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chapter45***CRACKS IN THE CALM
publish date:
2026-04-07 14:47:37
Latest chapter
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter49***THE TRAP
Tiana barely slept.Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the picture again—herself outside the bookstore, unaware that someone stood at a distance documenting her life like she was prey.By morning, her nerves were stretched thin.Vince, however, looked calm.Too calm.He dressed slowly, deliberately, like a man preparing for something inevitable.“What’s the plan?” she asked quietly.He adjusted the cuff of his shirt. “We give him what he wants.”Her stomach twisted. “Which is?”“You. Out in the open.”She stared at him. “You want me to be bait?”His eyes softened. “Only for a little while. You won’t be alone. My men will be everywhere. He won’t even see them.”Tiana hesitated.Fear tried to rise again, but she pushed it down.“No more hiding,” she reminded herself.She nodded. “Okay.”They chose the café two streets from the studio.The same place she had gone before.The same routine Marcus had been watching.She sat at a table near the window, coffee untouched in front of her,
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter48***CLOSING IN
Vince did not go to work the next day.He turned the dining table into a command center—laptop open, phone charging, printed screenshots of the messages spread out in neat rows. Tiana watched him from the couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders even though the room wasn’t cold.He had a look on his face she had seen only once before.The day Caldwell was arrested.Focused. Patient. Ruthless.“Do you remember anything else about him?” Vince asked without looking up.Tiana closed her eyes, forcing herself back into a memory she hated visiting.“He stood behind Caldwell. Didn’t talk. Just watched. He had a scar near his eyebrow… small, like a cut that healed badly.”Vince nodded, typing something quickly.“Good. That helps.”She hated that word.Good.Nothing about this felt good.By afternoon, Vince got a call.Tiana could tell from his posture that something had shifted.He listened without speaking, then said quietly, “Send it to me.”He turned the laptop toward her.A photo fil
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter47***A FAMILIAR SHADOW
Tiana didn’t expect the fear to turn into clarity.But it did.By the third day of the messages, the panic had dulled into something sharper. Her mind, once clouded by anxiety, began noticing patterns.The timing of the texts.Always when she was outside.Never when she was inside the penthouse.Never at night.Whoever it was… they were physically nearby when they sent them.Watching in real time.She mentioned it to Vince over breakfast.He paused mid-sip of his coffee.“Say that again.”“They only text when I’m out. Studio, café, walking. Never when I’m home.”Vince’s eyes darkened with focus. “That means they’re not using old photos. They’re observing you directly.”Her stomach tightened.“So they’re following me?”“Yes.”Strangely, the confirmation made her feel less crazy.More aware.That afternoon, she decided to test a theory.Instead of going straight to the studio, she stopped at a small bookstore two streets away and stayed there longer than usual, pretending to browse.She
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter46***THE WEIGHT OF EYES
Tiana did not return to the studio the next day.She told Eleanor she wasn’t feeling well, which wasn’t entirely a lie. Her body felt heavy, her chest tight with a quiet dread she couldn’t explain without sounding paranoid.Vince didn’t push her to go.He worked from home instead.The penthouse, once her sanctuary, now felt like a glass box suspended in the sky. Too open. Too visible.She caught herself glancing toward the windows more often than usual.As if expecting to see a lens pointed back at her.By afternoon, she couldn’t take it anymore.“I feel ridiculous,” she muttered, pacing the living room.“You’re not,” Vince said calmly from the couch, laptop open but forgotten. His eyes had been on her the entire time.“I keep thinking someone is watching me. Even here.”“That’s a normal response,” he said. “Your sense of safety was shaken.”She stopped pacing and looked at him. “You’re too calm.”“I’m not calm,” he replied. “I’m focused.”That word unsettled her more.Focused meant t
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter45***CRACKS IN THE CALM
Tiana did not notice the change at first.It began as a feeling.A quiet, persistent unease that followed her through the morning like a shadow she couldn’t shake off.She was at the studio, guiding a little boy’s hand as he tried to mix colors on his palette. He was laughing, smearing blue into yellow and proudly announcing he had created “magic green.” She smiled, praised him, cleaned his hands, and returned to her own canvas.But the feeling remained.Like someone was watching.Like something unseen had shifted.She glanced toward the window.Nothing.Just the street, the traffic, people moving about their lives.Still, her chest felt tight.By afternoon, the unease had turned into something sharper.Her phone buzzed.An unknown number.She almost ignored it, but something compelled her to open the message.There was no text.Just a picture.Her breath stopped.It was a photo of her.Taken from across the street.Outside the studio.Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.Her
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter44***REBUILDING
The morning air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of the city and the distant hum of traffic. Tiana walked through the streets with a canvas bag slung over her shoulder, the smell of paint faintly clinging to her coat. She had decided today would be different—no files, no traps, no hidden agendas. Just her.She found herself outside a small art studio tucked between two high-rise buildings. The windows were clean, the door painted a warm, welcoming shade of teal. She hesitated at the threshold, a mixture of excitement and fear tightening her chest.“Go in,” a voice said softly behind her.She turned to see Vince, hands in his pockets, calm as always. His gaze was steady, reassuring.“I’m… nervous,” she admitted.“Of what?” he asked.“Failing. Not being good enough. Wasting time.”He smiled faintly. “Then don’t think about being good. Just create. Everything else is irrelevant.”She nodded, taking a deep breath, and stepped inside.The studio smelled of turpentine and fresh clay. Can
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter39***DESPERATION HAS TEETH
Caldwell did not sleep.He sat in the dark of his study, jacket discarded, tie loosened, staring at the muted television as headlines began to crawl across the bottom of the screen.Executive corruption. Private data manipulation. Anonymous leaks.His phone had stopped ringing not because people ha
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter38***THE TRAP TIGHTENS
Caldwell retreated to his private study, slamming the door behind him.The tablet still burned in his mind, displaying every move he had made over the past decade. Every manipulated life. Every secret weapon. All in the hands of Tiana and Vince.He slammed his fist against the desk. “Impossible,” h
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter37***THE COUNTERSTRIKE
The penthouse felt smaller than it had before.Tiana sat cross-legged on the floor, files and tablets spread around her like a war map. The glow from the city lights outside barely touched the dark corners of the room. Her mind was a storm of calculation, adrenaline, and the strange new feeling of
HIS COLD ADDICTION chapter36***AFTER THE LIE
The night air felt different when they stepped out of Caldwell’s estate.Tiana inhaled deeply, as if testing the world for the first time. The sky seemed wider. The trees taller. The silence louder.You’re not terminal.The words echoed through her mind in waves, crashing into everything she had be
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