All Chapters of The Night Before I Knew Him: Chapter 221 - Chapter 230

♡Leila♡A slow, smoky jazz melody drifted through the hall, heavy with temptation and warning.José’s hand tightened around my waist as the music slowed, his fingers digging in like I belonged to him.I forced a smile and lifted my chin, even though inside, I was already screaming.This man had zero respect.It felt like being stuck in some crowded club, with a stranger thinking he had the right to touch me however he wanted—except this time, there was no June or Kayla rushing in to pull me away.No one was coming.It was just me.And worst of all, I had technically agreed to this.“Are you enjoying your dance?” he murmured, his deep voice brushing against my ear.I let out a quiet breath, feeling his hand slide lower.Fuck this.Before I could overthink it, I deliberately misstepped and crushed my heel down on his foot.Hard.“Fuck—” he groaned, jerking back and finally letting go of me.I widened my eyes instantly. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I said, putting on my most innocent voice

♤ Cain ♤Mary’s heels clicked behind me as I strode down the hallway.“Where are you going, Cain?” she called.I didn’t slow.“If you leave now, we’re not going to fuck,” she added, half-laughing, half-whining. “José will be all over me. This is our only chance tonight—”Her voice faded into noise.Because all I could hear was Xavi’s voice from seconds ago.Panicked. Shaken.I don’t know where she is, Don. Viktor said he was watching her, then he went to get a glass of wine and—He hadn’t even finished before I hung up.What the fuck?My chest tightened as I pushed through the crowd.She was supposed to be with José, dancing and safe under stupid Viktor's eyes.While Xavi and the boys wrapped up Dimitri and dragged that bastard away in a sack.The plan had worked.Everything had worked.That was why I’d allowed myself to get distracted. Why I’d followed Mary. Why I’d decided to be petty and piss José off for fun.Stupid.Fucking stupid.Now she is missing. I swear if José had somethi

♡Leila♡Cain’s words slam into me, sharp and cruel, and I glare at him through blurred vision.His green eyes hesitate, and darken, then cloud over, like he already knows what’s about to happen.My fingers tremble around the syringe. My lips part, but nothing comes out.“You—” I grit out.I don't finish when I feel a sharp, sudden pain, burning into my neck.My breath stutters.The room tilts.My eyelids grow impossibly heavy, like someone is pulling them shut with invisible strings. My legs give out beneath me, useless, weak.I fall.The last thing I feel is crashing into Cain’s chest.And then—nothing.---The smell hits me first.Oil, rice, garlic. Something sizzling.Stir-fry.My brain hasn’t caught up yet, but my body knows.I’m home.No. Not home. I'm in Cain’s penthouse.My eyes flutter open slowly, every movement feeling like it costs too much. Light burns behind my lids. My head throbs.I hiss when pain shoots through the side of my skull.My hand lifts on instinct.It was ba

♤Cain♤For a full minute, no one moved.The room was frozen. My men stood there, confused, waiting for another command. Waiting for me to explode. To give orders. To do something.But I said nothing.My mind was miles away to the new found knowledge about Tobias, and things he had been doing before he died.The things he never told me.And how every single one of them seemed to circle back to his death.I slowly folded my arms, my gaze locking on Dimitri.“And why did he meet you?” I asked quietly. “To get information?”My jaw tightened.“You have no connection to our orphanage. I checked your background.”I didn’t want to believe him or any of this, but deep down, I knew.Tobias wouldn’t have wanted to disturb our adoptive parents. He would never drag them into his mess. He would’ve handled it the same way he handled everything, silently, and alone.Mostly in secret.“I—I don’t work there anymore,” Dimitri coughed, spitting blood onto the floor. “But I was working there—”“Boss—” Vik

♡ Leila ♡He doesn’t answer.My eyes locked onto his tattooed arm, and something inside me shattered.Shit.This wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t Tobias.This was Cain.Reality crashed into me so hard it stole my breath.I watched him tense, heard him curse under his breath, saw him shift back hurriedly to cover himself—and I reacted on instinct, jerking away like I’d been burned. My body moved too fast. My balance failed me.The next thing I knew, I was falling.I hit the floor with a sharp cry, pain exploding through my back and up my spine. But it wasn’t the pain that hurt the most.It was the humiliation.The shame.The unbearable realization of what I had just done.Oh God.I had touched him.I had crossed that line.I had done it thinking I was lost in some stupid, cruel dream where Tobias was still alive and holding me and everything wasn’t broken.Was this really my life now?Was this what I had become?“Leila!” Cain shouted, jumping off the bed. “Oh my God—are you okay?”He reache