All Chapters of Hidden Obsession : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The morning sunlight cut through the blinds like sharp blades, streaks of gold spilling across Adrian’s cluttered living room. Dust particles swirled in the air, carried lazily by the faint draft from the window he had forgotten to close last night. His body sat hunched on the couch, still wrapped in the blanket he’d dragged from the bedroom at some ungodly hour when sleep refused to hold him. The TV flickered with the remnants of a late-night movie marathon, muted, forgotten—just like the untouched mug of tea that had long gone cold on the coffee table.Adrian’s mind was a storm. No matter how many times he rubbed at his eyes, his thoughts replayed the night before like a broken film reel. Evan’s face, his voice, his piercing gaze that had shifted from calculated calm to almost desperate honesty—it all haunted him. He wanted to hate him. He should hate him. But even now, even after all the anger he’d unleashed, Adrian’s chest ached with a strange emptiness, like he’d ripped out a par

Adrian’s lips still tingled from the kiss, a ghostly warmth lingering as if Evan’s touch had imprinted itself into his skin. His chest rose and fell unevenly, the rhythm betraying the storm inside him. He wasn’t sure what disturbed him more—the fact that Evan had stolen that kiss, or the fact that Adrian hadn’t immediately pulled away.Evan, of course, noticed everything. He always did.“Come,” Evan said softly, his voice coaxing rather than commanding this time. “You haven’t eaten. Let me feed you.”The words should have sounded harmless, but the weight behind them made Adrian shiver. Still, almost without thinking, his feet followed when Evan led him out of the study and down a wide corridor. The marble floor glistened beneath the soft amber lighting, and the faint scent of cedar clung to the air, grounding yet suffocating. The Thorn estate was every bit the reflection of its owner—grand, controlled, intimidating.They entered a massive dining hall, the kind Adrian had only ever see

Adrian woke to the smell of something warm and savory drifting into the room. For a moment, in the haze between sleep and waking, he thought he was home—that he had overslept again and his mother was calling him for breakfast. But the mattress beneath him was too soft, the sheets too fine, and the room too silent.His eyes blinked open to a high ceiling and pale curtains shifting with the breeze from a cracked window. He turned his head slowly, taking in the carved furniture, the half-open door, the faint clatter of pans echoing from somewhere down the hall.Reality crashed back with a jolt. Evan. The kiss. Dinner.Adrian sat up, rubbing his face with both hands. His body still felt heavy from the long night, but the smell—eggs, toasted bread, maybe something with garlic—was impossible to ignore. His stomach grumbled loudly, betraying him.He scowled at himself. As if on cue, a shadow filled the doorway. Evan leaned against the frame, sleeves rolled up, apron tied loosely around his w

Adrian’s alarm went off at seven sharp the next morning, its shrill ringing dragging him out of a restless sleep. He slapped it silent, rolled onto his back, and stared at the ceiling for a long moment before forcing himself upright.Routine. He needed routine.He showered, dressed, made himself coffee, and went through the motions of getting ready for work as though nothing had changed. As though he hadn’t spent the previous day in the company of a man who unnerved him, unsettled him, and kissed him with a kind of confidence that still burned faintly on his lips.Evan.Adrian shook the thought off like a dog shaking off water. He had work to focus on. Work was safe. Predictable. Work didn’t demand that he confront the tangled mess of emotions lodged in his chest.By the time he arrived at the office, the familiar hum of printers and phones, the clatter of keyboards, and the faint smell of stale coffee grounded him. He forced a smile when coworkers greeted him, slipped into his cubicl

Adrian was exhausted. Not just from work, not just from the endless late nights staring at the ceiling, but from the constant war inside his head. Every day felt like an endless tug-of-war between who he was before Evan and who he was becoming in Evan’s shadow.And every day, he told himself the same thing:I can resist him. I can keep him out.But resistance had begun to feel like a thin thread stretched to breaking.---On Monday morning, Adrian arrived at the office earlier than usual, clutching his coffee like a lifeline. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, the air stale and sharp with printer ink. He slid into his cubicle, eager to bury himself in the monotony of emails and reports.Then he saw it.A small envelope resting squarely in the center of his keyboard.His stomach dropped.He glanced around the office, but it was empty. His heart raced as he opened the envelope. Inside was a single slip of thick paper with a line written in clean, deliberate handwriting:'You work t