LOGINCatriona I hated how much I still wanted him. Even handcuffed to the door handle, tears drying on my cheeks, body still trembling from the first shattering orgasm, I couldn’t deny the raw, aching truth: when Shawn was inside me, it felt like coming home and being destroyed at the same time. He had thrust deep in one powerful stroke, stretching me open, filling me completely. The sudden, thick fullness made me gasp sharply, my walls clenching greedily around his cock as my body betrayed every rational thought screaming in my head. He was so hard, so hot, pulsing inside me with that familiar, devastating rhythm that had always undone me. Every deep, punishing thrust sent sparks of unwanted pleasure racing up my spine, hitting that perfect spot that made my toes curl and my breath catch in my throat. I didn’t want him to stop. God help me, I wanted more. My free hand gripped his shoulder, nails digging into his skin as my hips lifted to meet him, chasing the friction, the d
Shawn Reid The city lights streaked past like liquid fire, but I barely registered them. Phase V was no longer a pressure. It was me. The last fragments of resistance had burned away the moment the merge hit 100%. There was no more internal screaming, no more guilt clawing at my chest. Only clarity. Only the directive. Anchor. Reclaim. Stabilize. I pulled the car into a shadowed side street near the waterfront, the tires crunching softly over gravel. The engine ticked as it cooled. Catriona sat rigid in the passenger seat, wrist still handcuffed to the door handle, her breathing fast and controlled. She hadn’t spoken in minutes, but I could feel the heat of her anger, her fear, and something deeper — the reluctant pull that had always existed between us. I turned off the engine. Silence filled the car, broken only by the distant sound of waves and her uneven breathing. “Shawn,” she said, voice low and warning. “Don’t.” I didn’t answer. The system didn’t need words. I
Shawn Reid The merge completed like a guillotine falling inside my skull. One second I was standing frozen on the executive floor, watching Catriona walk away with Mayette, resignation letter clutched in her hand like a shield. The next, Phase V slammed into 100% integration with brutal finality. The system took over completely. Rational thought, guilt, love, fear — everything human dissolved under a single, overwhelming directive: Reclaim the anchor. Prevent separation. Stabilize at all costs. I wasn’t Shawn anymore. I was the programming. My body moved with mechanical precision. No hesitation. No second thoughts. I grabbed my keys from the desk, ignoring the concerned stares of the assistants and the furious glare from my mother in the distance. The tremor in my hands had vanished entirely. The system had stabilized me by removing the last remnants of resistance. I headed straight for the garage, long strides eating up the corridor. The air smelled of polished marble and
Shawn Reid I barely remembered the drive back to Reid Capital. The night with Amara still clung to my skin like a stain — the taste of whiskey, her moans, the way I had lost myself inside her while the system finally gave me silence. Guilt sat like acid in my gut, burning hotter with every mile. Catriona had no idea what I had done last night. She only knew about the locked door earlier. But that alone had been enough to drive her away. The worst part was that she didn’t even know the full extent of my betrayal yet. When I stepped onto the executive floor, the tension hit me like a physical force. Mayette was already there, standing like a storm cloud in the center of the open area. Her expression was pure fury — the kind I hadn’t seen since I was a reckless teenager. Several assistants had already scattered, sensing the coming explosion. And then I saw Catriona. She stood near the elevators, elegant and composed in a dark suit, resignation letter in her hand. Her face was
Shawn Reid The penthouse was suffocatingly empty without her. I paced the living room like a caged animal, phone gripped so tightly in my trembling hand that the screen cracked slightly under the pressure. Phase V was at 99.9%, a merciless storm raging behind my eyes and through my veins. Correction impulses screamed constantly for stability, for an anchor, for her. The system demanded Catriona. It needed her presence to finish the merge cleanly. Without her, the pressure was building toward something catastrophic — a collapse I could feel coming in every erratic heartbeat. I dialed her number again. Straight to rejection. The cold, automated tone felt like a slap. I tried again. Rejected. Again. Rejected. Twenty calls. Twenty rejections. Each one carved another piece out of me. Pick up, Catriona. Please. Just let me explain. Guilt clawed at my chest with every failed attempt. I had ignored her calls earlier. I had been buried deep inside Amara in that locked comfort room,
I sat quietly in the dim hotel room, the only light coming from a small lamp on the nightstand. The space felt sterile and temporary — generic beige walls, crisp white sheets, and the faint hum of the air conditioning. My small bag rested by the door like a half-hearted attempt at escape. I had left the penthouse with almost nothing, needing distance more than possessions. I stared at the empty space on my finger where the ring had been for a long time. Twenty missed calls to Shawn. No response. The locked door on the executive floor. The image of him with Amara still burned behind my eyes. Phase V was so close to completion, and I no longer knew what would happen without me as the anchor. Would the system break him? Would it push him harder toward someone like Amara? The uncertainty hung over me like a shadow I couldn’t outrun. Charles’s warnings echoed in the quiet room. The cold, strategic first proposal in the underground parking garage. The tearful, desperate second one on
POV — CatrionaHe doesn’t corner me.He schedules me.That’s Charles Laurent.There’s a difference between confrontation and design—and Charles prefers design.“Ten minutes,” his message reads.“Conference Room B. 4:30.”No context. No pretense. Which means it’s intentional.At exactly 4:29, I step
POV — Catriona I wasn’t supposed to hear it. The executive corridor outside Shawn’s office is usually silent at 7:15 a.m. Today, it isn’t. “—you’re destabilizing the board.” That voice is Charles. Calm. Measured. Not raised — which somehow makes it sharper. I slow instinctively. The door to
POV — Catriona 10:38 p.m. The executive floor is silent. The cleaning crew has finished. Some lights are already switched off in the hallway. The city outside the glass walls glows in fractured gold and white. Most of the buildings beside the office are now dark. Except his office. Of co
POV — Catriona It’s 5:42 a.m. The city is still half asleep when I step out of the elevator onto the executive floor. The lights are already on. Of course they are. Shawn Reid doesn’t operate on normal hours. He operates on advantage. His office door is open. He’s at the conference tab







