บททั้งหมดของ A wife for the cursed alpha : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Lana’s POVThe music became way too loud at some point. The bass thudding in my chest like it had found a second heart to sync with, each beat heavier than the last. Light strobed in fractured flashes, silver and violet, washing over skin and sequins and bare teeth smiling too hard. The scent of perfume, alcohol, heat, and something sugary hung like a mist. Sophie leaned into me, laughing, lips glossed and eyes glittering, holding out a drink that glowed pink under the shifting lights.I didn’t even hear what she said. I just smiled half-lazy, trying to match her energy.Then it hit me clean and absolute, low in my stomach. A violent, searing twist that made the floor tilt beneath my heels. My breath vanished and my grip slackened on the glass.I felt a sudden sharp pain. It was both hot and cold at the same time.My body stiffened instinctively. I felt my smile falter, slide right off my face. My knees almost gave out. I staggered back a step, hand flying searching for support. My s

Max’s POVI thought maybe that would be enough. That just holding her, anchoring her through it, would settle the storm beginning to rise under her skin. But the second I said the words, she trembled. Not the way she had before. This wasn’t pain neither was it panic.It was raw pure need.She shifted in my lap, her thighs brushing against mine, her body suddenly too hot and vibrating with the low, aching pulse of something I could feel in my bones.Her fingers gripped my shirt like it was the only thing keeping her barely sane. Her cheek rubbed against my chest and when she spoke, it was a whisper pulled from the edge of breaking.“Max,” she breathed, her voice cracked and soaked in desperation. “It hurts badly.”“I know,” I said softly, brushing my hand through her hair. “I know, little flame.”But she shook her head against me, and her next words unveiled something deep inside me.“I need you,” she whispered. “Please… please help me.”I pulled back just enough to see her face. Her l

Lana’s POV“Lana, I’ll wait. I’ll prove it. Just… don’t walk away.”My lips parted, but no sound came out. My chest felt like it was caving in.I let myself lean into him, just a little, just enough to feel his arms slide around me again.“Stay,” he whispered. “Move back in. You don’t have to decide everything today. Just let me be close to you.”I didn’t answer right away. But I didn’t pull away either.I twisted in his grip.His hand was firm on my wrist, it was strong enough to hold me still. The moment I yanked away, he caught me like he expected it. Like he knew I would run the second he let go.I hated how well he knew me.“Let go,” I said. My voice cracked, too soft, too raw. I didn’t even sound angry. I just sounded… tired. “Please.”He didn’t.He stepped closer instead, his chest brushing mine, heat rolling off him in waves. I refused to look up. I refused to let my eyes meet his, because I knew what I would see there. And I wasn’t sure I was strong enough for it.Not after l

Lana’s POVSophie lingered in the doorway even after I’d given the final word on the press response.“Anything else?” I asked, glancing up. I already had my hand on the mouse, ready to start drafting the company’s clean-up narrative.But Sophie didn’t move.Instead, she asked quietly, “Are you okay?”She meant Max.I should have been prepared. But the question carved straight through me, deeper than I expected.My throat went tight, but I didn’t let it show. I tilted my head and gave her a smile. “I’m fine.”Sophie didn’t believe me. She was too smart not to know the difference between a crisis-born lie and the truth. But she also knew better than to push me.Still, she didn’t leave. “I just mean… last night. I wasn’t sure if…” Her voice lowered. “Did he hurt you?”I stared at her, blinking. “No.”“Because if he did girlll…”“Sophie, stop.” I let out a breath, rubbing a hand across my forehead. “He didn’t hurt me. That’s not what this is.”She looked like she wanted to say more, but i

Lana’s POV I walked to my desk and slid the envelope Max gave me into the drawer. It had been the match.Now I had fuel.Late at night. Rain was streaking across the windshield. Sophie was driving while I was in the backseat, dressed in all black. Tower 87 loomed like a dark monolith, glass and steel reflecting the city’s insomnia. The kind of building designed to look invisible.“Let me go in with you,” Sophie offered as she parallel parked two blocks away.I shook my head. “If something happens, you call Max immediately.”Sophie smiled. “Do you really trust him now?”“I don’t trust anyone,” I said. “That’s why I’m going alone. Calling him is just in case.”I stepped out of the car and walked through the rain. The front door was locked.I knocked once. A small camera blinked on. Then a few seconds later, the door buzzed open.The elevator was already waiting on the ground floor, doors open. I stepped in. Pressed 87.It was just a slow rise, floor after floor, the weight of what was