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CHAPTER 18: MORE THAN A DEAL

Penulis: Jay Daniels
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-05-25 00:05:36

She didn’t know how long she sat there, staring at the cold coffee, and fighting the tears. She didn’t notice when the bell chimed again and the footsteps until a shadow fell over her table.

She looked up, expecting Parker to have come back. Instead, it was Nico.

He stood there, coat unbuttoned, hands in his pockets. He wasn’t angry. He just looked… concerned. He had seen it all from the doorway. He had watched Parker leave.

“Parker?” he asked softly, sliding into the seat opposite her like it
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  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 53: THE BUSINESS ATTACK BEGINS

    The first hint of trouble arrived just after nine in the morning, while Nico was still standing by the window in Ava’s room, coffee in hand, watching the city wake up. His phone buzzed hard against the table, not a message, but a string of urgent calls from his chief financial officer. He stepped away to answer, and the easy, settled look he’d carried since last night vanished almost instantly.“What do you mean the price is dropping fast?” Nico asked, his voice dropping an octave. “Is it general market movement or something targeted?”He listened in silence, his free hand tightening into a fist at his side. Ava sat still on the edge of the bed, watching the way his shoulders went rigid, the way his jawline hardened. She didn’t interrupt…just kept her eyes on him, listening to every word that drifted across the room.“Three investors in one day?” Nico repeated, disbelieving but already calculating. “Who are they? The ones who’ve been with us since the beginning? I see… Keep all line

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 52: LINES DRAWN

    The heavy main door swung open hard against the wall. Serena stumbled in, heels clicking unevenly across the floor. She swayed, one hand gripping the doorframe just to stay upright. Her dress was rumpled, hair falling loose over her shoulders, and the sweet scent of expensive wine and heavy perfume drifted through the room before she even took another step.Nico stood near the sofa, arms crossed tight over his chest, his mind still replaying the security footage they’d just watched. He stiffened instantly the moment he saw her.Serena caught sight of him and broke into a wide, lazy grin. She pushed herself off the frame and walked straight toward him, hips swaying in an exaggerated, unsteady way.“There you are…” she drawled, voice slurred, words dragging at the edges. “Been wondering where you’ve been hiding all evening. Thought maybe you’d run off without me.”She reached out without hesitation, her fingers running slowly up the front of his shirt, tracing every button one by one un

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 51: THE PROOF

    Nico froze, leaning back so fast his chair scraped loudly against the tiled floor. The easy warmth vanished from his face in an instant, replaced by wide‑eyed alarm.“Wait… Ava, stop. Look at me properly.” He leaned forward again, voice low and urgent, each word coming out clear and tight. “Are you absolutely certain about what you heard? Think hard, could it have been something else? Someone moving furniture? The wind? Anything?”Ava sat perfectly still, back straight. She watched the panic rise in him and didn’t soften it. Her fingers rested flat against the linen cloth, pressing down just enough to feel the texture. She nodded once, slow and sure.“I’m sure. I stayed awake for hours after. I heard the footsteps go past my door. I heard the door to your room unlock. I heard everything that happened inside. That’s why I couldn’t sleep, I was sitting there, listening, wondering how you could be doing all that while I was just down the hall.”Nico let out a long, shaky breath and ran b

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 50: THE QUESTION BETWEEN US

    Ava’s fingers curled tight around the edge of her desk, knuckles whitening slightly. She tilted her head toward the door.“Nico never mentioned anything about a trip. I’m not going anywhere unless he tells me himself.”The driver stood just inside the doorway, cap twisted nervously between his hands. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, eyes darting from her face to the floor and back again.“Miss Ava, please… I only follow orders straight from him. If I return without you, I lose my post entirely. I have three children and an elderly mother depending on that wage. Don’t make me choose between my job and you.”Ava bit the inside of her cheek until she felt a sharp tingle. She sucked in her breath…exhaled, nodded once.“Give me fifteen minutes.”She turned away without waiting for an answer. Her hands moved fast, opening the wardrobe doors wide. She pulled out the deep‑blue dress…the one she’d kept folded at the back, saved for something worth remembering. She stepped into it

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 49: ETHAN TELLS THE TRUTH

    It was late morning when a soft but firm knock fell on Ava’s door. She looked up from her books, pen hovering over the page, wondering who it could be…Nico was usually at the office by now, and Serena never knocked before stepping in. She stood, arranged her clothes, and pulled the door open just enough to see who stood there.Ethan leaned casually against the frame, hands in his pockets, looking relaxed but serious. He glanced quickly over his shoulder down the hallway before meeting her eyes.“Ethan?” Ava blinked, surprised. “What are you doing here? Is Nico looking for you?”“Not exactly,” Ethan said, stepping forward slowly when she pulled the door wider. “Actually… Nico doesn’t even know I came. I made sure he was tied up in meetings across town before I headed over. Can I come in for a minute? Won’t take long.”Ava hesitated only a second, then stepped back to let him pass. “Sure. Come in.”He walked over to the window, looking out across the city for a moment before turning bac

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 48: MIDNIGHT STUDY

    Ava sat bent over the desk in her room, the warm glow of the lamp lighting up her open textbook. She tapped her pen against the page, eyes scanning the same paragraph for the fifth time.“Developmental theories… attachment styles…” she muttered under her breath. “Come on, focus.”From down the hallway, soft laughter drifted through the walls. Serena’s light, breathy giggle followed by Nico’s low murmur. Then the distinct creak of a bed. A quiet moan. The sound of head bed hitting the bed started, steady and unmistakable.Ava stopped writing. “Seriously?” she whispered to herself. “Right now?”She dropped the pen, leaned back in the chair, and stared at the ceiling. The sounds continued, another moan, the bed creaking louder. Ava rubbed her temples.She grabbed her phone and started typing fast.Ava: Tessy I’m trying to study but I can hear them. Like… full on. It’s driving me crazy.The reply came almost instantly.Tessy: OMG really?? Well how about a threesome? Go join them! Turn it

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 5: THE TERMS

    “You’ve got some nerve,” Nico said, leaning back in his leather chair.“I know,” Ava’s voice was steady, though he could hear the faint tremor of desperation. “I need to talk business.”“Business? You slapped me. That’s a hell of a way to start a negotiation.”“I’m not negotiating. I’m offering,” s

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 4: THE OFFER

    The apartment was quiet, save for the hum of the ceiling fan and the distant sound of traffic filtering through the closed window.Ava lay on her small sofa, staring up at the water stains on the ceiling. It was past midnight, but sleep felt like a foreign concept. Her body was exhausted, heavy wit

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 3: Pride & Poison

    Nico Jordan didn’t sleep that night. He paced the penthouse on the 62nd floor of One57, bare feet on cold marble. From the bar to the window and back, gazing out at Manhattan below like it was mocking him… sirens, horns, that endless drone of people chasing things they’d never catch. It matched the

  • THE COST OF LOVING YOU    CHAPTER 2: ROCK BOTTOM

    The hallway blurred as Ava stormed through it, her chest heaving. Her hands were still shaking, not from fear, but from the raw, burning adrenaline of what had just happened. The sound of that slap echoed in her ears…satisfying, and terrifying.She didn’t stop walking until she reached the manager’

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