the grass, her bare shoulders catching the moonlight like porcelain warmed by silver. She had insisted we come outside, as though she could feel the walls of the house pressing in on me. She always knew when the air was too heavy in my chest. I slowed when I reached her, standing beneath the old stone arch that led into the heart of the garden. My chest ached in that familiar way it always d
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-08-26
Chapter: CHAPTER 15: SMOKE BENEATH THE SURFACE (Elena’s POV) The message stayed on the screen longer than it should have. You should have stayed fired. For a moment I simply stared at it, my fingers frozen above the keyboard. The office around me was quiet. Too quiet. Outside the glass walls, people moved through the hallway pretending to be busy, but every now and then someone slowed just enough to glance toward my office. Toward me. I leaned back slightly in the chair. So this was how it was going to be. Not open hostility. Not yet. Just whispers. Threats sent from behind anonymous screens. Corporate warfare at its most cowardly. My cursor hovered over the message window. The sender was hidden behind an internal company address with no name attached. Of course. I exhaled slowly and closed the message without replying. Whoever sent it wanted a reaction. They weren’t getting one. Instead, I opened the first financial report sitting in my inbox. If I was going to survive this place, I needed to start acting like I
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-13
Chapter: CHAPTER 14: THE RETURN EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT (Elena’s POV) By the time morning came, the city had already moved on from the quiet of the night. I hadn’t. Sleep had been shallow and restless, filled with flashes of Maya’s face and the echo of Alaric’s voice repeating the same chilling possibility. “She may have been silenced.” Even hours later, the thought tightened something deep in my chest. But the world didn’t stop for grief or fear—especially not the corporate world. And apparently, neither did Alaric. The black car rolled smoothly to a stop in front of Carrington Tower. The massive glass building stretched high into the sky, sunlight reflecting off its polished surface like nothing ugly had ever happened inside its walls. I stared at it for a moment. The last time I walked through those doors, security had escorted me out like a criminal. Now I was returning as the CEO’s fiancée. And apparently his financial strategy director. Life had a strange sense of humor. Alaric stepped out first, the driver opening the
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-13
Chapter: CHAPTER 13: THE FILES THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST.(Elena’s POV)For some minutes after Alaric’s phone stopped popping with notifications, neither of us moved, the silence stretched out like a dog getting her joints ready for the day.The city stretched endlessly outside the penthouse windows, lights blinking like distant stars. I rested against his shoulder, wrapped in the soft throw he had draped around me, the warmth of the tea still lingering in my chest.My body felt strangely heavy.The doctor had warned me about that—the exhaustion, the emotional crash after the procedure. I hadn’t realized how quickly it would hit.Alaric shifted slightly beside me, careful not to disturb me too much. His hand rested loosely on my arm, thumb brushing absentminded circles against the fabric of my sweater.“You should get some sleep.” he murmured quietly.“I’m not that fragile,” I replied, though my voice sounded softer than I intended.“You don’t have to be fragile to be tired.” He muttered.I tilted my head back to look at him. “You’re hoverin
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-11
Chapter: CHAPTER 12: SAFE IN YOUR HANDS.(Elena’s POV)The penthouse door closed behind us with a quiet click, and for a moment, the world outside—hospital lights, sterile hallways, whispered footsteps—felt impossibly far away. I sank against the door, letting the exhaustion of the day hit me like a wave. My legs trembled slightly, and my fingers dug into the sweater I had changed into, feeling the soft fabric against my skin.Alaric didn’t speak immediately. He simply came up behind me, his presence solid, grounding, as he draped a hand gently across my shoulders. The warmth of him pressed lightly into my back, and I shivered—not from the cold, but from the way he made me feel safe even in my most vulnerable moments.“You did fine,” he murmured, his voice low, almost reverent. “Everything went smoothly.”I gave a small laugh, hollow and shaky. “Smoothly? That’s one word for it. I felt like a science experiment with a side of anxiety.”He smirked, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “You were the most composed patient I
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-11
Chapter: CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE TRUTH(Elena’s POV) The car felt different on the way back. Not quieter—just heavier, like the air itself had learned something it wasn’t meant to know. I sat with my back against the leather seat, coat still wrapped around me even though the car was warm. My body felt strange. Not painful. Not weak. Just… aware. Every movement registered. Every breath landed lower than usual, deeper, like my body was recalibrating around a truth it hadn’t held before. Nothing had happened yet. And somehow everything had. I rested my palm lightly against my abdomen, not pressing, just acknowledging. It felt foolish and instinctive at the same time. As if my body and my mind were negotiating terms without asking for my permission. Alaric sat across from me, his posture composed, one arm resting casually against the door. Anyone else would have missed it. The way his jaw stayed tight. The way his gaze kept flicking to the window, then back to me, like he was counting seconds between checks. Concern di
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-03
Chapter: CHAPTER TEN: WHAT MUST NEVER SURFACE (Alaric’s POV) The city was still asleep when we left the penthouse. That was deliberate. No cameras waiting outside. No press lurking behind tinted vans. No staff moving through the lobby except the security team I trusted with my life—and now, with hers. Elena sat beside me in the backseat, hands folded in her lap, coat wrapped tightly around her frame. She hadn’t spoken since we got in. Not because she didn’t have questions—but because she was bracing herself. I recognized the posture. It was the same one I wore before hostile negotiations. Before decisions that couldn’t be undone. The hospital wasn’t public. It never appeared on maps. It didn’t accept walk-ins or emergencies. It existed for people whose names carried weight—and whose secrets could never afford daylight. We entered through an underground access road, the vehicle slowing only long enough for biometric clearance. Steel gates slid open. Cameras scanned us. Then silence again. Elena’s gaze shifted to the win
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-03
Masuk
