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Auteur: Olly Dy
last update Dernière mise à jour: 2024-11-12 23:44:53

Lorenzo's POV

I sat in the boardroom, surrounded by a sea of suits and stern faces, the air thick with tension.

The news of Zia's resignation as my personal assistant had sent shockwaves through the office.

I could feel the weight of their gazes on me, a mixture of surprise and curiosity. I had expected whispers and speculation, but nothing could have prepared me for the reality of her absence.

“Lorenzo, how do you respond to this?” one of the board members asked, his voice cutting through my thoughts.

I took a deep breath, trying to maintain my composure. “Zia was an invaluable asset to this company,” I replied, my tone steady. “Her contributions were significant, and her departure is a loss for us all.”

The room fell silent, each person processing the implications of her leaving. I felt a pang in my chest—a mix of regret and frustration.

Zia had been more than just an assistant; she had been my confidante in a world that often felt cold and calculating.

Even though Zia did a mis
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  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   65

    Chapter 65: Family ReunionThe scent of disinfectant still lingered in the air. Not from a hospital, no—but from the scrubbed-clean warehouse Gabriel’s people raided just hours ago. The place where they had found her. Where a mother had been kept like she was a number. A warning. A pawn.Nia’s hands were trembling even as she stood still, like her body knew something massive was coming and couldn’t decide whether to run or fall to its knees.Zia, however, didn’t wait. She stepped forward the second the back doors of the SUV opened and the woman in the red shawl stepped down. A woman whose eyes had seen too much, whose bones carried secrets carved in silence. Her mother. Their mother.“Mom?” Zia breathed, voice cracked, like her throat had dried up with the years.The woman looked up. Time had done things to her face. Lines like rivers carved from pain, but her eyes… those eyes were mirrors. Zia saw herself. Nia. All the years. All the longing.“My baby,” the woman whispered, before

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   64

    Chapter 64 – The RaidNight fell like a silk curtain pulled down hard over a stage of secrets. The air around Grandpa Edward Audrey’s estate felt too still, like even the wind knew something deadly was about to go down. Every breath was tight. Every silence heavy. Every second, loaded.Inside the main boardroom, the atmosphere was suffocating.Zia sat beside Lorenzo, her fingers interlocked with his, her eyes focused but clouded. Nia stood by the window, arms crossed, jaw clenched. Mira was on the far end of the room, phone in hand, barely blinking. Gabriel leaned forward, knuckles resting on the polished table, while Grandpa Edward stood tall, his cane tapping rhythmically against the floor like a war drum.Then came the call.Gabriel’s phone buzzed, a vibration that broke the room like a bullet through glass. He answered on speaker.A voice, deep and smooth but urgent, filled the air.“We’re in position.”Gabriel nodded. “Are you sure it’s the place?”“No doubt,” the voice confirme

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   63

    Chapter 63 — Old Wounds, New FireLorenzo’s phone buzzed violently on the polished mahogany table, its vibration slicing through the tension that had momentarily cooled. The name on the screen sent a slow, cold fury boiling in his chest.Sophia.He didn’t pick it at first. Just stared at the name like it was a ghost that owed him blood.Zia caught the flicker in his eyes. “Who is it?”He didn’t answer. Instead, he snatched the phone and stood, stalking out of the boardroom like a silent hurricane. The hallway was empty, clinical in its silence, but the rage in Lorenzo’s steps made the walls pulse.He picked the call.And didn’t say a word.Her voice came first—soft, breathy, rehearsed. “Lorenzo…”He exhaled, but it sounded like thunder.“You have the nerve,” he said, his voice low, controlled, almost quiet—yet blistering with venom. “You have the gall to call me now?”“Lorenzo, please… I didn’t know who else to—”“You didn’t know?” His laugh was dry. “You didn’t know when you dragged

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   62

    Chapter 62 – The Smoke Beneath the Boardroom TableBoardroom, Audrey Co-opZia was pacing like a lioness denied blood.The boardroom air felt thick—too many emotions rubbing against each other like dry wires, and something was bound to spark.Zac sat at the edge of the table, arms folded, jaw tight like he was trying not to react.But Zia? She had no such self-control.“You’ve got the audacity to act like you care?” she snapped. “Why would you come back here and start stirring ghosts from the past? If you know Nia has finally found peace—finally—why the hell would you want to mess that up?”Zac looked up slowly, like a man who’d swallowed a bottle of whiskey and was still thirsty.“Because I never stopped loving her.”Zia froze. “What?”“I never stopped,” Zac said, standing now. His voice low, dangerous. “I was stupid. I let her go. And then you—her loyal, protective, damn near judgmental twin—waltz in here like you're the morality police when all of you are neck-deep in secrets, murd

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   61

    Chapter 61: Blood, Bruises & the Softness Between Her ThighsHenry didn't do soft. He never had.But tonight, with Sophia bent over the edge of that mahogany table, her moans drowning out the jazz music playing from the vintage stereo in the corner, he did something dangerously close to worship.Her skin glistened, slick with sweat and his saliva. He gripped her hips like they were handles made for him, hips that rocked back against him with zero shame, all rhythm, all need.“Jesus, Soph,” he growled, sweat dripping down the curve of his spine. “You’re trying to make me die happy tonight, aren’t you?”She arched her back, glanced over her shoulder, lips swollen from too many kisses and teeth bites. “Or maybe I’m just making sure you remember who the hell helped you hide all these years.”He grinned, twisted, evil, raw.“Oh, I remember,” he whispered, before slamming into her one more time—rough, deep, final. She came undone like a secret. And he came undone right after her.They staye

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   60

    Chapter 60: Trail of the Tinted GlassThe air was thick in the Traffic Surveillance Division. The hum of outdated computers and the low chatter of officers filled the background. But when he walked in—clean-cut, dark specs, grey jacket hugging his sharp shoulders—there was a shift in the room.Gabriel Cruz. Grandpa Edward Audrey’s most trusted IT specialist. The man moved like he had access to more information than anyone dared to know, because… he did.He walked past the reception with no need to explain himself.“Good morning, Mr. Cruz,” a uniformed officer greeted nervously.Gabriel offered a tight nod. “Who’s handling License Plate Footage Archive today?”“That would be Officer Darlington. Room 14.”“Perfect.”Within minutes, Gabriel was seated in a dimly lit room, the door shutting behind him with a click.Officer Darlington raised his brow. “What’s a top-tier Audrey man doing digging through street footage?”Gabriel leaned in. “A woman’s missing. I need access to all outbound ve

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   59

    Grandpa Edward Audrey's OfficeAudrey Co-opLorenzo, Nia, and Zia sat in the assistant’s reception, the air thick with tension. The receptionist at the desk barely spared them a glance, her perfectly manicured fingers clicking away at the keyboard.Nia huffed, arms crossed. “Can’t the damn receptionist just tell your grandpa that we have to see him now?”Lorenzo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Nia, everything has a procedure. He might be in an important meeting right now.”“More important than my mother?!” Nia snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Lorenzo. This is Zia’s fault anyway. She’s the one who dated you. She’s the one who let you put a baby in her belly.”Zia whipped her head around, her eyes narrowing. “Oh, shut the hell up, Nia! Are you seriously blaming me for this? Are you trying to say I’m the reason our mother is missing?”“Of course! You heard what he just said! His grandad can’t come out yet because he might be in

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   58

    On the Way to the Police Station, Zac’s fingers tapped against the steering wheel as he sped down the road, the city lights reflecting off the windshield. Mira sat beside him, one leg crossed over the other, her knee bouncing like she had energy to burn. She was watching him, her eyes narrowing slightly as if she could see right through him.“How did you meet Nia?” Zac asked, his tone light but probing.Mira scoffed, rolling her eyes. “What do you mean? I’ve known Nia for a long time. Not her entire life, but I’ve been friends with her sister, Zia, for more than a decade.”“I see.” Zac nodded, shifting gears. “I heard she isn’t entirely about that lesbian life.” His words were careful, but he threw them out like bait.Mira’s head snapped in his direction. “Excuse me?”“You know,” Zac shrugged. “That she’s a normal girl.”Mira’s lips curled, not in a smile but something close to irritation. “First of all, what the hell does ‘normal’ mean? Second, what exactly are you trying to say?”Z

  • The Loveless Contractive Marriage   57

    Raymond stormed into his office, slamming the door shut so hard the glass panel rattled. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, jaw locked so tight it could crack a damn tooth. He’d spent the last thirty minutes arguing with his father, and the bastard had the audacity to tell him to back off? To leave Lorenzo alone like some kind of untouchable golden boy? Yeah, right. Like hell that was happening.Yanking his phone from his pocket, he hit Henry’s number and pressed it to his ear, pacing the length of his office like a caged animal.Henry picked up after one ring. “What now, Ray?”Raymond exhaled sharply. “Dad just left my place.”There was a pause. Then, “And?”“He thinks we should leave our half-brother alone. That it’s some kind of cosmic mistake to mess with Lorenzo because Grandpa Edward Audrey has declared him the golden boy of the damn century.” Raymond let out a humorless laugh, running a hand through his already-messy hair. “Can you believe that?”Henry sighed. “You’re

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