Semua Bab Owned by Billionaire: Bab 31 - Bab 40

The war had begun.Elena sat in her office at Graves Enterprises, staring at the encrypted message on her phone."Watch your back. The next hit is yours."Her fingers tightened around the device, the weight of the threat settling in her chest like a slow-burning fire. She didn't need to guess who it was from. Victor DeLuca was making his move, and he was making sure she knew it.She exhaled slowly, her mind racing. The attack was coming. The only question was—when?A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Killian strode in, his towering presence instantly filling the room. He looked like he hadn’t slept, his dark suit slightly undone, his usual control slipping beneath the surface."You’re thinking too much," he said, closing the door behind him."And you’re underestimating the situation," Elena shot back, lifting her phone. "DeLuca just made it clear—I’m next."Killian’s jaw tightened as he took the phone from her hand, scanning the mes

The silence was stifling.Elena stood in the dark office, her fingers tightening around the paper she had just extracted from Killian's locked drawer. The paper in her hand was heavier than any weight she had ever borne. Her heart thudded fiercely against her ribcage, and her breathing came in tiny, jagged gasps.She read the words once more, incredulity blending with the agony of seeing what was before her.Killian Graves. The man she adored. The man she loathed. The man who had destroyed her family.Her sight wavered in fury at anger that was spreading through her veins like fire. She was an idiot—playing his game, allowing him to touch her, dominate her. She had let him reach through her armor, and what did it signify? For him to betray her again?A sharp, contemptuous laugh spilled out of her."Elena," Killian's voice caught behind her. Low, deep, but filled with velvet warning.She spun around, holding the contract in her fist. His mask was impassive, but the dark flash in his ey

Killian's penthouse walls were still when Elena entered, heels tapping softly on the marble floor. The sun's gold poured through the floor-high windows and dropped dark shadows that mirrored the heaviness in her own chest. She couldn't find the strength to struggle anymore. After all that had happened at the company today—the choreographed humiliation, the chill whisper in her ear, "I told you not to disobey me"—her heart was battered beyond repair. Killian stood near the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a drink with calm precision. His black shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, sleeves rolled up, forearms tense. He didn’t look at her as he spoke. “Take a seat, Elena.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not your pet to be summoned.” Then act like you're not a bad one," he snapped, turning to her at last. His eyes flashed with that all-too-familiar spark—possessiveness tangled with something much worse. She clutched her fists. "What do you want, Killian? You humiliate me in front of the board,

Outside the city, the world was still, but in the hotel room, Elena's heart pounded.Killian leaned in the doorway, his eyes begging, his jaw clenched as if he kept the world at its seams by sheer will. Rainwater dripped from his coat onto the hotel floor between them."Say something," he whispered. "Shout. Curse me. Anything but look at me like that."Elena stepped back, wedged against the wall as if room might allow her to breathe. "You stole him from me. You knew he existed all these years.""I never knew for sure. Only guesses. I sent men, Elena. I searched. But by the time I heard what had happened, he was not the same Dante anymore. He was already Victor DeLuca's.""You should have said something!" she screamed, voice cracking. "You made me believe I lost all of them!""And if you did tell me, what?" Killian stepped in, closing the door behind him. His voice was flat, destroyed. "Would you have walked right into DeLuca's hands? Right into your brother's twisted revenge plan?"Sh

The tempest raging outside had not dissipated. Neither had the one within her. Elena sat on the bed in her hotel room, fists balled, dripping wet from the rain. Her hair was stuck to her face. Her clothes dampened her cold skin. But all that was nothing in comparison to the pressure building in her chest. Killian's silence. His confession. She had pleaded with him to say no. Prayed it was a mistake. But his eyes told the truth—tormented, dark, full of guilt. He had signed. He had been a partner, if unwitting, to the ruination of her family. Her stomach clenched. There was a time she would have bring down empires for him. Now she couldn't even look at her face in the mirror. A knock on the door had her jumping. Rose up slowly, legs still shaking from it all. Looked through the peephole, and her breath froze. Killian. She did not want to see him. She wanted to scream, to cry, to smash something. But still, she opened the door. He was standing there—wet like her, dark suit