เข้าสู่ระบบChapter 168.The moment Isadora pulled her lips away, the heavy silence inside the car returned.She sat on the edge of the leather seat, her chest heaving up and down in a very quiet rhythm as she looked up into his dark, unreadable eyes.She had thought that the brief touch would settle the storm between them. That it was perhaps enough of an answer to his challenge. But the heavy, charged air in the cabin said otherwise. That single kiss had changed everything. It had triggered a nerve in Alessio that he had been trying to keep still. Alessio stared down at her, his dark gaze pinned to her flushed face. A slow, faint curve touched the corner of his sharp jaw, his lips twitching gently into a smirk. “Silly girl,” he murmured, his deep voice barely a whisper against her warm skin.“I answered you…” she whispered back, her voice trembling slightly in the dark space.Alessio smirked. “You barely scratched the surface,” he rasped.Isadora opened her mouth to speak, but before she co
Chapter 167.“Yes, I don’t want to see you anywhere near him,” Alessio admitted, his voice low and firm while his dark eyes burned with pure possessive anger. “Yes, the moment I saw his fingers around your wrist, I wanted to grab a knife and chop his hands off one by one! But I am not an idiot, Dora. I can clearly tell you were only standing with him because you needed safety from that mob.”He was completely right, and Isadora knew it. She looked down at her lap, processing how easily he read her. The quiet inside the car became heavy, broken only by the sound of their breathing as they both tried to regain control over their emotions.“How did you even know I was in trouble?” she asked softly.Alessio let out a tired sigh. He looked out the tinted window at the dark hill for a second before turning back to face her.“I saw a group of aggressive bloggers hanging around the main road near the hospital,” he said directly. “And then… I saw this.”He reached into his pocket and pulled ou
Chapter 166. Alessio didn’t even spare Damon a second glance. He didn't have to. But Damon stood frozen on the pavement, his knuckles white as his nails dug violently into his own palms. He was practically vibrating with rage, waiting for Alessio to launch an insult or initiate a fight. But Alessio completely ignored his existence. Instead, he wrapped his long, arm around Isadora’s waist, pulling her flush against his side. The action startled Isadora. Only because they were in public and this could cost them harm. But regardless, Isadora clung to him without even touching him, her body leaning into his broad frame like he was her absolute hope in the middle of the dark night. Because he was. Even with his sculpted jawline set like stone and his expression remaining unreadably cold, she felt infinitely safer beside him. It was a weird, contradictory feeling, but his solid presence instantly washed away the last traces of her panic. Alessio smoothly guided her into the back of h
Chapter 165.“What?” Damon asked, his smooth confidence instantly shattering. “Ninety… ninety billion dollars?”Isadora’s smirk widened into a calm, mocking smile. “You see, Mr. Damon? You cannot possibly pay me twice as much as what he has given me.”Damon stared at her in dead silence for a few seconds before a long, heavy exhale escaped his chest. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair as a dry chuckle left his throat.“You almost had me there,” Damon said, leaning back into his seat with a relieved sigh. “So you’re playing jokes on me now? Because I am certain no fashion firm on this planet would ever pay that kind of money to a new model.”Isadora’s smile faded gently, replaced by a serious, grounded look. “Of course not, Mr. Damon. No firm would pay that. I was simply making a point.”Damon adjusted his jacket, leaning back toward her. “So… will you consider my offer, then? Will you come work with me?”Isadora didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second. She shoo
Chapter 164.On quiet side street near Saint Jude’s Hospital, the dark luxury SUV belonging to Velour & Thorne remained parked against the curb.Inside the rear passenger compartment, the atmosphere was thick with uncomfortable silence.Isadora sat stiffly against the leather seat, her head resting back against the headrest as she slowly recovered from the suffocating panic attack that had nearly crushed her outside the hospital walls. Her mind was still racingg, but she took slow steady breaths reassuring herself that she was now in a less terrifying place. Damon sat beside her, watching her with a gentle, attentive gaze. He reached for the ignition switch, preparing to put the car in drive and navigate away from the area.“Wait,” Isadora’s quiet voice broke through the dark cabin.Damon paused, his hand hovering over the gear shift as he turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”“Please… don’t drive away,” Isadora murmured, her eyes staring blankly out the tinted glass window. “I am f
Chapter 163.The sprawling Bianchi estate was dead silent under the dark expanse of the night sky. Up on the second-floor terrace, Alessio stood near the glass railing, his broad, tall frame clad in a relaxed black hoodie and matching black joggers.To anyone else, he looked completely calm, holding a heavy crystal glass of red wine between his long fingers as he took a slow, deliberate sip. But beneath that stoic, unreadable exterior, a lethal fire was raging inside his chest. Isadora should have been back hours ago. The moment she left his office with Flora, his mind hadn’t known a single second of peace.The low hum of tires on the gravel driveway below caught his attention. Alessio’s dark eyes narrowed as he watched Mitchell’s sleek sports car pull up to the front entrance.His sharp brows pulled together into a tight, severe knot when he saw Mitchell step out of the vehicle completely alone.Alessio set his wine glass down on the iron table with a dull thud, turned on his heel, a







