Lahat ng Kabanata ng Rival's Contract Marriage : Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

Cameron’s POV The world tilted. I blinked hard, trying to focus on the blurry chandelier above my head. My fingers gripped the edge of the counter, but even that felt like it was slipping away. The room spun, warm and hazy around the edges, like I’d been wrapped in a too-tight blanket I couldn’t shake off. “Drake,” I mumbled. “What… what did you put in the wine?” He was too close. He didn’t answer right away. Just stared at me, that same conflicted look he always wore around me—like he didn’t know whether to worship me or destroy me. “I had to,” he said finally, voice low and shaky. “You wouldn’t have listened otherwise.” My heart thudded against my ribs like it was trying to break free. My limbs were heavy, my breath uneven. “You’re insane,” I said. Or tried to. It came out more like a slur. “This is our house. Are you seriously—are you seriously doing this here?” Drake’s jaw clenched. “This is the only way I could make you see. I thought you hated guys, Cam. I thoug

Brandon’s POVI knew something was wrong when Cameron didn’t show up for lunch. At first, I thought maybe he forgot. Or got caught up in something. That’s normal, right? We’re both always half-drowning in assignments, and Cam’s kind of the king of last-minute chaos. So I waited. Ordered fries. Scrolled through Twitter. Checked my phone like fifty times. Texted. Called.But when an hour passed and still nothing?Yeah. That wasn’t Cam. Not my Cam.I must’ve read our texts a hundred times on the way to his apartment. My chest felt tight, and I kept trying to tell myself I was overthinking. He’d probably just passed out after pulling an all-nighter again. He did that. He got cranky and weird and shut off his phone, and then popped up the next day with some grumpy apology and hair that looked like a bird’s nest.But I don’t know. This time… it felt different.His building was quiet when I got there. Like the kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl. I didn’t even bother buzzing — I still h

Cameron POVI could tell from the second I woke up that something was different. My body still ached like I’d been hit by a train, but my shirt—no, this wasn’t the same one. This one was soft, dry, and didn’t smell like sweat and shame.Brandon had changed me.I stared at the ceiling, hoping maybe this was some weird fever dream. That maybe I’d wake up again and everything would rewind. But no. The light was real. The quiet in the room was real. The fact that I didn’t feel alone anymore—also real.I turned my head slowly.Brandon was sitting in my desk chair, legs pulled up like he’d been there forever. His eyes were fixed on me instantly. Like he hadn’t taken them off me once.“Hey,” he said quietly, voice gentle like I was a ghost or something. “You’re awake.”I tried to sit up, but even that felt like too much. My muscles were sore, like my body knew what had happened even if I didn’t want to think about it.“You… changed my clothes,” I said, my voice scratchy and low.He nodded, n

Cameron’s POVI was curled up in bed, face buried in Brandon’s hoodie, half-asleep and trying not to remember anything, when my phone started ringing violently on the nightstand.Groaning, I rolled over, squinting at the screen.“DAD.”Crap.I hesitated for a second. He rarely called. Like, ever. If he was calling now? Something was on fire.I answered slowly. “Hey, Dad—”“WHY IS YOUR FIANCÉ BEATING SOMEONE INTO A HOSPITAL BED?”I sat up so fast I got dizzy. “Wait—what?!”“You tell me!” His voice was full-blown thunder mode. “Do you have any idea the number of phone calls I’ve gotten in the last hour? From work? From the family board group chat? THE BOARD CHAT, CAMERON.”“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said quickly, fumbling with my phone. “Brandon left this morning—he said he was going to get some air. I thought—”“You thought he’d go to yoga?!”My heart was in my throat as I opened my message app.Over a dozen unread notifications. Group chats. Mentions. Tags.And then

Cameron’s POVI didn’t even realize I was still standing there.The hospital hallway was too white, too bright, too freaking cold. But I didn’t move. Not when my phone call ended. Not even when the line went dead and I was just staring at my reflection in the black screen, looking like someone I didn’t recognize.Then I heard her heels clicking behind me.Vivian.Of course.I turned slowly, and there she was—storming out of Drake’s hospital room in her tight white dress like some tragic villain in a soap opera. Mascara smudged, eyes puffy, but her voice? Sharp as ever.“You’re still here?” she snapped, arms crossed so tightly her knuckles turned pale.I didn’t answer.“What are you waiting for? A thank you? Applause for destroying everything?”Still, I didn’t answer.She stepped closer, pointing that same French-manicured finger at me like it was a knife. “You always bring disaster with you, Cameron. You did the same thing to this family when you were twelve. Don’t think I forgot.”I