All Chapters of Terms and Temptations: The CEO spoils me silly: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

65 Chapters

Chapter 31: Cracks in the Mirror

Diane's POVI couldn’t sleep.The party had ended hours ago, but my thoughts kept playing the same scene on loop—Emma.She was there. I know she was.Just for a second, across the room—eyes like glass, dress like silk, and a presence that didn’t belong to the same girl I used to know. She looked... expensive. Untouchable. Like someone who didn’t flinch anymore.And then she was gone.No goodbyes. No drama. No scene.She just vanished.I tossed my phone onto the bed, frustration prickling beneath my skin. My makeup was still smudged around the edges from last night, but I hadn’t moved from my vanity. My reflection stared back at me, taunting. I looked perfect. Every curl in place. Lip gloss just right.So why did I feel like I’d lost something?Or worse—like I was being watched.---I replayed the rooftop lunch in my mind, every word, every pause, every twist in her lips. There was something wrong with the way she looked at me. Not scared. Not sad. Not even bitter.Cold.She was cold.

Last Updated : 2025-07-26

Chapter 32 – Strange Familiar

Emma’s POV The dress Danielle chose for me shimmered under the light like calm water just before a storm. Midnight blue. Off-shoulder. Cinched at the waist with a thin gold band. Elegant enough for a private family event. Daring enough to keep them wondering what kind of girl Xander Blake had decided to marry. I looked… composed. Which was the goal. Because inside? I was pacing. Clenching. Rehearsing smiles like battle tactics. This was no ordinary dinner. It was a full-fledged cocktail gathering hosted by Xander’s extended family. Uncles. Aunties. Distant cousins with loud laughs and sharper eyes. The kind of evening where people said “Welcome to the family” while secretly deciding if you were worthy of the name. The penthouse lounge they’d reserved was stunning—floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping views of Manhattan, polished marble floors, champagne towers, strings of soft jazz. It smelled like old money and new gossip. Xander’s hand slid around my waist as we s

Last Updated : 2025-07-26

Chapter 33: The Door Opens

Emma’s POV I woke up drenched in sweat—heart racing, lungs tight. As if my body had remembered something before my mind could.Not from the heat. The AC hummed gently. The sheets were crisp. The apartment was quiet.But inside me, everything was loud.I stared at the ceiling for a long time, heart pounding against my ribs like it was trying to warn me. Like it had figured something out while I slept.Last night hadn’t been normal.I knew I’d seen him before.I knew the way his skin moved when he laughed. The way he held his drink with fingers that had once clutched tighter around something far worse.I rose from the bed and went straight to the journal on my desk. The page was still open from last night.The door.That stupid, simple door.Rectangular. Unmarked. Unopened.But now I knew what was behind it.I closed my eyes, and the memory came—not in full. Not yet. But clearer. Closer.A room.Dimly lit. Carpeted floor with a wine stain in the corner. A desk with a flickering lamp. A

Last Updated : 2025-07-27

Chapter 34: Under My Skin

Emma’s POVI didn’t sleep again.Not because I was scared.Because I was planning.And that kind of hunger doesn’t leave room for rest.---By morning, I looked like someone else.Not just tired. Hollow-eyed. Still in the same clothes from yesterday.But sharper, somehow. Less afraid.Because once you name your monster, the power shifts.And now I had a name.Barrington Cross.Investor. Party guest. Uncle Barry.The man who laughed while I choked on shame.The man sitting across the dinner table last night asking me if I liked red wine.---I stayed in the guest room for a while, curled up in the corner chair, watching the sun crawl across the windowsill.Every part of me itched to tell Xander. To say, “That man—the one your cousin calls Uncle—is the reason I can’t sleep through the night.”But I didn’t.Because I couldn’t.This life hadn’t technically given me that pain. Not yet. And I didn’t have proof. Just a memory that had come back with me. A stain in my mind the world didn’t re

Last Updated : 2025-07-27

Chapter 35: The Shift Beneath the Surface

Xander’s POV The door closed behind her with a softness that didn’t match the storm she left in her wake. I stood there for a few seconds, still holding the empty glass of water I’d come to offer her. It had taken me two tries to knock—because something told me she wouldn’t want me in that room. Not right now. And I was right. She was already dressed. Already zipped up. Already gone. I walked to the window and watched her disappear down the street. No destination. No explanation. Just... gone. She hadn’t looked back. And that scared me more than anything else. --- Emma had secrets. I knew that. But this wasn’t just a secret. This felt like a reckoning. The kind that made your hands shake before you even knew why. I didn’t follow her. God, I wanted to. But I’d seen the way she flinched when I entered the room. The way her voice tightened just slightly when she said she was "just going out for air." She was lying. And I wasn’t mad at her for it. I was mad at myself for n

Last Updated : 2025-07-28

Chapter 36

Emma’s POV I didn’t cry. Not in the elevator. Not in the Uber. Not when I scrubbed my hands raw in the bathroom sink like I could wash off everything I felt in that hallway. But I shook. Quietly. Violently. Like my bones remembered something my brain couldn’t hold yet. Suite 609. I didn’t knock. Just stood there. Staring at the frosted glass until my reflection blurred into the hallway light. Until someone opened the wrong door behind me and I almost screamed. And the worst part? I still don’t know if I was scared of what I’d find… or scared I wouldn’t find anything at all. --- Back in the apartment, I peeled off the black dress like it was a second skin I’d outgrown. Tossed it on the floor. Left it there like a body. I didn’t shower. Didn’t eat. Just stood in front of the mirror, wrapped in a towel, and stared at the scar on my shoulder. The one I brought back with me. The only thing that proved I had ever died. --- Xander didn’t ask again. He saw me. He saw me. Bu

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 37

Emma’s POV The reply came at 2:13 AM. > "You don’t know what you’re asking for. But if you’re sure… meet me tomorrow. Washington Square. Noon. By the fountain." No signature. No emoji. Just that. And I knew. Tami remembered too. --- The next morning, I didn’t bother with makeup. I didn’t try to soften anything. I wore black again—not for mourning, but for armor. Xander was still asleep when I slipped out. At least I thought he was. But as I locked the door behind me, I heard his voice from the hallway: "Emma." I turned, pulse stumbling. He stood in the shadows of the corridor, barefoot, T-shirt wrinkled, eyes clear. Awake. Watching. "Are you okay?" he asked. A simple question. Too big an answer. I nodded. "Yeah. Just… something I have to do." He didn’t move. Didn’t stop me. Just said, "Be careful." I turned back. Pressed the elevator button. And said, "I always am." --- Washington Square was already busy when I got there. Tourists. Musicians

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 38

Emma’s POVThey say there’s a difference between fear and readiness. One keeps you still. The other makes you move.I’d spent most of my life afraid.But not anymore.After that conversation with Xander, I couldn’t sleep. Not from anxiety, but from clarity. Every breath felt deliberate. Every thought sharp.This wasn’t about revenge. Not really.It was about restoration.About reclaiming something I didn’t know I’d lost until he took it—until Diane handed me over like an offering and called it favor.By morning, the air had changed. Rain threatened the skyline, and the city hummed with impatient noise.I made breakfast. Quietly. Thoughtfully. French toast. Eggs. Strawberries—Xander’s favorite.He walked in as I was plating the food.He didn’t say much at first. Just came up behind me and kissed my temple like it was habit. Familiar. Home."You didn’t sleep either," I said.He gave me a tired smile. "Didn’t want to. If I closed my eyes, I’d just replay everything you told me."I slid a

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 39

Emma's POV We didn’t sleep. Not because of fear. Because of purpose. By the time dawn stretched its arms over the skyline, the study floor was covered in papers, printouts, timelines, lists, and sticky notes that said things like: Clara - potential witness. Check LinkedIn? and Diane knew. How much? Xander didn’t just listen. He built with me. We sat cross-legged on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, eyes red but focused. "There has to be someone else," he murmured, scanning a list of former interns. "There always is," I said. "Men like Barrington don’t stop after one." He looked up at me. "You’re not alone in this. Not anymore." And it wasn’t just words. He proved it. He pulled out a burner laptop he used for sensitive acquisitions and set up a secure digital vault for every document we compiled. Names were anonymized. Data encrypted. Then, when I started writing the outreach draft for Clara, he stepped away, letting me find the words. But when I faltered—staring at the bl

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

Chapter 40

Emma’s POV It started with silence. A rare, golden kind. The kind that wrapped around you like a blanket and didn’t ask for anything in return. Xander didn’t speak much the morning after I told him everything. He didn’t bombard me with questions. He didn’t push or prod. He just made breakfast. French toast. Real maple syrup. Berries, fresh and chilled. Even sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top like he’d done it a hundred times. I sat across from him at the kitchen island, fork in hand, wondering if he was trying to distract me or just give me something normal. Maybe both. “I know you like strawberries,” he said casually, passing the bowl. “But if you want mangoes or something, I’ll send someone.” “You don’t have to—” “I know,” he said, soft but firm. “But I want to.” --- After breakfast, he disappeared for a few hours. I assumed it was work until the door buzzed and a man in a charcoal suit delivered three garment bags, a bouquet of lilies, and a box tied with silver ribbon.

Last Updated : 2025-07-29

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