บททั้งหมดของ Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss : บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

VENUS"Venus. My ever-loving God, Venus, you better have a good explanation for everything, everything!" Gianna grumbled, her voice rising into something between panic and exasperation. "Aunt Martha doesn’t know anything. I visited her last night."I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning against the cool marble countertop in the kitchen of the condo."Thank God," I muttered, relieved. "Keep her away from the tabloids, please."Gianna wasn’t letting up. "So you’re not joking? You’re really married?""Want to see a certificate?" I teased cheekily, trying to deflect the weight of her concern with a thin veil of humor."Venus." She said my name like a warning, like she could see right through me even through the phone. Her voice softened, threaded with genuine worry.I couldn’t lie to her. Not entirely. She’d know. Her intuition was dangerously accurate, and no matter what story I spun, she’d pick it apart until she found the truth hiding underneath. That’s how deeply she knew me."I got mar

VENUS“You can’t tell anyone, Gianna. Not even Joey.”Joey—her eldest brother. The one I’ve had a crush on since I was old enough to mistake butterflies for something serious. Pathetic, I know.Gianna leaned in, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Cross my heart. Now spill.”We were holed up in this cozy café on the Lower East Side. Hidden. Quiet. Free from Aaron and the suffocating shadow he casts without even trying. That’s the worst part.He wasn’t doing anything. And still, he was everywhere.I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss.No press. No cameras. No audience.Just him.And me.His mouth on mine like it mattered.I kept telling myself it was the heat of the moment. Anger. Power play. Emotional static misfiring. But the voice in my chest whispered a different story. One I wasn’t ready to read.“You remember I told you Dain took the money meant for Mom’s chemo?” I began, hands curled around my cup like it could anchor me. “What I didn’t tell you was… why I married Aaron in the firs

VENUSIt was already dark when I stepped inside. The house was dead silent—the kind of silence that makes your skin crawl. The lights were off, and for a split second, I thought maybe he wasn’t home.Wishful thinking.I flipped the switch.And there he was.Sitting on the couch, back straight, eyes vacant. Staring into nothing. Like a damn ghost.Creepy.“Aaron?”His head turned slightly. Slowly. Too calm.“Venus,” he said flat, cold, controlled. Like a knife resting against your throat.“Why are you sitting in the dark?”A beat. Then he asked—no, accused—“You told Gianna?”He already knew. The question was nothing but a courtesy. One last out.I didn’t take it.“I... Yes. I did.”He gave a single nod. Barely a reaction.“Hm.”That was it?“That’s all you’re going to say?” I asked, heart pounding. Watching him like he might explode. Or worse—not. “Why were you with my mom today?”His voice came low, almost amused. “Why were you in her room?”“She’s my mother.”“And I’m her son-in-law

VENUSI hold Dorian’s gaze.That smile—it's not curiosity. It’s a dare. The kind people wear when they’re watching someone walk a tightrope in scissors-for-shoes.My heart pounds like war drums. But my spine? Iron. I stare him down, unblinking.“I was born in Queens,” I begin calm and controlled. “I worked two jobs, earned scholarships, and graduated top of my class.”A beat of silence.“I’ve bled for everything I have. I didn’t come from wealth, but I’m not here to impress you with lineage. I’m here because I’m competent. Because Aaron chose me.”Dorian leans back, smile widening. “Where’d you go to college?”Like it’s some kind of interview.“City University of New York.”Richard scoffs. Caroline leans in, her tone all sugar-laced venom.“But surely you don’t believe competence and… romantic proximity are enough to advise the CEO of a billion-dollar empire?”God, I hate that woman.Aaron steps forward, jaw tight, but I raise a hand. This fight is mine.“No,” I say, meeting her gaze

VENUS“Venus,” Aaron said calmly. Too calmly.But he didn’t reach for me.No—his hand shot out, iron-fast, latching around Dorian’s wrist, right where it had touched my arm. The grip was brutal—veins straining, knuckles whitening.“You’ve always had an affinity for things that aren’t yours, haven’t you?”Velvet over steel. A tone that promised pain beneath the polish.Dorian’s grin didn’t even falter. That infuriating, cold amusement stayed pinned in place.“She didn’t seem to mind,” he shrugged smug and cruel. A predator enjoying the tease.I glared.“I do.”Aaron didn’t even glance at me. His eyes stayed locked on Dorian’s—glacier meeting fire.“Touch her again,” he murmured—low, lethal—“and you won’t have anything to jerk off with.”A flicker, just the barest crack in Dorian’s grin. Subtle, but there. Enough.Aaron let go, deliberately, like casting off something filthy. A dismissal. A warning.Then he turned to me, gaze burning.“Come.”Not a request. A command.And I moved. Becau