Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire’s Runaway Bride: Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 170

The office was already buzzing when I arrived. Phones rang, printers hummed, Isabel was standing at my desk with a tablet in one hand and a coffee in the other.“You’ve got a nine a.m. with the board prep team, then a call with the New York branch,” she rattled off as I set my bag down. “Oh, and Kleen’s assistant confirmed he’s stopping by at eleven.”My jaw clenched. “Cancel it.”“You sure?” Isabel arched a brow. “He didn’t sound like a man who takes cancellation well.”“I don’t care how he sounded,” I said sharply. “Cancel it.”She smirked. “Yes, ma’am. But when he shows up anyway, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”I glared at her, but she just walked out with her usual bounce, leaving me with my coffee and my temper.By eleven on the dot, the door opened. James walked in without knocking, as if Isabel hadn’t even tried to stop him. He closed the door behind him, calm as ever, his jacket over one arm.“You don’t understand the meaning of boundaries, do you?” I said coldly.“I understand

The car pulled up in front of a tall building with black glass and sharp corners. James stepped out first, buttoning his jacket, then opened my door. I stayed seated for a second, staring at him.“This is insane,” I muttered.“Come on,” he said simply.I got out, smoothing my skirt with sharp motions. My heels clicked on the pavement as I followed him inside. The lobby was sleek and quiet. The elevator doors slid open the second we stepped in. He pressed the button for the top floor.“You didn’t answer my question,” I said, folding my arms.“Which one?”“What we’re doing here.”He glanced at me, his mouth curving slightly. “You’ll see.”I rolled my eyes and turned to the mirrored wall of the elevator. My reflection looked too stiff, my jaw too tight. I forced my shoulders down and raked my fingers through my hair.The elevator doors opened into a wide apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows. The city lights spread out in every direction. I walked in slowly, my eyes moving over the cle

At two, vendors argued about timelines. I cut through it. At two thirty, legal argued about clauses. I cut through that too. At three, finance wanted to move money. I made them show models until they stopped talking in circles. I was sharp. I was fast. I kept my voice level and my hands steady. When someone pushed, I pushed back. When someone tried to charm, I did not smile.At four, James returned for rehearsal. He was on time. He stood at the end of the table and watched while the team ran the deck. I gave notes without looking at him.“Cut slide nine,” I said.He spoke from the far end. “Slide nine is the one that shows we can handle scale.”“The point is made on slide thirteen,” I said. “Nine is noise.”He looked at the team, then back at me. “We cut nine,” he said.We finished early. People filed out. He stayed. I closed my laptop again. He did not move.“You were good,” he said.“I am always good,” I said.He nodded as if that were a fact he liked remembering. “Do you need a rid

The investor rehearsal was set for two o’clock sharp. By one fifty, the boardroom was full. Laptops clicked, papers shuffled, coffee cups rested half-forgotten on the table. I stood at the front, running through notes on the projector, my blazer buttoned tight, my expression calm.James walked in a minute before the hour, dark suit, relaxed stride, cool as ever. His presence shifted the room instantly. People sat straighter. Eyes followed him. He gave a short nod, then took the empty seat near the front, folding his arms loosely.“Let’s begin,” I said, clicking to the first slide.I moved through the pitch, my voice steady. The team answered questions. James added a statistic here, a projection there. Every time I spoke, I felt his eyes on me. Calm, steady, unrelenting. I ignored it.At slide seven, he raised a hand. “We’re skipping the human element,” he said. “Investors don’t just buy numbers. They buy people. Add it back in.”“We agreed it was filler,” I said.“We agreed to keep it

The silence after was deafening. My breath still came uneven, my legs shaky where they dangled off the edge of the table. James hadn’t moved away, his hand still braced on my hip, his forehead leaning against mine like he was in no hurry to let go.I shoved at his chest weakly. “Get off me. We have to… we have to pull it together.”He kissed the corner of my mouth, calm as ever. “Already did.”“James,” I hissed, glaring at him as I slid off the table. My knees buckled, and he caught me before I could stumble, smirking when I swatted his hands away. “Don’t you dare.”He stepped back, smoothing his shirt, tucking himself in like nothing had happened. He straightened his tie, rolled his shoulders, and just like that, he looked every inch the untouchable executive again.I looked down at myself and cursed under my breath. My blouse was torn wide open, buttons scattered across the carpet. My bra strap hung loose on one side. My hair was a wreck, sticking to the sweat on my skin.“Oh my god