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Chapter 27

ผู้เขียน: Jane Nono
last update ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-01-01 16:36:07

Conflicted Hearts

The music wasn’t supposed to matter.

It was low, barely more than a whisper drifting through the open living room doors, something classical and slow that one of the staff must have put on while tidying up for the night.

The lights were dimmed, the mansion unusually quiet, and for the first time all day, Chloe was asleep without protest.

I should have gone to my room.

Instead, I stayed.

Cade stood near the windows, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, the city lights reflecting faintly against the glass behind him. He looked… human like this. Less CEO. Less untouchable. Just a man standing alone in the quiet aftermath of a long day.

“You don’t have to hover,” he said without turning around.

I smiled despite myself. “I’m not hovering.”

“You’re hovering,” he replied, finally glancing back at me, one brow lifting slightly.

I folded my arms. “Chloe had a rough evening.”

“She’s asleep.”

“For now.”

Something flickered in his eyes at that. Amusement, maybe. Or appreciation
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  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   Chapter 31

    After the StormThe mansion exhaled.That was the only way I could describe it—the way the air settled back into its polished stillness, the way footsteps softened, the way doors closed without urgency again. Chandeliers glowed at their usual measured brilliance. The staff moved with trained efficiency, voices low, eyes carefully neutral.Normal.Too normal.I stood at the window in my room, fingers pressed to the cool glass, watching the gardens below sway gently in the afternoon breeze. The roses had survived. The hedges were immaculate. Even the gravel paths bore no sign of the chaos that had nearly swallowed this house whole.Victory should have tasted sweeter.Instead, it sat heavy on my tongue, like something unfinished.I kept expecting the alarms to blare again. Kept listening for Chloe’s frightened cry. Kept replaying every decision I’d made, every breath I’d taken, as if the right combination of vigilance could keep the other shoe from dropping.“You can breathe now,” Nora

  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   chapter 30

    The First VictoryVictory didn’t arrive with sirens or shattered glass.It arrived quietly—through preparation, patience, and the refusal to panic.By dawn, I already knew where Vanessa’s mistake lay.She had assumed I would react.Instead, I had watched.I stood in the east wing corridor, sunlight slanting through tall windows, illuminating the faint smear on the marble floor near the service elevator. Most people would’ve missed it. It looked like nothing—just the kind of mark left by hurried shoes or a careless mop.But I had learned the mansion’s rhythms. Its habits. Its silences.And this smear didn’t belong.I knelt, fingers brushing the surface. Chemical residue. Industrial-grade lubricant.Used on locks.My pulse didn’t spike. It settled.So this was it.Not a dramatic abduction. Not a visible threat. Vanessa had planned something subtler—something that would unfold later and look accidental. A delayed failure. A locked door that wouldn’t open fast enough. A safety mechan

  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   Chapter 29

    Trust or BetrayalThe mansion didn’t feel dangerous.That was the problem.Everything was too orderly. Too calm. The staff moved with practiced precision, smiles in place, voices low and polite. No alarms. No raised voices. No obvious threat.But I had learned—painfully—that danger didn’t always announce itself.Sometimes it waited.I stood at the top of the staircase, fingers resting lightly on the banister, observing the rhythm of the house. The clink of porcelain from the breakfast trays. The muted hum of conversation drifting from the staff corridor. The soft click of shoes on marble.On the surface, nothing was wrong.Underneath, something was tightening.Cade had left before dawn.No kiss. No lingering touch. Just a brief look that said I trust you without the words. He had promised to be back by nightfall, but even as I’d nodded, I’d felt it—the sense that his absence wasn’t accidental.Vanessa never moved without calculating distance and timing.And today, she had both.

  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   Chapter 28

    Choices and ConsequencesI didn’t sleep.Not after Chloe’s words. Not after the way Cade’s jaw had gone rigid, his entire body snapping into alertness like a tripwire had been triggered. Not after the accidental kiss that still burned faintly on my lips, reminding me how thin the line between control and chaos really was.Morning arrived too quickly.The mansion woke in its usual quiet precision—staff moving softly, schedules ticking forward as if nothing had shifted. But I felt it. The wrongness. Like the house itself was holding its breath.Chloe sat at the breakfast table, poking at her cereal, her feet swinging gently beneath the chair.“Do you feel funny today?” she asked suddenly.I looked up from my coffee. “Funny how, sweetheart?”She shrugged. “Like when it’s about to rain, but the sky is pretending it’s not.”My stomach tightened.“That’s very observant,” I said carefully. “Do you feel scared?”She shook her head. “No. Just… quiet inside.”Cade entered then, already on h

  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   Chapter 27

    Conflicted HeartsThe music wasn’t supposed to matter.It was low, barely more than a whisper drifting through the open living room doors, something classical and slow that one of the staff must have put on while tidying up for the night. The lights were dimmed, the mansion unusually quiet, and for the first time all day, Chloe was asleep without protest.I should have gone to my room.Instead, I stayed.Cade stood near the windows, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, the city lights reflecting faintly against the glass behind him. He looked… human like this. Less CEO. Less untouchable. Just a man standing alone in the quiet aftermath of a long day.“You don’t have to hover,” he said without turning around.I smiled despite myself. “I’m not hovering.”“You’re hovering,” he replied, finally glancing back at me, one brow lifting slightly.I folded my arms. “Chloe had a rough evening.”“She’s asleep.”“For now.”Something flickered in his eyes at that. Amusement, maybe. Or appreciation

  • The CEO's Contracted Heart   Chapter 27

    Conflicted HeartsThe music wasn’t supposed to matter.It was low, barely more than a whisper drifting through the open living room doors, something classical and slow that one of the staff must have put on while tidying up for the night. The lights were dimmed, the mansion unusually quiet, and for the first time all day, Chloe was asleep without protest.I should have gone to my room.Instead, I stayed.Cade stood near the windows, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, the city lights reflecting faintly against the glass behind him. He looked… human like this. Less CEO. Less untouchable. Just a man standing alone in the quiet aftermath of a long day.“You don’t have to hover,” he said without turning around.I smiled despite myself. “I’m not hovering.”“You’re hovering,” he replied, finally glancing back at me, one brow lifting slightly.I folded my arms. “Chloe had a rough evening.”“She’s asleep.”“For now.”Something flickered in his eyes at that. Amusement, maybe. Or appreciation

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