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Chapter 20: Private Battles

作者: empatheticvirgo
last update 最終更新日: 2025-12-18 12:56:00

By the end of the week, the world was convinced.

Articles praised their “quiet devotion.” Analysts pointed to their seamless appearances as proof that Clause Five had stabilized, not strained, their marriage. Fans posted compilations set to soft music, romanticizing restraint as depth.

They called it love.

Celeste called it survival.

She stood before the mirror in the Paris suite, adjusting her earrings with meticulous care. Her reflection stared back—composed, flawless, distant. The woman she saw looked capable.

She didn’t feel capable.

Her confidence had fractured in pieces so small she didn’t know how to gather them. Every smile felt borrowed. Every step beside Arrow felt heavier than the last.

“You’re ready,” Arrow said from behind her.

She flinched slightly before recovering. “So are you.”

They had learned not to startle each other.

Appearances had trained them well.

The final charity event of the trip unfolded without incident. No leaks. No confrontations. No storms.

That was al
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  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 28: Escalation

    The fight starts over nothing.That’s what terrifies Celeste most.It’s late. Past midnight. The penthouse is dim except for the city bleeding gold through the windows. Arrow is standing at the bar, sleeves rolled, loosening his cufflinks with sharp, irritated movements. Celeste watches him from the couch, knees drawn up, arms folded tight around herself.“You didn’t tell me,” he says.“I didn’t think it mattered.”“It always matters,” Arrow snaps, finally turning. “That’s the problem.”Her jaw tightens. “You don’t get to interrogate me every time I breathe.”“I get to know when you meet with people who are actively feeding the press,” he fires back.“They were my contacts before they were vultures,” she says, standing now. “Not everything revolves around your paranoia.”Something flashes in his eyes—hurt dressed up as anger.“I’m trying to protect you.”“No,” she shoots back. “You’re trying to control the situation. There’s a difference.”The words land like a slap.Arrow goes very s

  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 27: The Second Kiss

    The penthouse was too quiet.Not the calm kind of quiet, but the kind that pressed in on Celeste’s ears until every breath sounded too loud, every thought too sharp. The city below glittered through the windows, indifferent to the war unfolding behind glass and steel.Celeste stood in the kitchen, fingers curled tightly around a glass of water she hadn’t touched. Her reflection stared back at her from the darkened window—composed, immaculate, furious.She hated this part.The waiting. The pretending that what they were doing didn’t matter.Arrow stood across the room, jacket discarded over a chair, sleeves rolled, posture taut. He had been pacing in controlled lines for the past ten minutes, every movement restrained like a caged instinct.“You’re angry,” he said finally.She let out a short laugh. “You think?”“No,” he replied quietly. “I know.”She turned to face him. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to watch your life be rewritten in real time? To have strangers decide who

  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 26: Paparazzi Fire

    The first headline broke before sunrise.Celeste saw it the moment her phone lit up on the nightstand, the glow cutting through the half-darkness of the bedroom. She lay still for a moment, listening to the soft rhythm of Arrow’s breathing beside her—careful distance maintained, the memory of the shared bed still too recent to ignore.She reached for her phone.DE LA VEGA MARRIAGE ON THE BRINK?Exclusive sources reveal tension following Monaco gala scandal.Her jaw tightened.By the time she rose, dressed, and stepped into the kitchen, three more articles had surfaced. Each one sharper than the last. Carefully phrased speculation. Cropped photographs. Anonymous “sources close to the couple.”None of it was real.All of it was effective.Arrow entered moments later, sleeves rolled, expression already hard. “They’re escalating.”“They want to provoke a reaction,” Celeste replied coolly. “Silence or spectacle.”He glanced at her. “And which do you prefer?”She hesitated. “Neither.”The c

  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 25:

    Celeste sensed it before the meeting even began.The Montaire boardroom had always been her battlefield—long glass table, floor-to-ceiling windows, the city spread below like something she owned by right and blood. Today, however, the air felt wrong. Tighter. Too still. The kind of silence that preceded a controlled detonation.She took her seat at the head of the table, spine straight, tablet placed precisely in front of her. Faces looked back at her—some familiar, some guarded, one or two already avoiding her gaze.That was new.“Let’s begin,” Celeste said calmly.The presentation started smoothly enough. Projections. Timelines. Market expansion figures she had personally vetted the night before. For the first ten minutes, everything aligned.Then the cracks appeared.“Excuse me,” one of the board members interrupted, sliding a document across the table. “These supplier contracts—why are they missing the final signatures?”Celeste frowned. “They were signed two weeks ago.”Another v

  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 24: The Bed Clause

    The amendment arrived just after midnight.Celeste saw the notification glow on her phone while the penthouse slept around her, the city lights below Monaco flickering like restless thoughts she couldn’t quiet. She was still dressed in a silk robe, hair loose over her shoulders, posture rigid as she sat at the edge of the couch, rereading the message as if repetition might change its meaning.It didn’t.Addendum to Clause Twelve: Shared sleeping arrangements are required during all joint travel to reinforce marital optics and mitigate speculative narratives.Celeste let out a short, humorless laugh.“They’re forcing us into the same bed now,” she murmured to the empty room.As if summoned, Arrow emerged from the bedroom, tie loosened, sleeves rolled, his expression already dark. “I just read it.”She looked up at him. “So this is what control looks like now?”“It’s pressure,” he replied. “Calculated.”“Psychological,” she corrected.They stared at each other, the weight of the amendme

  • Slaving the Lady Billionaire   Chapter 23: The Mother

    Arrow De La Vega’s mother did not announce her arrival.She never had.The penthouse knew before Celeste did—the subtle shift in atmosphere, the tightening of space, the quiet sense that something sharp had entered the room. Celeste felt it as she reviewed documents at the dining table, the words blurring slightly on the screen as unease crept up her spine.Then came the sound of heels.Measured. Unhurried. Certain.Celeste looked up just as Margaret De La Vega stepped inside, her presence commanding without effort. She wore a navy suit tailored to precision, pearls resting at her throat like armor. Her silver hair was swept into a flawless chignon, her expression cool and unreadable.No assistant. No warning.“Celeste,” Margaret said, voice smooth as polished steel.Celeste rose slowly, setting her tablet aside. “Mrs. De La Vega.”Margaret’s gaze swept over her with clinical efficiency, as though assessing a potential acquisition rather than a daughter-in-law. “You look tired.”“It’s

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