Owned by the Cold CEO: His Fragile Acquisition
At thirty-four, Rhea Voss is at the end of her rope. With a dying father, a mountain of medical debt, and a heart worn thin by sacrifice, she walks into Axiom for a job. Instead, she finds a monster.
Dominic Ashcroft is younger, richer, and more dangerous than any man she’s ever met. He doesn't want an assistant; he wants a possession. He sees her fractures, her desperation, and her hidden beauty, and he decides to own them all.
He offers her a contract that will save her father’s life, but the cost is total surrender. No shared calendars. No privacy. No walking away. To the world, she is his executive assistant. Behind the closed doors of his penthouse, she is his "Fragile" obsession.
Rhea thought she was signing a deal with a savior. She didn't realize she was handing her leash to a man who doesn't know how to let go.
He bought her debt. Now, he’s coming to collect.
읽기
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Golden Ransom (Pt 2)Dominic pushes the heavy doors open, and the lights comes to life, revealing a space that is less of a bedroom and more of a private sanctuary of excess.Rhea stumbles slightly as he leads her inside. The room is vast, dominated by a king-sized bed draped in charcoal silk, but it is the perimeter that stops her heart. To the left, a walk-in closet the size of her entire old apartment stands open.Rows of designer dresses - Hermès, Chanel, Dior - hang like silent sentinels, arranged by color from softest cream to the deepest black. Below them, hundreds of pairs of shoes glitter under individual spotlights. On the marble center island, gold-lined drawers are partially open, revealing watches that cost more than her father’s surgery and necklaces dripping with diamonds that catch the light, throwing fractured rainbows across the ceiling.Dominic steps toward a sleek glass console and picks up a heavy, leather-bound key fob. He drops it into her palm, the weight of it forcing her hand do
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-04
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Three: The Golden Ransom (Pt 1)The heavy, resonant thud of the private elevator is the only warning Rhea receives.She is sitting on the edge of the charcoal-colored sofa, her fingers unconsciously covering the gold cuff as if she can hide the shame of it. When Dominic strides into the room, he is a vision of absolute, terrifying perfection. His charcoal suit is without a single crease. He carries the atmospheric weight of a man who has spent the day dismantling empires, and now he has come home to inspect his most exquisite acquisition.Sarah stands at attention immediately, her posture rigid. "Mr. Ashcroft."Dominic’s eyes don't flicker toward the guard. They are locked on Rhea, dark and unreadable, twin pits of obsidian that swallow the light in the room. He stops in the center of the sprawling penthouse, the silence stretching until the tension becomes a physical ache, a pressure in Rhea’s lungs that makes breathing feel like a sin."Sarah," Dominic says, his voice a low, smooth drawl that vibrates against the
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-03
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Two: The CuffRhea wakes to a silence so heavy it feels physical.The evening sun slices through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the bedroom, warm but unforgiving. Her body aches; a deep, throbbing reminder of the kitchen counter and the marks Dominic left on her skin. She is tucked under Egyptian cotton sheets that feel like a shroud. He is gone, but his scent - charcoal, expensive bourbon, and power - lingers on the pillow next to her.She sits up slowly, her heart skipping a beat as she remembers her burner phone. She practically falls out of bed, crawling toward the nightstand where she’d hidden it in a small gap behind the drawer. Her fingers graze the cold plastic.Thank God. He doesn't know. He didn’t check her bag earlier.She hides the phone back in its crevice and stands, wrapping herself in a robe she found in the closet. She needs water. She needs to feel like a human being again.As she enters the vast, open-plan living area, she stops dead.The kitchen island where he had broken her
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-02
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-One: The Billionaire’s Prison (Pt 2)Dominic doesn't wait for her to recover from the sting of his palm. Before her cries can even fade into the high ceilings, he hooks his arms under her dampness and hauls her up. He spins her around, her feet dangling for a terrifying second before he slams her down onto the edge of the kitchen island.The cold marble bites into the backs of her thighs, but the heat of Dominic’s finger moving between her legs is a furnace."Look at me," he commands, his voice a low, jagged rasp.Rhea’s eyeglasses are askew, her eyes blurred with tears and raw shock. She tries to push him away, her hands landing on his chest, but it’s like trying to move a mountain. He’s already unbuckled his belt, the metallic click sounding like a death knell in the silence of the apartment."You wanted to make a decision for yourself?" he growls, his hands moving to her breasts, crushing them through the fabric of her blouse with a punishing grip. "You wanted to end things?""Sir, please…it’s too much," she gasps, h
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-01
Chapter: Chapter Twenty: The Billionaire’s Prison (Pt 1)“Remove all your underwear.”Dominic’s voice is a flat, clinical vibration in the cramped luxury of the car back seat. He doesn't look up from his phone. The blue light of the screen carves out the sharp, merciless angles of his face, making him look less like a man and more like a statue.Rhea freezes, her heart thudding against her ribs. “Here?” she whispers, her voice cracking.“Unless you’d prefer to do it on the sidewalk when we arrive,” he replies. He still doesn't glance at her. His thumb swipes across the screen; cold, methodical, and utterly detached.Rhea’s hands shake as she reaches under her skirt. The car is moving, the world outside the tinted windows blurring, but inside, the air is thick with the scent of his expensive cologne and her own rising panic. She peels the lace down her legs, feeling the sudden, biting chill of the leather against her bare skin.She fumbles with her blouse next, slipping her arms out just enough to unhook her bra. She slides it off and qui
최신 업데이트: 2026-01-31
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: Thirty Days of TreasonRhea sits on the edge of her bed, the mattress dipping under her weight. The house feels smaller tonight with her father at the hospital, while she is crowded by the oppressive memory of Dominic’s touch. As he demanded, she had surrendered her primary phone to him like a disarmed soldier. In return, he’d handed her a brand-new device - sleek, expensive, and almost certainly a digital cage. She knows better than to touch it. Every text, every GPS ping, every breath she takes near that phone likely feeds directly back to his desk.She reaches under her pillow and pulls out her real lifeline: a burner phone she bought in cash.Her fingers tremble as she dials Julian’s number. He picks up on the first ring, his voice a sudden, warm burst of reality in her cold room.“Hey, babe. How are you doing?”Julian’s voice is steady, a calm harbor. Rhea closes her eyes, hunching her shoulders as if Dominic’s shadow is looming over her shoulder, listening through the walls.“I’m good,” she whisper
최신 업데이트: 2026-01-30
Claiming His Stepmother
I was a saint in the light, but a sinner in the dark.
To the world, I was a good girl marrying a billionaire twice my age. To Arthur Reynolds, I was his "angel", the virtuous bride who would bring life back into his silent mansion.
But I wasn’t a saint. I was a secret.
For six months, I was the girl on the pole at The Velvet Room. And Ethan Reynolds: Arthur’s cold, predatory, and brutally handsome son was my most frequent customer. He’d paid thousands to watch me, touch me, discipline me, and ruin me. He knew every curve of my body, every lie in my soul, and every scream I could produce.
Now, I’m wearing his father’s ring. I’m living under his roof. And Ethan isn't just watching me anymore, he’s hunting me.
He thinks I’m a gold-digger. He thinks I’ve played his father for a fool. And he’s determined to punish me for it.
"You’re his wife in the daytime, Zola," he hissed, his hand tightening around my throat in the dark of the hallway. "But in this house, when the lights go out... you still belong to the man who bought you first."
Arthur wants to own me. Ethan wants to break me. And I? I’m just trying to survive the man I’m legally forbidden to love.
읽기
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: The Sentinel's VengeanceThe clock in the hallway strikes twelve, each chime sounding like a hammer hitting a nail. I’ve changed into a fresh silk slip - pearl white, the color of innocence I no longer possess. I’ve scrubbed my skin, trying to wash away the phantom sensation of Arthur’s hands, but the skin around my wrists is already beginning to bloom into an ugly, mottled purple.I push open Ethan’s door. The room is a cavern of shadows, lit only by the glowing embers in the fireplace. Ethan is standing by the window, his hand bandaged from the cinema room, his silhouette sharp against the glass."You’re late," he growls without turning around. "The tax increases by the minute, Sapphire.""I... I’m sorry," I whisper, my voice catching.He turns, his eyes scanning me with predatory hunger. He stalks toward me, the air around him vibrating with that familiar, dangerous heat. He doesn't say a word as he reaches out, fisting his hand in my hair and pulling me into his chest. His other hand slides down my back
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-04
Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: The Two WolvesThe flickering light of a classic noir film dances across the walls of the private cinema room. It’s supposed to be a relaxing family evening. Arthur sits in the center of the oversized sofa, looking content, while I am tucked into his side.Ethan is seated in the leather armchair to our left, half-shrouded in shadow. He isn't watching the screen. He’s watching us."You’re so tense, Zola," Arthur murmurs, his voice full of a gentle, husbandly concern. "You need to relax, my love. Let the world go and let me show you how much I care."Before I can respond, Arthur reaches over. He takes my legs, lifting them with a slow, deliberate motion, and drapes them across his own lap. He begins to stroke my thigh, his palm moving in a rhythmic, soothing pattern. To anyone else, it’s a gesture of affection. To me, it’s a countdown to an explosion.I can feel Ethan’s gaze boring into the side of my head. In the dim glow of the movie, I see his jaw set so hard the bone looks like it might snap. His
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-03
Chapter: Chapter Seventeen: The Stepmother’s BlessingThe afternoon air in the Reynolds gardens is heavy with the scent of blooming jasmine and damp earth. After the suffocating tension of the lunch table, the wide-open space should feel like a relief, but as Althea links her arm through mine, it feels like another set of chains.She is a vision in the sunlight, her cream dress fluttering around her legs. She looks so wholesome, so untainted by the filth of the secrets I carry."It’s so beautiful out here, isn't it, Zola?" Althea sighs, her eyes swept over the manicured hedges. "Arthur told me he had the rose garden redesigned just for you. He really does adore you.""He’s... he’s very generous," I manage to say, my voice still a bit breathless. My inner thighs still feel sensitized, the ghost of Ethan’s toes lingering on my skin like a brand.Althea stops walking and turns to face me, taking both of my hands in hers. Her palms are soft and warm. "I wanted to get you alone for a moment. I know I’m practically part of the family already,
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-02
Chapter: Chapter Sixteen: The Stepmother’s RuinThe dining room is a cathedral of sunlight and polished silver, but to me, it feels like a courtroom.Arthur sits at the head of the long table, beaming with a pride that feels like a weight on my chest. To his right sits Ethan, looking devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit. And beside Ethan sits Althea.She is breathtaking. Her hair is a cascade of honey-blonde silk, and her skin glows with the health of someone who has never known a day of true desperation. She wears a cream-colored dress that screams old money: elegant, modest, and perfect.I sit beside Arthur. I feel like a smudge of charcoal on a white canvas. Under the table, I am acutely aware of the draft on my skin; I am wearing nothing but the silk of my dress, just as Ethan commanded after the "Tax" last night: 'If I find a single scrap of lace between your legs again, I’ll strip you in front of him.'As promised, for the past week, Ethan has personally tasted every morsel and water that enters my mouth. He is my taste
최신 업데이트: 2026-02-01
Chapter: Chapter Fifteen: The Cold Marriage BedThe evening is quiet, the kind of silence that feels heavy, pregnant with things unsaid.Arthur and I are finally alone in the master suite after a grueling dinner. The air in the dining room was stagnant; Ethan looked so shaken he barely touched his vintage red, his eyes tracking every movement of the staff. He didn't even bring himself to touch me.Ethan firmly believes I’m being poisoned. Arthur and the doctors insist it’s just an allergic reaction. I don't know who to fear more. If anyone wants to poison me, I tell myself, it would be Ethan. He hates me the most for being Mrs. Reynolds, for being a stripper - for even existing.Arthur is already in his pajamas, sitting on the edge of the vast, king-sized bed. He looks at me with a tenderness that makes my skin itch with a sudden, violent guilt."Zola, darling," he says softly, reaching for my hand as I emerge from the dressing room in a modest silk nightgown. "Come here."I walk to him, my movements stiff. My body is still sing
최신 업데이트: 2026-01-31
Chapter: Chapter Fourteen: The Lion’s DenThe return to the Reynolds mansion feels less like a homecoming and more like a slow march toward an altar.I am tucked into the backseat of the Bentley, wrapped in a cashmere blanket that smells faintly of the hospital’s antiseptic and Ethan’s heavy, sandalwood cologne.Arthur sits beside me, his hand resting over mine with a gentle, paternal warmth that is supposed to comfort me. But under the weight of the secret I’m carrying, his touch feels like a brand."You're safe now, darling," Arthur whispers, leaning in to kiss my temple. "The doctors say it was a severe allergic reaction. Some rare preservatives in the tea. I’ve had the entire pantry cleared out. Nothing will hurt you again."I nod weakly, but my eyes are fixed on the rearview mirror.Ethan is driving. He hasn't spoken since we left the hospital. His eyes are hidden behind dark aviators, his jaw set so tight I can see the muscles leaping in his cheek. He doesn't look like a man who believes in allergic reactions.When we p
최신 업데이트: 2026-01-30
로그인
