Semua Bab Bought by the Billionaire +18: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Chapter Twelve — Secrets in SteamArdyn PovThe bathwater was hotter than usual. My skin prickled as I slid in, the soft hiss of heat making me suck in a breath. The tub in the guest wing was massive, carved from some kind of dark stone that held the warmth like a body. I could feel it all over me—wet, hot, heavy. Like a blanket of want I couldn’t shake.The mansion had been strangely quiet today. No Lucien. No Caelum. No one watching me scrub the damn marble floors or fold linen napkins with surgical precision. I was alone—or so I thought.I leaned my head back, letting the water lap over my breasts, nipples aching from the heat and something else I didn’t want to name. My thighs pressed together instinctively. Even when I was alone, my mind wouldn't let go of him—his voice, his hands, the look in his eyes when I defied him.That kiss still lived on my lips.I breathed slowly, letting it stir. It always came like this, creeping in on the edges of silence, the hunger that bloomed in t

CHAPTER FOURTEEN : BREAK ME OR LET ME GOArdynHe didn’t knock.The door slammed against the wall, and there Caelum stood, framed by fury and shadows. His eyes locked on me like he’d already decided my punishment, like I wasn’t a girl trembling—but a threat he had to shut down.I didn’t move. Didn’t speak. I just stood there in that forgotten room, heart banging against my ribs like a trapped animal.“You’ve been digging,” he said quietly. Too quiet. That voice you only hear before something explodes.“I wasn’t—” I started, but the words were brittle in my throat.He walked in and shut the door behind him. “You think I don’t know where you sneak off to? What you look for when you think I’m not watching?”I swallowed hard. “Then why keep secrets?”His jaw ticked. “Because they’re not yours to know.”My chest tightened. “Then stop pretending I’m anything more than a body in your house. I get it. I’m just a toy, a distraction. One you don’t even touch.”He closed the distance between us

Chapter Sixteen : His First Obsession The air between them turned thick—charged like a lit fuse. Zephyra didn’t even look at me. Not once. Her eyes stayed locked on Caelum’s like she’d never stopped owning a piece of him.And maybe she hadn’t.I stood still, trying not to tremble, but inside, everything was spiraling. I didn’t want to feel threatened. I didn’t want to care that she was beautiful and poised and moved like she already knew where the cracks were in him.But I did.“I see you’re not alone,” she finally said, flicking her gaze to me like I was background noise. “She’s… cute.” "Looks like mirelle" she Smiled "What! She knows Mirelle, the woman that looks like me" Caelum’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “You don’t get to come in here and start something.”“I’m not here to start anything,” she replied smoothly. “I’m here because I was invited. Remember?”I turned sharply to Caelum. “What the hell is she talking about?”His silence said more than words. He hadn’t told me

Chapter Eighteen : The Scent of Camellias Caelum’s POVI didn’t speak as I walked down the hall. My bare feet silent against the cold marble, the note crumpled in my fist like it might stop whispering her name if I crushed it hard enough.Zephyra.She wasn’t supposed to be back.I had made sure of it.Ardyn’s voice followed behind me, still soft, still uncertain. “Caelum? What does it mean?”I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. If I did, I’d unravel right there in front of her. And I couldn’t afford that. Not tonight. Not with blood-red ink still burning behind my eyes and that flower—that fucking flower—reminding me that some ghosts don’t stay dead.I reached the study and shut the door behind me before she could follow. Locked it. My hands were shaking.I hadn’t shaken in years.I dropped the note on the desk and poured myself a drink. Then another. The burn wasn’t enough. Not to erase her voice. Not to silence what she’d left me. She knows.Knows what?Everything? Or just enough to play wi

Chapter Twenty: The Storm She BecameCaelum's pov The rain hit harder as I stared at the empty path outside the estate. Her footprints—bare and frantic—had faded into the gravel and wet earth.She was gone.“Lucien!” I shouted, my voice sharper than the crack of thunder overhead.He appeared instantly, already soaked. “She went through the side gate. I checked the cameras. We’ve got a five-minute head start if we move now.”I stare at the note again I won’t be your ghost. I won’t be Mirelle. Find someone else to haunt.No name. No goodbye. Just finality. And my own goddamn reflection in every word.Lucien waited for orders. My mind was chaos.“She can’t have gotten far,” I muttered. “Check the grounds. Tell the guards to shut the gates. No one in or out.”He nodded once and vanished like smoke.I ran a hand through my hair, the panic finally setting in. Ardyn wasn’t just some girl I kept around to scratch an itch. I knew that. I’d known it the moment she touched me without fear, the