Until Paperwork Do Us Part 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

It was barely past noon when Elena heard the knock, not the kind of knock that echoed with formality or the weight of bad news. It was hesitant, soft like a whisper, against the doors of the penthouse. She stood in the hallway, momentarily frozen, dressed in an ivory blouse and pale green trousers. Her hair swept back in a simple twist. Jack wasn't home. That, perhaps, was the only reason she opened the door without question. To her surprise, it was Mia, a secretary from Vale Corp's PR team. The young woman stood on the threshold, a file clutched to her chest, an oversized blazer barely shielding her from the wind outside. Her expression flickered between nervousness and determination. "Mia?" Elena asked, brow arching, "Is everything alright?" "I... I know I should have requested a meeting through channels," Mia said quickly, "but I needed to speak with you, alone."Elena stepped aside, silently gesturing her to come in. The moment the door closed behind her, the luxury of the p

The morning haze over the city was soft and deceptive, drifting across the skyline like silk, hiding the sharpened blade of what was to come. Elena stood on the penthouse balcony, her fingers wrapped around the warm mug of black coffee, her expression unreadable as the sun fought its way through a thin layer of fog. The world was quiet, but her thoughts were not. The vibration of her phone broke the silence. A call, then another, then the call. It was Mia. Elena stepped inside and answered. "Ms. Vale? Elena? I'm so sorry..." Mia said the moment the line connected, her voice was breathless, urgent, and threaded with anxiety. "I made a mistake." Elena stilled, instantly alert. "What kind of mistake?" "I should have waited before bringing you that file," Mia continued. "I ran it through another verifier this morning. The data, it wasn't raw, it was planted, meant to look like it came from Jack's clearance, but it was too clean, too linear, almost like someone wanted me to find it.

The rain returned that evening like a slow creeping storm, gentle at first, almost soft enough to ignore. Elena stood at the floor-to-ceiling window in her study, the city beneath her blurred by glass and water. Light shimmered through the droplet, fragmented like her thoughts. It had been three days since she made her first public strategic move against Damien, initiating a company-wide audit, locking down Vale Corp's cyber security systems, and freezing all unvetted fund transfers. Three days of silence until now. Her phone buzzed on the desk beside her, an unknown number. Her heart paused, the kind of pause, the one that felt less like stillness and more like the body, bracing for something catastrophic. She hesitated, her fingertips hovering just above the screen before she tapped to answer. She didn't speak first, neither did the voice on the other end. Not at once. Instead, a familiar hum filtered through. Classical music, a waltz, one she had not heard in years, her mother'

Elena's sleep that night was not the deep, peaceful kind that brings comfort. Instead, it dragged her into a long-forgotten corner of her mind. A memory dressed as a dream. Vivid and twisted, blurring the lines between truth and nightmare. She was nine again. The manor had been dressed for celebration that day. White and gold streamers arched above the vaulted ballroom. Enormous floral arrangements framed the long buffet table. And a grand cake, stacked in four tiers, shimmered under the light of the chandelier. It was her ninth birthday. The guests clapped politely as she walked in, wearing a soft blue dress with tiny pearls sewn along the neckline. Her shoes had pinched her toes, and she remembered trying not to show it. Smiling was expected. Looking presentable was required. She had learned that early. Her father had stood near the head of the table, laughing with a few executives in sharp suits. Her mother was beside him, wearing a dark green gown and a smile that didn't qui

Jack's grip on the back of the chair nearly splintered it.The way that dress draped over her body—it was cruel. Whisper-light fabric that clung where it shouldn’t, teasing with every sway of her hips as she moved away, oblivious to the war she’d just ignited inside him.His heart hammered, pounding like fists against the walls of a house on fire. His gaze followed the curve of her back as she disappeared toward the balcony, each step she took unraveling what little control he had left.He clenched his jaw. Forced his eyes shut.Don’t cross the line.Don’t break the rules.He’d repeated those words like a prayer ever since this arrangement began. But the line was a smudge now, barely visible, and every fiber of his being screamed at him to stop pretending. His hands, still damp from rinsing the dishes, clenched into fists. A curse slipped from his lips, low and ragged.He would rather be damned for breaking the rules than sit still and drown in these desires.Elena let out a breath sh