All Chapters of Escaping The Billionaire's Embrace : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I don't remember falling asleep. But I remember waking up.It was still dark when my eyes blinked open, the shadows in the room too thick to be natural. My breathing was shallow. My body stiff. For a moment, I didn't know where I was, just that I didn't feel safe.And then I felt it. The weight next to me.Aiden's arm was draped loosely across my waist, his breath warm against my shoulder. Not tight. Not controlling. But there, always there, like he belonged to me. Like I belonged to him.I didn't move. Didn't even flinch.It just stared at the ceiling, willing my heart to stop thudding so loud. As of even that could wake him. The memory of Jameson's stare burned at the back of my mind like a bruise. The way he'd spoken about me like I was a thing. And worse, the way Aiden didn't stop him.She knows when to stay quiet.I closed my eyes. Swallowed the taste of shame.Later, after Aiden left for a meeting, some last-minute call with "people I didn't need to worry about." I sat in the ki

**We met in the back of the bookstore again, the same little aisle that smelled like old paper and ink. Sophia was already there, pacing between shelves, her face sharp with impatience."You kissed him," she said before I even opened my mouth."I…" My voice caught. "It wasn't like that.""Oh, come on, Cait," she snapped , turning to face me. "You think I haven't seen this before? You're trauma bonded. It's textbook. Abuser breaks you down, then throws you scraps of affection like they're gifts. And you eat it up because he's the only warmth in the freezing hell he built around you."Her voice was low, but furious. Her eyes glistened, not with tears, but with rage."I didn't mean to," I whispered. "It's just, happened." "No, it didn't. You let it. Because some part of you still thinks he's going to love you the way you need."She stepped closer."But he won't. He's not capable. He never was."I lowered my eyes, shame burning behind my ribs.Sophia exhaled and ran her hands through h

The silence stretched like wire between us.He didn't move. Neither did I.I was still one flight above the lobby. One floor from the exit. One breath from breaking.But his voice…"Come back upstairs."It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.I swallowed. "I couldn't sleep.""You packed a bag.""A workout bag""At midnight?"My mouth opened. No words came.He descended one step. Bare feet on marble. Slow and controlled."You think I don't feel it?" He asked. "The way you flinch now. The way you barely look at me when i touch you."He was closer."I let you flinch, Caitlin. I let you pretend."Another step."But you belong to me."I gripped the railing behind me. "I'm not property.""You're not." He nodded. "You're mine."There was no anger in his voice. That would've been easier. He sounded calm. Almost...hurt.And that was more dangerous than anything else."You kissed me like you meant it," he said. "And then you started counting the days."Tears stung my eyes.He reached the bottom o

..I woke up to the sound of rain tapping the windows like it had something to say.Soft. Persistent. Familiar.The room was dim. Washed in gray light, with the fireplace long dead and the air cooled by absence.Aiden wasn't in bed. But I could feel him everywhere.On my skin, in my lungs, in the soreness of my body and the echo of his name in places I didn't want to admit still ache for him. I pulled the sheets tighter around me and sat up slowly. The duvet smelled like him. My heart clenched.I had made a thousand exits in my mind. Not one of them started with waking up in his bed again.I found him in the kitchen. Barefoot and shirtless as always, with mug in hand. He was watching the rain like it was performing just for him. One arm resting on the counter, head tilted in that way that used to make my chest ache.It still did, anyway.His eyes flicked towards me as I stepped into the room, oversized sweatshirt barely covering the damage we'd done last night.He didn't smile.But

…The world vanished in a scream of cold. Salt and black water swallowed me whole. The pain ripped through my body instantly...shock, breathlessness, panic.But I didn't fight it. I let myself sink. Let the waves take me. Under long enough to fool him. Long enough to disappear.Aiden's scream echoed through the air above me... ripped from his soul, raw and guttural. It was the sound of a man losing everything.And I almost let it get to me.Almost.I swam under the rocks, the secret way Sophia and I had discovered years ago during one of her escapes. The current was vicious, and I scraped my knees, cut my palms. But I didn't stop.Couldn't.Not until I broke the surface again, gasping, behind the Cliff's bend where no one could see.I ran.Dripping, barefoot, bleeding… I ran through the rain soaked woods and down the road. My heart was pounding so loud it drowned the wind.Behind me, I could hear the chaos.Shouts, flashlights, dogs barking.They were looking for a body.Good. Let th