All Chapters of The Boss’s Darkest Demand: Chapter 41 - Chapter 47

The cottage was quiet—too quiet. Calliope had been living here for a week now, a secluded little place nestled against a patch of woods on the outskirts of town. Eli had insisted it was safer, had insisted she needed the distance from the chaos that had swallowed her life whole. No one knew where she was—not even Atlas. Especially not Atlas. And yet, somehow, the stillness didn’t bring the comfort she expected. It only left her alone with her thoughts, with the weight of her unborn children pressing into her every decision, and the suffocating ache of separation from the man she still loved despite everything.The morning sunlight filtered in weakly through lace curtains, painting soft patterns across her desk as she worked. She’d turned the spare room of the cottage into an office, rigging up her laptop and papers, her phone always nearby. The job she once loved now felt like a cage, because working remotely meant every interaction with Atlas was through a screen—sanitized

The ambulance’s wail had barely faded into the night when Calliope’s consciousness began to return in fragments. The world was muted, gray around the edges, her body heavy, and every breath felt like she was pulling through thick water. Her last memory floated in the haze—the heated video call with Atlas, the sharp accusations, the sting of mistrust that had burned into her chest. And then, nothing.Her cheek pressed against the edge of her desk in the small cottage, the hard wood cold against her clammy skin. The dim glow of her laptop screen flickered faintly, Atlas’s face still frozen in the video call frame. She wasn’t awake to see him, but somewhere, his sharp blue eyes mirrored the panic that had driven him to relentless calls and inquiries.Eli’s boots thumped against the floor as he moved toward her. The faint sound of his voice came first, calm and firm, as he checked her pulse and lifted her gently into his arms. Her body sagged like a weight too heavy fo

Calliope had hoped that working from her safe apartment would finally allow her a few days of calm. But calm was a fragile illusion, one shattered by the persistent storm that was Jessica.She sat at her desk, her laptop open, trying to focus on a report for work, when a sharp ping from her news alert made her stomach twist. Groaning softly, she clicked it, only to freeze.The headline was designed to grab attention: “Calliope Blackwood Spotted With Mystery Man at Hospital—Affair Rumors Fly.”Her heart raced. Her pulse spiked. She scrolled down, and her stomach sank. There it was—a photo from the hospital. Eli had been with her, but the angle of the shot conveniently left his face obscured. To the public, it looked like she was with someone else entirely, someone unknown.A low growl escaped her lips. Jessica had done this. No one else had access to her life at the hospital, no one else could have leaked that photo. She could practically hear Jess

The ringing wouldn’t stop. Calliope groaned, pressing the heel of her hand against her temple. It wasn’t just her phone—it was her emails, her private messages, her socials. Every notification hit like a hammer, filling her apartment with relentless buzzing. For days, she had stayed tucked inside the cottage Eli had moved her into, quiet and invisible, but apparently invisibility wasn’t protection anymore. She grabbed her phone and thumbed the screen, already dreading what she might see. Breaking: Rumors of Jones & Vale Executive Scandal—Anonymous Source Claims Affair Her stomach sank as the headline scrolled across the news feed. There was a grainy picture beneath it—her own figure, pale and tired-looking, stepping out of the hospital doors. Eli’s shoulder was there too, broad and protective, but his face was blurred, turned just enough that the press couldn’t identify him. The caption was merciless: Who is the mystery man with Calliope Laurent? Sources close to the Jones family