Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Billionaire Who Bought Me The Moon: Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

The conference room felt smaller than it had moments ago, as though Adrian's presence had somehow compressed the walls inward. Samantha stood frozen near the doorway, acutely aware of every scientist's gaze boring into her.Of all the people she expected to see, he wasn't at all on her list. Adrian Wolfe, them man she hit in a car accident, who for whatever reason still hadn't called to demand compensation, who burned down the last place he worked at.He was here, staring her down with hatred fire in his eyes, and with something else too.Dr Rhys stepped forward, seemingly not noticing the tension crackling through the air. "Everyone, this is Samantha Torres. She'll be joining our lunar geology team as a research assistant." He gestured toward Adrian. "And this is Dr Adrian Wolfe, our new senior planetary geologist. He'll be leading several key projects."A few polite nods rippled through the crowd, but most people were still staring at her with undisguised curiosity."Dr Wolfe comes

This was torture.The hours crawled by with painful slowness.Samantha had made it through roughly a third of the binder when her eyes started crossing from the dense technical language. She'd forgotten how exhausting academic reading could be, especially when she was this rusty.Every few pages, she'd glance up to find Adrian still hunched over his computer, fingers flying across the keyboard with the kind of speed that came from years of practice. He hadn't looked at her once since their last exchange, which should have been a relief but somehow made things worse.The silence in the lab was oppressive, broken only by the hum of equipment and the occasional click of his mouse.Her stomach growled loudly around two o'clock.Adrian's typing paused. "There's a cafeteria on the second floor. Thirty-minute lunch break."She looked up, surprised he was acknowledging her existence. "Do you want me to bring you something?""No." He resumed typing without looking at her.Right. Of course not.

Samantha had been alone for over two hours now, cross-referencing data until her eyes burned and her neck ached from hunching over the keyboard. She had far too much work for her first day, but she didn't really mind the workload; at least she was making progress.Real, measurable progress that had nothing to do with Jason's money or his threats or his name. Just her brain and the work and the satisfaction of finding patterns in the chaos of numbers.She stretched, rolling her shoulders back, and allowed herself a small smile. She could do this. Sure, it would take a lot of work and a lot of time and dedication, but she could actually earn her place here.The lab door suddenly clicked open behind her, pulling her out of her thoughts.Samantha turned, expecting to see the night security guard making rounds since everyone else had gone home. But instead, Claire stood in the doorway, tablet in hand, her expression unreadable."Still here?" Claire hissed, her eyes narrowing when she saw

She sat there for a long moment to think about her life, staring at the dead computer screen and the empty, echoing silence of the lab. Her cheek still burned where Claire had slapped her, and her scalp still ached from where fingers had torn at her hair, and somewhere deep in her chest, humiliation ate her the hell up. But beneath all of that, beneath the fear, beneath the shame, beneath the sick, tight ache of failure, something older stirred.Samantha Torres had survived far worse people than some secretary.She'd survived poverty, stalkers, and a gang of kidnappers. She'd survived Michaela's antics and embarrassment, having the entire country, even the Mayor, turn on her and make her a public laughingstock online. She even had to handle Tiffany Langley and her accusations. She'd been to prison for fucks sake!Sure, Claire was nasty and vicious, but Claire was not anything new to Samantha, and when it came down to it, she was definitely not unbeatable.Her parents hadn't raised

Rowan shifted his weight subtly, his arm still hovering near my waist like he wasn’t sure if he should pull me closer or step back. Meanwhile, Serenya took two steps forward into the candlelight, her dark robes swishing against the floor. She bowed her head just enough to acknowledge me. “Luna. May the Moon Goddess's favour be upon you.” Her voice was respectful, but the undertone Iris could hear the disapproving tone in it all the same. “Serenya,” Rowan said quietly. “It's late. What brings you here?” She didn’t answer him right away, swept the room once again, stopping at his grip around her waist, before she finally looked him squarely in the face. “Alpha Rowan. With my deepest respect, your people need you on patrol tonight and Marcus is currently doubling his route to cover for you. I suggest that you please reconsider spending valuable time here, with someone else's mate.” Rowan’s jaw flexed with annoyance before shaking his head, annoyed that even though he didn't want t