Semua Bab Wedcuffed: Bab 261 - Bab 270

Sarah POVMonday EveningThe key stuck in the lock again. I exhaled a sharp breath through my nose, too tired to fight with it, but too wound up to be patient. With a twist and a slight shove of my shoulder, the door finally clicked open. The sound echoed in the dim, quiet apartment, known but not wholly a refuge tonight. I closed the door behind me and rested against it for a moment longer than necessary, just breathing in.Mondays carried a distinct gravity now, emails, decisions, meetings at the boardroom table with Adrian directly opposite me, his presence weighty as a boulder. He didn't mention anything about the events of the weekend, yet he didn't have to do so. The looks he sent in my direction conveyed it all: disapproval, curiosity, considerationAnd something else.He'd noticed the hickey.Even with my collar pulled high and makeup layered carefully, I’d caught his gaze resting too long on my neck during the morning meeting. I hated that I’d allowed Alessandro to leave thos

Sarah POVThe room was too quiet.Not the silence of focus or anticipation. No, this was the charged stillness of people watching something implode and pretending not to.I felt the weight of it pressing in from all sides, the pause before conversation resumed, the held breath, the faintest shuffle of paper as if it could mask the tension that had sunk into the air like smoke.I didn’t look at Alessandro again. I didn’t need to. The damage was already done.Instead, I focused on the screen behind me as the assistant powered up the presentation. Reema took her seat beside me, her hands moving fluidly over the digital remote, cueing up the slides.I heard Ester whisper something sharp under her breath as she took the chair on my other side, something about “desperate women and little tricks.” I appreciated the solidarity but said nothing.Because I couldn’t say anything. Not yet.Alessandro sat across from me. I registered the slight scrape of his chair, the way his movements were restr

Sarah POVI blinked, stunned that he, of all people, had the nerve to bring her up.“And you care because?”His jaw tensed. “Because I know what it looked like. And I know how you see me now.”He stepped closer. “But you’re wrong.”I narrowed my eyes. “Am I? Because from where I was standing, it looked like she had her claws dug into you, and you didn’t even flinch. You didn’t move. You didn’t speak. You didn’t do a damn thing to stop her.”“I didn’t know you were coming at that particular time before I could take any actions,” he snapped. “I wasn’t performing for you, Sarah. I was trying to hold a boardroom together with her acting like a goddamn parasite.”“Then you should’ve shoved the parasite off your lap,” I spat. “Instead, you let her play queen while I walked in looking like the fool.”His voice tightened, and his nostrils flared. "You believe I desired that? Do you believe I had fun at the circus? She did it purposely, "Don't you dare," I interrupted, moving closer and spe

Sarah's povThe room still smelled like him.Like us.Sweat and skin. Regret and release.I lay there, wrapped in the blankets, looking up at the ceiling as he put his arm around my waist. The heat in my chest had cooled while my thighs still trembled slightly from his hands and lips. Quieter.The silence between us wasn't empty, it was thick with everything unsaid. Every touch, every groan, every breath we had just shared still hung in the air like ash.Alessandro shifted behind me, propping himself on one elbow. I didn’t turn to look at him. I wasn’t sure I could.“Sarah,” he said, his voice low and hoarse, “you didn’t say anything back there.”I swallowed hard, my back still turned. “I didn’t have the words.”He let out a slow breath. “But you were so dissapointed.”I rolled onto my back and finally faced him. His eyes were raw, open, more exposed than I’d seen in months. That was the problem. He looked like the man I once loved. And he felt like the man I’d lost.“I can’t pretend

Sarah POVNext weekI’d never walked into a meeting so aware of every pair of eyes in the room.The glass conference room on the top floor of Alessandro’s company headquarters was as sleek and intimidating as ever, polished wood, minimalist decor, floor-to-ceiling windows framing the Manhattan skyline like a taunt. The kind of place built for power plays.I straightened my blazer and kept my expression cool. Ester shot me a small, reassuring look from across the table as we took our seats. Adrian walked in just after us, exuding easy confidence as he greeted the executive team like he owned the room.And Alessandro? He was already there. Positioned at the head of the table dressed in a crisp navy suit, arms crossed, jaw clenched. When his gaze connected with mine, nothing stirredNo heat. No softness.Just cold calculation. Just business.Exactly what we’d agreed on.I hadn’t spoken to him outside of our encrypted Signal chats and one short phone call since that night. We’d promised o