All Chapters of ATTACHED WITH HER OBSESSION: Chapter 71 - Chapter 77

I didn’t realize how much that dinner with my mother affected me until the quiet finally settled. Not the peaceful kind of quiet—the heavy one. The kind that lingers in your chest long after the conversation ends, replaying words you wish didn’t still have power over you. I woke up earlier than usual, staring at the ceiling while Aria slept beside me. Her breathing was slow and even, one arm draped loosely over my waist as if anchoring me without knowing it. I turned my head slightly, watching her face soften in sleep, and felt that familiar mix of gratitude and fear. I had stood my ground. I didn’t waver. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. My mother’s voice echoed in my mind—not loud, not cruel in the obvious way. It was controlled, refined, almost reasonable. That was what made it dangerous. She didn’t shout disapproval; she planted doubt and let it grow. Consequences. I swallowed and carefully slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake Aria. I made my way to the kitchen, brew

Distance didn’t arrive all at once. It came quietly, disguised as responsibility. In the days that followed, my calendar filled up faster than I could process. Calls from brand representatives across different time zones. Emails marked urgent. Contracts that demanded answers without explicitly asking for them. Everything felt polite, professional—and relentless. Aria noticed before I did. “You’ve been staring at that screen for ten minutes,” she said one morning, handing me a mug of coffee. “And you haven’t blinked.” I smiled weakly. “Just thinking.” “That’s new,” she teased, but her eyes stayed on me longer than usual. I shrugged and took the mug. “They want a response by the end of the week.” “The Milan brand?” “Yes.” She nodded, leaning against the counter. “And the others?” “Waiting. Watching.” I hesitated. “Comparing.” She hummed thoughtfully. “That’s how they work.” I wanted to say more. I wanted to tell her that my mother had called again the night befor

The email came three days later. Subject line: Final Confirmation – Zuriché Executive Placement I stared at it longer than I should. Aria was across from me at the dining table, reviewing architectural revisions for her clinic. Highlighters scattered around her, glasses sliding down her nose slightly as she concentrated. For a moment, I didn’t open the email. Because unopened, it was still theoretical. Opened, it would become real. “Are you going to read it,” Aria asked softly without looking up, “or just intimidate it into disappearing?” I exhaled faintly. “You always know.” She finally lifted her gaze, calm but observant. “I can feel when you’re bracing.” That almost made me smile. I clicked. The offer was formal now. Detailed relocation package. Housing. Leadership authority. Immediate placement under a global expansion division. And at the bottom— Response required within seven days. Seven. My chest tightened. Aria watched my face carefully. “Dead

Tears didn’t fall—but they gathered.“I don’t want to be the reason you stop growing,” she whispered.“You’re the reason I know what matters,” I said.Her lips trembled slightly.“And what if one day that changes?”I didn’t have an answer.Because love didn’t erase ambition.And ambition didn’t erase love.We stood there, caught between devotion and fear.I had stayed.But staying hadn’t solved anything.It had only shifted the battlefield.And now, instead of fighting my mother—I was fighting the woman I refused to lose.Not because she didn’t love me.But because she loved me enough to step back.And I didn’t know how to convince her that she was not my limitation.She was my choice.And yet she stood in front of me like she was preparing to become my sacrifice.The space between us felt fragile, like glass that hadn’t shattered yet but would if either of us breathed too hard.“Aria,” I said more softly this time, “why are you deciding what I’ll regret?”“I’m not deciding,” she rep