All Chapters of under his control : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ava’s POVThe office was silent except for the rhythmic ticking of the clock hung on the wall. The city lights flickered through the large glass windows, casting long shadows across Liam Carter’s pristine desk. I was the last person in the office as usual. And everything again sucks! Stacks of paperwork cluttered my space, but exhaustion didn’t really matter. Not fucking when there were deadlines to meet and a job to hold onto.I reached for the next file, flipping through the pages absentmindedly until a misplaced folder caught my eye. It was tucked under a stack of routine reports, but its label made my breath hitch. Confidential.I was curious to at least glance through it,, and ye,s, for a curious person like me, my fingers moved before I could stop them. Not my fault! The moment I opened it, my heart almost jumped out of my chest, so hard I feared it would give me away. The documents detailed an unethical deal, one that could ruin Liam Carter if it even came to light.I swallowed

Ava's POV I left. I didn't know why but my feet obeyed his command instantly, even before my mom would process.Walking down the hall, my heart was beating more than I could imagine and I could still feel like his lips were on mine. 'Oh Ava, you kissed Liam Carter!'Words kept screaming back at me. Fuck. No! He kissed me, and it wasn't even a real kiss, but I could feel beads of sweat on my forehead.I forced a steady breath as I stepped into the elevator. The doors slid shut, stealing me away from that and whatever the hell had just happened.What was that? Was that a mistake? A drunken slip? Or did he…… I didn't want to think about it. "Liam Carter couldn't possibly start to fall for me!"First, I was out of his hundreds of elite ladies who would be a perfect match for him. My reflection in the metal doors showed the slight flush on my cheeks, my parted lips, and my wide, startling eyes. We kissed, and it was nothing somehow; I hated how he had just also walked back to his office

AVA'S POV I woke up to the soft brush of sunlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Liam Carter’s absurdly luxurious guest bedroom. The sheets beneath me were smooth as silk—probably were silk—and the pillows cradled my head like clouds made from angel tears. Rich people, I swear. But comfort didn’t erase what happened last night. The kiss. The note. Being told I was “marked.” And the fact that I was now, apparently, under the protection of the third-richest man in the country. I turned and stared at the ceiling for a while, unsure what hurt more: the spike of adrenaline that still hadn’t faded from the break-in… or the quiet, confusing, delicious way Liam had kissed me. I sat up slowly, blinking blearily at the room. Someone—Rose, presumably—had placed a tray on the dresser. There was hot coffee, toast, and something that looked suspiciously like avocado sprinkled with tiny gold flakes. “What am I? Royalty now?” I muttered as I dragged myself out of bed and st

AVA’S POV We didn’t get an hour. Liam’s security team had barely started sweeping the house when his phone buzzed—three times in rapid succession—then it went dark. His entire face changed. "What's wrong?" I asked, already feeling the dread coil in my chest. “Jessica Reed,” he muttered, fingers flying over the device. “She just went public.” I blinked. “Public with what?” He turned the screen toward me. And there it was. A glossy, perfectly timed, scandalous news headline: “Liam Carter in Secret Relationship with Former Assistant — Corporate Favoritism or Something Deeper?” The article was plastered with grainy photos. Me and I walked out of the restaurant. My hand was on his arm. Us laughing—one of those stupid, unguarded moments that now looked way too intimate for headlines. But that wasn’t the worst part. No. That honor belonged to the last paragraph: Sources close to the Carter Corporation suggest Ava Davis received a significant salary raise and internal promotion a

AVA’S POV I thought winning would feel like fireworks. Instead, it felt like fog. Not the cold, menacing kind—but the thick, cloying kind that leaves you drifting, unsure of where the next step leads. The scandal had cracked. Jessica was behind bars. Edward King’s empire was hemorrhaging from public exposure. Victoria Hayes had gone off the grid. And I was no longer a whisper in Liam Carter’s shadow—I was standing beside him. So why did it still feel like something was coming? Why did my gut keep whispering: this isn’t over yet? “Careful,” Liam said as I dropped a spoonful of sugar into his coffee. “That’s the third one.” “I like things sweet. It balances out your personality.” He arched a brow over his newspaper. “You think I’m bitter?” “You built an empire out of ice and sarcasm.” “You’re not wrong.” We were having breakfast on the balcony of one of Liam’s penthouses—because, apparently, the man collected real estate like I collected unpaid therapy bills. The city was a