Lahat ng Kabanata ng The CEO’s Temptation : Kabanata 161 - Kabanata 165

****************************POV: Rowe**************************---Liam’s mistake wasn’t underestimating Mack.It was underestimating me.He always saw me as the Sadie's opposite. The quiet one in the family. The son behind the strong bond in the family, making sure the family stays together amongst Morgan's busy schedules and Lizzy enthusiasm for traveling around the world.But I learned a long time ago: you don’t win a war by shouting.You win by watching.And this morning, I saw something that made everything click into place.---Erica Tan.I’d seen her dozens of times—tall, composed, a professional assistant if there ever was one. Mack trusted her. She scheduled his calls, sorted files, and knew more about the company’s schedule than half of management.But that was the problem.She was too invisible. It's too perfect. When I pulled up server logs from our security breach, one name popped up three times, right before the firewall triggered.Hers.She accessed the executive VPN t

***************************— Mack’s POV*******************---I don't get to sleep much anymore.Not that the bed wasn't comfortable, not that the sheets weren't soft, or that Claire wasn't always beside me, filling me with her warmth. But because my mind rarely shuts off.Not lately. Not with Liam's face splattered across every new station, not with the country howling for justice, and not with the way Claire's hands had started to tremble again when she thought no one was watching.I didn’t sleep much anymore.I’d spent years mastering the art of pretending—smiles, nods, empty handshakes with board members who wanted me out, with investors who wanted blood, with lawyers who swore by loyalty until it was inconvenient. I knew how to wear power like a second skin.But this? This war?It didn’t ask for masks.It demanded armour.And I was running out of pieces to shield the people I loved.---At 4:15 a.m., I rolled out of bed and padded to the large window. Claire was still asleep, on

*****************************POV: Claire********************** --- There’s a certain kind of silence that doesn’t feel safe. Not the comfortable, blanket-wrapped kind that comes after a long day. Not the sweet, post-rain hush where everything smells like earth and renewal. No, this silence is sharp. Like a knife held just out of view. And that morning, it followed me. I stood by the kitchen window, fingers curled around a warm mug of tea I didn’t remember brewing. Outside, the garden was bathed in early light, golden and too still. Even Channel, usually restless at this hour, lay stiff at my feet, her ears tilted back like she heard something I couldn’t. I couldn’t name it, but I felt it. That shift in the air. That invisible pressure behind my ribs. The kind that told you something was coming—you just didn’t know what. Mack entered the room quietly, phone tucked against his ear, his voice was low and clipped. His eyes met mine briefly, his mouth softening a little before t