Chapter: Chapter 40The office was quiet that morning — unusually quiet. Even the clicking of keyboards and hum of the air conditioner sounded softer, almost hesitant. Emery sat at her desk, eyes fixed on the screen but mind miles away. She hadn’t slept much. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him, Damian. The look on his face when she had said those words: I think you’re mistaken, sir. It wasn’t just anger. It was hurt. The kind of hurt that carved deep, leaving invisible wounds that never really healed. Her phone buzzed. For a moment, her heart jumped — she thought it was him. But it wasn’t. Gabriel: Don’t forget about tonight, Miss Lincoln. 7 p.m. sharp. Her pulse steadied. A deep exhale left her lips. Right ,Gabriel. Her new boss. Her escape from chaos. She typed back quickly, I won’t forget, sir, before setting the phone face down, staring blankly at her reflection in the dark screen. This dinner wasn’t about romance. It wasn’t about connection either. It was about control —
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-15
Chapter: Chapter 39That broke her. Clara turned, blinking fast to hide the sting of his words, and left without another sound. The door closed behind her with a soft click — but it might as well have been a gunshot. Damian sank back into his chair, chest heaving. The whiskey glass finally met his lips. The burn was sharp, but it didn’t touch the fire already raging inside him. The next morning, Marcus returned with a file thick and neatly clipped. “She’s working at Luxe’s biggest competitor, sir,” Marcus reported. “Gresham Industries. Her boss Gabriel Pierce —seems… fond of her. I’ve also confirmed she lives with her mother, younger brother, and a small boy named...” Marcus hesitated. Damian’s head snapped up. “Say it.” “Adrian, sir. Adrian Lincoln.” The sound of that name hit Damian like a bullet to the chest. “Adrian,” he repeated, voice barely audible. He turned away from Marcus, hiding the tremor that passed through him. His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. “And his
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-14
Chapter: Chapter 38 A soft knock at her door startled her. Patricia stepped in quietly, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Ethan was behind her, holding a sleepy Adrian. “Emery…” her mother’s voice was soft, tentative. “You’re pale. What happened?” Emery swallowed, forcing her lips into something that looked like a smile but wasn’t. “Nothing. Work was just… long.” Patricia didn’t buy it. She sat down next to her daughter, fingers curling around hers. “You saw him today, didn’t you?” The mask shattered. Emery’s eyes filled with tears, her throat tightening painfully. She looked away, blinking rapidly, but it was too late. “I had to,” she choked out. “Gabriel invited me to dinner. I didn’t know Damian would be there. And when he saw me—” Her voice cracked. “—I had to pretend, Mama. I had to pretend I didn’t know him.” Patricia’s hand squeezed hers gently. “You did what you had to, baby. For Adrian. For yourself.” Emery shook her head violently, strands of hair clinging to her damp
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-08
Chapter: Chapter 37The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime. Emery stepped out, her heels clicking against the marble floor of the corporate tower. She had just wrapped up a late meeting, her body tired but her mind restless.The night air outside promised freedom. She wanted nothing more than to get home, to tuck Adrian into bed, to wash away the long day with his laughter.But fate had other plans.As she crossed the lobby, her eyes caught on a tall, broad figure near the exit. His stance was commanding, familiar, dangerous in its quiet intensity.Damian.Her chest clenched. The world seemed to slow. She hadn’t seen him this close in years — not since the night she fled the mansion with her mother and Blake.His hair was a little shorter now, sharper around the edges, but those same stormy eyes burned into her as if time had never passed.For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.He hadn’t changed. He was still Damian Cole — powerful, magnetic, terrifying in the way he could shatter her walls with a s
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-07
Chapter: Chapter 36The file sat unopened on Damian’s desk, but its weight was unbearable. It wasn’t the paper, the ink, or the glossy photographs that burdened him. It was the truth inside — a truth he had denied, ignored, lost, and now rediscovered.Adrian. His son.He hadn’t slept in days. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was a small boy’s smile, a boy who carried his face. His heir. His blood.Tonight, the city outside glittered under moonlight, but Damian sat in darkness, his whiskey untouched. He had spent years building walls around his emotions, but now every stone had been torn down by the image of one child.A knock at the door broke through his thoughts.“Enter,” his voice came out sharp.Marcus stepped in. “They left the house an hour ago. Emery, Ethan, and Adrian. She took him to school in the morning, picked him up in the afternoon, and they stopped by a bookstore. They just returned home.”Damian’s hands gripped the arms of his chair. “And?”Marcus hesitated for the first time. “Sir
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-06
Chapter: Chapter 35He was looking at himself.Not perfectly, not a mirror, but close enough to strike him like lightning. The same sharp jawline. The same piercing eyes. The same stubborn tilt of the chin.His son.Damian’s throat constricted painfully as his fingers clenched the edge of the photograph. For a split second, the icy armor he had built his whole life cracked, revealing raw, staggering vulnerability.His son.Damian’s hands shook slightly as he held the photograph. His eyes devoured every detail — the way the boy’s fingers curled tightly around Emery’s, the mischievous glint in his eyes, the half-smile tugging at his lips. It was as though the universe had plucked a fragment of Damian’s very being and shaped it into flesh and blood.For years, he had built his empire on control. Numbers, deals, power — everything bent to his will. But now, one small boy unraveled him with nothing more than a photograph.He forced himself to breathe, deep and slow, before he rasped, “Continue.”Marcus, ever
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-03
Love, signed in the City.
Manhattan was doing that thing again twinkling like it had all the answers, when really it just had expensive lighting.
Alexander Knight leaned against the glass wall of his penthouse, seventy-five floors up, watching the city hum below him. Bourbon in one hand (mostly untouched), phone in the other. The merger docs stared back at him from the screen, but the part that actually kept him up at night wasn’t the billions on the line.
It was the fine print from the Japanese investors: “Family stability preferred.”
Translation: get a wife, look settled, or watch the whole deal slip away.
He exhaled, fogging the window for a second before it cleared. His assistant had already sent over a neat little list of “suitable” women—discreet, polished, zero drama. Women who understood arrangements.
He hadn’t even opened the attachments.
Because something about the whole thing felt… hollow.
His gaze drifted down, past the grid of lights, to the tiny café on the corner. Golden glow spilling onto the sidewalk, handwritten sign in the window: Local Artist Pop-Up – One Night Only.
A woman stood in front of a canvas, head tilted, paint-smudged shirt slipping off one shoulder. She was talking to someone out of view, laughing softly, then stepped back to study her work like it had personally offended her.
She glanced up—straight toward his building, straight at him somehow, even though there was no way she could see him up here.
But for a split second, their eyes locked across the impossible distance.
But right then, with the whole damn city glittering between them, he had this ridiculous, unshakable thought:
She’s the one I’m going to ask.
And hell help them both when she says yes.
อ่าน
Chapter: chapter 14The gala was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—black-tie, old money, the kind of event where people came to be seen more than to see the art.Alexander had attended dozens of these. He knew the script: arrive at 8:00 sharp, pose for photos on the red carpet, smile like you mean it, shake hands with the right people, leave before midnight.Tonight felt different.Because Evelyn was on his arm.She stepped out of the elevator at 7:45 wearing the gold dress. The fabric caught every light in the foyer like liquid sunlight. The slit flashed with each step. Her hair fell in loose waves. Makeup soft but striking—smoky eyes, nude lip, gold earrings that matched the dress.She looked like she belonged in this world.She looked like she could ruin him.He waited by the private elevator doors, tuxedo black and tailored, no tie, top button undone. Standard for him. Controlled. Unapproachable.When she approached, he offered his arm without a word.She took it.Her fingers were cool against h
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-15
Chapter: Chapter 13 The photographer arrived , right on the new schedule Alexander had requested. Evelyn heard the doorbell from the studio—soft chime, polite interruption. She’d spent the afternoon finishing the edges of her storm painting, adding just enough gold threads to make the clouds look like they might part eventually. Not today. Not yet. But maybe tomorrow. She washed the paint from her hands, changed into the simple black dress Simone had left behind (“for casual shots—effortless chic”), and walked out. Alexander was already in the living room, speaking low to the photographer—a young woman with a camera strap and an easy smile—and her assistant. “Natural light from the windows,” he was saying. “No posed stiffness. Candid moments.” The photographer nodded. “Got it. We’ll do a mix—couple shots, individual portraits, some with the skyline backdrop.” Evelyn stepped into the room. Alexander glanced at her. One quick scan dress, hair down, bare feet then his eyes moved away. “Evelyn,” he
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-14
Chapter: Chapter 12The doorbell chimed at exactly 7:00 p.m., sharp and polite, like everything else in this penthouse.Evelyn had spent the last hour in the studio staring at her half-finished storm canvas, brush in hand but no progress. The grays had deepened, the blues had turned almost black. She couldn’t find the gold she’d started with yesterday. It felt buried under too much weight.She heard Alexander’s footsteps—measured, unhurried crossing the living room to answer the door.Voices murmured. Female, professional, excited. The stylist and her team.Evelyn wiped her hands on a rag, left the brush balanced on the easel, and walked out.Three women stood in the foyer, wheeling garment bags and cases. The lead stylist—tall, silver-streaked hair, impeccable black pantsuit, smiled brightly when she saw Evelyn.“Mrs. Knight! I’m Simone. This is my team: Mia for hair and makeup, and Tara for fittings. We’re here to make tomorrow’s gala unforgettable.”Evelyn managed a smile. “Hi. Evelyn is fine.”Simon
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-10
Chapter: Chapter 11Alexander ended the last conference call at exactly 2:47 p.m. and snapped his laptop shut harder than necessary.The numbers were perfect. Nakamura’s team had responded positively to the vague “personal stability” update Elena fed them this morning. The merger timeline was locked. Everything was proceeding according to plan.Everything except the quiet storm brewing in his own home.He hadn’t seen Evelyn since breakfast. Hadn’t sought her out. Hadn’t allowed himself even a glance down the hallway toward the studio. Distance was discipline. Cold was protection. He’d perfected both over the years.Yet the silence of the penthouse felt heavier than usual.He stood at his office window, hands clasped behind his back, staring down at the city seventy-five floors below. From up here, people were ants, problems were abstract, emotions were irrelevant. It was how he preferred things.His phone vibrated on the desk.Elena: Stylist and team arriving at 4:00 sharp for Mrs. Knight. Five dress opt
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-08
Chapter: Chapter 10City Hall was colder than he remembered.Maybe because it was New Year’s Eve morning, and the building felt half-asleep. Maybe because the vows they were about to say were technically lies. Or maybe because Evelyn stood beside him in a simple cream dress that made her look like something he didn’t deserve.They’d chosen today for practicality—quiet day, fewer people, easy to keep private. Just them, Elena (his assistant, serving as witness), and Lila (Evelyn’s demand, non-negotiable). No photographers. No fanfare.Evelyn’s hand was ice in his as they stood in front of the clerk.She’d painted her nails a soft gold. He noticed stupid details like that now.The ceremony was short. Scripted. Efficient.“Do you, Alexander Knight, take Evelyn Harper to be your lawfully wedded wife…”He said I do. Voice steady. Eyes on her.She echoed it back. Quieter. But clear.Rings were simple—white gold bands, nothing flashy. He slid hers on slowly. She did the same. Her fingers trembled just slightly.
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-07
Chapter: Chapter 9 The rain stopped sometime after midnight. Evelyn noticed because the constant drumming on her window finally went quiet, leaving the city strangely hushed. She’d been painting for hours—brush in one hand, phone in the other, music low in her earbuds. Indigo and rose and gold spilling across the canvas like she was trying to exorcise the decision hanging over her. She’d started with anger—harsh strokes, dark edges. Then frustration. Then something softer. Hope, maybe. Or fear disguised as hope. By 2 a.m. the piece was nearly done. Not perfect. But honest. She stepped back. Wiped her hands on her thighs, leaving streaks on her old leggings. The contract sat on the kitchen counter, printed and annotated and staring at her like it had opinions. Lila had left around ten, after three hours of pros/cons, prosecco, and one tearful hug. “You don’t have to save the world, Ev,” she’d said at the door. “Just yourself. And if that means saying yes to the hot billionaire with the penthouse
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-06
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