Lahat ng Kabanata ng FORBIDDEN AFFECTION : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 89

Kailin’s pov I looked up at her—really looked at her—standing there with her fist twisted in my collar, demanding answers like she wasn’t shaking inside. A small chuckle slipped out of me before I could stop it. I stood up slowly, deliberately, even while she was still gripping my shirt. Up close, she looked smaller than I’d realized. Fragile. And yet—this kid had nerves. “You want to know how you ended up here?” I asked. She didn’t answer. She just stared into my eyes, searching for something—anything. “Right?” I asked again, louder this time. Her body flinched. I felt it before I saw it. Her fingers loosened, then dropped from my collar completely. I exhaled and stepped back. “I knew you wouldn’t leave that place,” I said, my voice low, controlled. “I knew you’d still be there.” She frowned, confused. “That’s why I went back to the club,” I continued. “And I was right. You were still there.” I paused, watching her carefully. “You know what surprised me?” H

Aiden’s POV The clock on the wall ticked louder than it should have. I checked it again, even though I already knew what it would say. The meeting time had passed. Three hours, to be exact. Three hours of sitting in my office, pretending to work while my attention stayed fixed on the door. Kailin was never late. Not late late. Not like this. He was the kind of man who arrived five minutes early and waited in silence, already prepared, already ahead. If he wasn’t on time, it meant something had gone wrong. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed a hand over my face, unease settling deep in my chest. “Where the hell are you?” I muttered. I picked up my phone and checked it again—no missed calls, no messages. I’d already called him twice. Both times it rang until it stopped. No answer. No voicemail. That bothered me more than the delay. Kailin didn’t ignore calls. Especially not mine. Especially not on meeting days. I stood up and walked to the window, staring out at t

Aiden’s POV I stared at the edge of my desk, jaw tight, my fingers tapping once… twice… then stopping. No. That couldn’t be it. Not after everything. “That’s it?” I asked quietly, lifting my head to look at him. My voice didn’t rise, but there was something sharp underneath it. “That’s all the information you got from him?” Kailin met my eyes, his expression serious. “That’s all he was willing to say,” he replied. “I pushed where I could.” I exhaled slowly through my nose and stood up, walking away from the desk toward the window. The city looked the same as always—busy, loud, alive—but inside me, things were shifting. Too many pieces didn’t fit. My father. His past. The things that never made sense growing up. I’d lived with questions for years without even knowing they were questions. Now that they were right in front of me, I wasn’t about to let them slip away. “That’s not enough,” I said, more to myself than to Kailin. I turned back to him, my resolve settling in. “Anto

Aiden’s Pov I drove through the city, traffic lights turning from red to green without really registering. My hands were steady on the wheel, but my mind wasn’t. It felt strange—leaving work in the middle of the day, ignoring meetings that would usually chain me to that office. Still, for once, I didn’t feel guilty. At the next red light, I pulled out my phone and dialed Lara’s number. She answered on the second ring. “Aiden?” Her voice was soft, warm, like it always was. It did something to my chest every time. “I’m on my way home,” I said. There was a brief pause. “Home? This early?” she asked, surprised. “Did something happen?” “No,” I replied, a faint smile tugging at my lips. “Just get ready.” “Get ready for what?” she asked, curiosity slipping into her tone. “I want to take you out,” I said. “We’re spending time together today.” Another pause—shorter this time—but I could almost hear her smile through the phone. “And where exactly are we going?” “You’ll see,”

Lara’s POV The jet door opened and warm ocean air hit me first. Then I saw the island, and everything else — the flight, the noise of the last few weeks — just fell away. "You own this," I said, not really a question, more like I was trying to make it real by saying it out loud. "I do." He said it simply, like it wasn't strange at all. "How does someone even end up owning an island, Aiden?" "Slowly. And with very good lawyers." He held out his hand. "Come see the rest before it gets dark." I let him lead me down, still staring past him at the water, at the palm trees moving lazily in the wind, at all of it. "Where's everyone? The staff, the—" "I sent them home before we landed." I stopped walking. "You did?" "I wanted it to be just us." He glanced back at me, unbothered by how big a thing that was to say. "Is that a problem?" "No," I said, quieter than I meant to. "No, that's — that's nice." He smiled like he already knew that's what I'd say, and kept walking,