LOGINShare
Last moves and old men
Last Updated:
2026-02-09 00:12:53
Latest chapter
The contract that owned me She's familiar
THIRD PERSON'S POVShe doesn’t mean to find it.That’s what makes it worse.It’s late. The office is mostly empty. Adrian left an hour ago after a tense call with the legal team. The oversight committee is still circling, still tightening things quietly. Her access hasn’t been fully restored, but she still has fragments of what used to be hers.Fragments are enough.She’s not digging for dirt.She’s looking for context.Because something has been bothering her for weeks.Not his protection.Not his jealousy.The familiarity.The way he looked at her the night she signed the contract.Recognition.Not attraction.Recognition.She opens an archived operations file by accident.It’s from 2018.The year the anonymous message mentioned.She doesn’t expect anything meaningful.But then she sees it.An internal review summary. Redacted names. Limited access.The junior executive who resigned.Attached: a private psychological impact assessment. Not formal. Just notes.Adrian’s notes.She sta
The contract that owned me Collective move
THIRD PERSON'S POVThe first move isn’t loud.It’s administrative.That’s how institutions destroy people.Iris doesn’t realize it at first. She’s in the office early, earlier than usual. The building still smells like cleaning solution and recycled air. Her desk looks the same. Her login still works.But her calendar is empty.Not light.Empty.She refreshes once.Twice.Nothing.Meetings she was scheduled for yesterday are gone.Standing briefings removed.Internal committee access revoked.No email notification.No explanation.Just absence.She sits still for a moment, staring at the blank screen.This is worse than suspension.This is erasure.She opens her inbox.There’s a new message from compliance.Neutral tone. Corporate voice.Due to ongoing restructuring, certain executive-support roles are being redistributed.Redistributed.That word is deliberate.Not terminated.Not reassigned.Redistributed.She exhales slowly.Across town, Adrian is in a meeting he didn’t call.He no
The contract that owned me Control is a myth
ADRIAN'S POVThe board thinks they leashed me.They didn’t.They reminded me I still have something to lose.That’s worse.I don’t go back to the office after the meeting. I go to another meeting then my penthouse. The city looks the same from this height—structured, obedient, predictable.Markets close at four.I move three positions before three-thirty.By market close, healthcare stocks under our umbrella are trending upward again. Analysts are praising the “ethics pivot.” The same board members who voted oversight are already sending careful emails praising initiative.They think I acted out of strategy.I did.But not entirely.I pour a drink and don’t touch it.The silence in this place is too clean. No background noise. No movement. Just space large enough for thoughts to echo.I shouldn’t be thinking about her right now.I should be calculating long-term damage.Instead, I replay the moment she looked at me earlier.Calm.Steady.Unafraid.That’s the problem.She didn’t panic
The contract that owned me The vote
The board doesn’t call it a punishment.They call it “governance.”That’s how people in power hurt you without getting blood on their hands.Adrian doesn’t tell me about the meeting. I find out the way you find out anything real in a building like this—through the air changing.Security is tighter. Conversations stop faster. People walk faster but pretend they aren’t rushing. There’s an extra layer of politeness that feels like fear.By 10:06 a.m., my inbox has three calendar invites that weren’t there yesterday.None of them includes me.That’s the first sign.The second is the way Marcus won’t meet my eyes when he drops a file on my desk.“Everything okay?” I ask.He hesitates just long enough to confirm the answer.“I… don’t know,” he admits quietly. “They’re saying there’s an emergency session.”“They?” I repeat.He looks around like the ceiling might be listening.“The board,” he says.My stomach tightens.Adrian is in a board meeting.And I’m not supposed to know.Fine.I keep w
The contract that owned me The girl who didn't break
The email is clever.That’s what makes it dangerous.Not dramatic. Not accusatory.Concerned.That’s the word that spreads fastest.We are worried about the emotional strain placed on Miss Hale.Given recent stressors and her mother’s medical condition, perhaps leadership should consider whether she is in a stable position to continue.Stable.I read that word five times.Elena didn’t try to ruin me.She tried to shrink me.That’s smarter.Because unstable women don’t get promotions.Unstable women don’t sit in boardrooms.Unstable women don’t get believed.I close my laptop slowly.No panic.No tears.Just clarity.She’s trying to isolate me professionally.Which means I don’t defend emotionally.I respond structurally.I go to work.Not because I have to.Because absence feeds narratives.The lobby cameras are still there, but thinner now. Less rabid. The story has cooled enough to become an analysis instead of a spectacle.I walk in like nothing is wrong.That’s the first move.Peo
The contract that owned me Last moves and old men
THIRD PERSON'S POV Elena does not scream.She has already broken everything that can be broken.The mirror went first—shattered against the marble wall of her apartment with a sound that felt disappointingly small. Then a vase. Then a glass tumbler she hadn’t even liked. None of it relieved the pressure building behind her eyes.Nothing ever does.She stands in the wreckage now, heels kicked off, hair half-loose, chest rising too fast. Her phone is clenched in her hand like a weapon.They are turning on her.That’s the part she can’t forgive.Not Adrian choosing Iris. She always knew he was capable of obsession. Men like him mistake intensity for inevitability.No.It’s the abandonment
You may also like
Married a Secret Billionaire
Breaking Wave1.1M viewsThe Breaking Point of Love
Cloudsearcher3.0M viewsMy Ex-Wife and Kids Came In Like A Wrecking Ball
Likable1.4M viewsMommy, Where Is Daddy? The Forsaken Daughter's Return
LiLhyz3.4M viewsThe Broken Angel He Claimed
Von Hsuu436 viewsMy Billionaire Husband is Addicted to Me
Olivia GW356 viewsThe Billionaire Rejected Me
Selene Virelle 118 viewsTHE MEET UP
Ismakabuza366 views
