Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

Everyone already had their minds made up about me. Rich girl. Privileged. Spoiled. Nepo baby. The kind who never earned a single thing she had. They didn’t bother hiding the whispers. Maybe that was why I taught myself to keep my face unreadable. If you didn’t give them a reaction, they had nothing to feed on.The elevator doors slid open and I stepped out onto the top floor. The air felt different here, colder and heavier. A receptionist looked up from her desk, her pen pausing mid-note. She didn’t smile. “Mr. Kleen is expecting you,” she said in a clipped tone, motioning toward a set of black double doors.I pushed them open without knocking.The office was massive, all sharp lines and glass walls looking out over the city. James Kleen sat behind a long dark desk, his jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows. He didn’t stand. He didn’t even look up right away. His pen moved across a document, slow and deliberate, like I wasn’t there.I crossed the room, my heels clicking again

The first thing I felt was the cold. Sheets against my bare skin, the faint draft from somewhere near the window. I opened my eyes to a room I didn’t recognize. Pale walls. Heavy curtains. A glass tumbler with a trace of amber liquid on the nightstand.I sat up too fast. The blanket slid down and I froze, looking down at myself. No clothes. My head was thick, my mouth dry. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it tight around me, scanning the room. No sign of him.I pressed my fingers to my temples. A dull throb pulsed there. Then, like someone had opened a door in my head, it all came back — the bar, the look in his eyes, the walk to the room, my hands on him, his mouth on mine. Heat rose to my face.“Oh my God,” I whispered to the empty room. My heart started pounding. I’d walked up to James Kleen, one of the most feared CEOs in the country, and practically thrown myself at him.I swung my legs over the side of the bed, spotted my dress crumpled on the floor, and pulled it on. My heels w

His eyes flicked down to my mouth and before I could say anything, James closed the space. His lips crashed against mine, hard and certain, and I gasped into him. His hand slid from the wall to the side of my face, holding me there, deepening the kiss. I felt myself clutching at the front of his shirt, as if I could push him away, but my fingers only curled tighter.The kiss grew rougher. He angled his head, pressing closer, his body pinning mine to the wall. My pulse raced so fast it drowned out the ticking of the clock and the muted hum of the city outside. I should have stopped him. I knew I should have. But my lips parted, and suddenly his tongue brushed against mine and I let him in.My hand found his shoulder, firm beneath the thin fabric, and I realized I was pulling him toward me, not away. His other hand traced down the curve of my side, anchoring me in place. My knees weakened, and the only thing keeping me upright was the strength of his hold and the heat of the kiss.“Jame

The drive felt endless even though the streets were almost empty. I watched his hands on the wheel and tried to read his face. His jaw was set, his eyes forward, the same calm focus he wore in boardrooms, only sharper now. My fingers twisted in my lap. I told myself to breathe slower.He pulled into an underground garage and parked in a reserved spot. He got out and came around to my side. He opened my door without a word and held out a hand. I hesitated, then placed mine in his. His grip was warm and steady. He led me to a private elevator, scanned a card, and the doors slid shut. We stood close but not touching. I felt the hum of the lift under my feet and the quick beat of my pulse at my throat.When the doors opened, the view hit first. Glass walls framed the city in clean lines. Night lights scattered across the skyline. His place was wide and quiet, with soft lighting and dark floors that swallowed sound. He took off his jacket and draped it over a chair, loosened the top button

By Monday morning, the memory of his lips and his hands had hardened into something else. A wall. A wall I built the second I opened my office door.“Coffee,” I said briskly, dropping my bag onto the couch. Isabel looked up from her desk, already smirking.“Rough weekend?” she asked.“Busy weekend,” I corrected, brushing a strand of hair back from my face. “Meetings. Calls. Real work.”She snorted. “Meetings with Kleen, you mean?”I shot her a look sharp enough to cut glass. “Don’t start.”“Fine,” she said, holding up her hands. “I’ll get the coffee.”When I walked into my office, James was already there, sitting in the chair opposite my desk like he owned the space. He had his jacket draped over the armrest, his shirt sleeves rolled, and that same calm, infuriating expression on his face.“You’re late,” I said coolly, sliding into my chair. I opened my laptop, not looking at him.He raised a brow. “By three minutes.”“Three minutes wasted,” I replied. “Let’s begin. The expansion plan