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Dishes
publish date:
2026-09-03 21:48:23
Latest chapter
Bound by Obsession Dishes
The dishes were still in the sink.Same dishes as yesterday. Same dishes as the day before, if I was honest, though yesterday's had migrated slightly to the right, suggesting someone had moved them without washing them, which somehow made it worse.I stood at the kitchen counter at seven in the morning, coffee in hand, looking at the stack of breakfast plates and the particular willful blindness they represented.Damien walked in behind me, tie undone, already on his phone."Good morning," he said, heading for the espresso machine without looking at the sink."Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" I asked.He looked up from his phone. Looked at me. Looked—briefly, technically—at the sink. "I'll get those tonight.""You said that yesterday.""I was working until midnight yesterday.""And the dishes grew legs and moved themselves, which is why they're now slightly to the right of where they were on Tuesday?"He set down his phone with the careful deliberateness of someone choosing their batt
Bound by Obsession The Quiet After
For lunch, we went to a place in the West Village. The one with the mediocre coffee and the extraordinary eggs, cash only, no reservations, nobody recognizing either of us.We sat in the window booth and ordered without looking at the menu and watched the neighborhood go about its Saturday."So," Damien said, over the good eggs."So," I said."No Richard.""No Richard.""No legal challenge.""No legal challenge.""No review period. No six-month deadline. No judge." He looked at me across the table. "Just married.""Just married," I agreed. "Terrifying, isn't it.""Completely." He stole a piece of my toast, which had become the established pattern. "What do we do first? With the quiet."I thought about it. "I want to paint. A new series — not grief, not the year. Something about what comes after." I looked out the window at the street. "I want to think about what forward looks like as a subject instead of surviving as a subject.""Good." He meant it simply, as fact. "What else?""Monro
Bound by Obsession The Quiet After The War
I woke to light coming in wrong.Not the penthouse's east-facing bedroom light, which arrived at a particular angle I'd memorized over months of waking in it. This was different — earlier, softer, the specific quality of morning that arrived before the city had fully committed to the day.Damien was already awake.He was propped on one elbow beside me, not on his phone, not reviewing documents, not doing any of the things he did when he woke before me. Just watching me. With the particular quality of attention he usually reserved for things he was trying to understand."That's unsettling," I said, without opening my eyes fully."You were smiling in your sleep.""People do that.""You don't. Usually." He traced one finger along my jaw, light enough to be almost nothing. "What were you dreaming about?"I thought about it. The dream was already dissolving the way dreams did, leaving only an impression — warmth, color, the specific feeling of something going right."The factory floor," I
Bound by Obsession The Next Move
We ordered Thai food and ate on the couch, watching the news coverage of our press conference."You were incredible today," Damien said. "That line about Richard's scheme backfiring? Creating a real marriage instead of a fake one? Brilliant.""It's true though. He wanted to control us. Instead, he brought us together.""Ironic, isn't it? His worst nightmare is our greatest gift." He set down his takeout. "Come here."I moved into his arms, both of us rearranging until I was straddling his lap on the couch."Hi," I said."Hi." His hands settled on my hips. "You know what I want to do right now?""What?""Forget about Richard. Forget about the press. Forget about everything except us." His hands slid under my shirt. "Want to make you forget too. Want to make you feel nothing but this. Us."Heat pooled low in my stomach. "That sounds perfect."He pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it aside. His mouth found my breast, tongue circling my nipple through my bra."Too many clothes," I gasp
Bound by Obsession War Of Words
The article dropped exactly when Lucas said it would.I woke to my phone exploding with notifications. Messages. Emails. Missed calls from numbers I didn't recognize.Damien was already up, in his studies, on a conference call with his legal team and PR people.I grabbed my phone and made the mistake of opening Twitter.The article was everywhere. Trending. Shared thousands of times. And the comments :I knew it was fake. No one falls in love that fast.She's obviously a gold-digger. His father is just trying to protect him.Poor Richard Cross. Watching his son throw away his life for a woman who only wants his money.I kept scrolling, my stomach churning, until I found defenders too:Richard Cross is the one who destroyed her family's business! Read the whole story!This is a hit piece. Damien and Isla are clearly in love.Richard is manipulating the narrative because he lost in court.But the damage was done. The story was out there. Richard's version painted me as a calculated sche
Bound by Obsession The Calm Before The Storm
I woke to the smell of coffee and something baking.I wandered downstairs to find Damien in the kitchen, making what looked like muffins from scratch."You bake?" I asked, surprised."I follow recipes. There's a difference." He gestured to the cookbook, my father's again. "Found a muffin recipe. Thought we'd have a proper breakfast."I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pressing my face against his back. "Thank you. For bringing me here. For taking care of me. For just... being you.""That's what love is. Taking care of each other. Especially when the world gets too loud."We ate warm muffins and drank coffee on the porch, watching the morning mist rise off the lake."What do you want to do today?" he asked."This. Just this. Sitting here with you. No agenda. No plans. Just existing together.""I can work with that."We spent the morning doing nothing productive. Reading. Talking. Making love again in the afternoon light. Napping tangled together.It was perfect. Simple. Real.Ar
Bound by Obsession Father's Advice
I was dressed in one of the designer dresses Simone had left. The color is navy blue, simple but elegant, with heels that my feet already throbbed in. I had my hair down. I was wearing makeup, but not much. I looked like Isla Cross.I felt like an imposter.Damien stood in the elevator scrolling th
Bound by Obsession The First Morning
I didn't sleep.How could I, when my whole life had been torn apart and reassembled in forty-eight hours? I sprawled across that immense bed, in that disinfected-beautiful room, and stared up at the ceiling until most of the black were gray were pinks as ribbons to gold over Manhattan.Mrs. Cross.
Bound by Obsession It Was All Fake
The plane hit turbulence. Or maybe that was because every inch of me had responded to what his words had implied."I'd rather die," I said."Noted." But his eyes told me he didn’t believe it. "Moving on. Pages twenty-one through thirty cover business matters. You are not entitled to my business and
Bound by Obsession The Morning After
I awoke in regret with some fancy sheets.For one glorious moment, I didn’t think about it. And then it all came back, Marcus, my father, the bar, the plane, the chapel with its Elvis kitschy and the judge who had stared at us like we were idiots.My marriage certificate on the bedside with my new
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