Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 18

Liam’s POVThere is a lot wrong with this place.That is the first thing I realize as I walk deeper into the mansion, my footsteps echoing softly against marble floors that have probably seen more blood than celebration. I don’t even know how to properly describe what I’m feeling. Fear doesn’t cover it. Loneliness doesn’t either. It’s like I’ve been dropped into a world where I exist only as an obligation, not as a person.No one here likes me. Not really.They tolerate me because they have to. Because of Elijah. Because of the contract. If those things didn’t exist, I’m certain I would already be gone. And the thought makes my chest tighten painfully.Still, one thing keeps looping in my mind, over and over again, like a quiet prayer.Thank God my sister isn’t here.If she were, she wouldn’t survive this place. Not as a woman surrounded by men who see power as permission. She would be used, broken, discarded, and no one would blink. My sister had warned me once, her voice shaking as

Liam’s POVI couldn’t hear anything anymore.It was like my head had been sealed shut, stuffed full with heavy blocks of ice and stone, each one pressing down until my thoughts fractured into dull, useless fragments. The room was still there, I knew that much. I could see shapes, faces, mouths moving. But sound? Meaning? It all blurred into a distant echo, like I was underwater and everyone else was shouting from above the surface.Elijah’s voice cut through everything.Loud.Sharp.Commanding.“Shoot.”That single word hit me harder than any slap ever could.My fingers trembled around the gun. It felt enormous in my hand, heavier than it should have been, as if it carried not just metal and bullets but expectation, judgment, and my entire worth as a human being. My arm shook so badly that I had to tighten my grip just to keep it from slipping.Can I do this?Should I do this?My heart was racing, pounding so violently that it hurt. I could feel it in my throat, in my ears, in my fing

Chapter 14Liam’s POVWhat the hell was really going on between Elijah and Mr. Daniels?I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t just about bidding wars or broken rules. Mr. Daniels’ face was painfully familiar—too familiar. I had seen him countless times growing up, seated comfortably in my father’s study, sipping expensive liquor as if our home belonged to him. He was always there for “business,” always smiling too thinly, his eyes cold and calculating.So why did he look at Elijah now as though Elijah had stolen something precious from him?No—as though Elijah had destroyed him.The tension between them was thick, heavy, almost alive. It pulsed in the air, vibrating under my skin. This wasn’t just rivalry. This was personal. Something ugly. Something old.Power.That was what they were both after—power, influence, legacy. And from the looks of it, Elijah’s father had won that battle long ago. Mr. Daniels was powerful, yes, but Elijah’s family ruled the city like kings. And men

Chapter 16Elijah’s POVI wanted to lie.I wanted to pretend that my heart wasn’t betraying me—that it didn’t race every single time Liam’s fingers brushed against mine, that it didn’t react like I’d been struck by lightning whenever he leaned too close. But there was no point lying to myself anymore. My body answered to him before my mind even caught up.Every touch was an electric shock.When he tended to my wound, his hands careful yet trembling, I knew I should’ve been in pain. The bullet had torn into my shoulder, and any sane man would’ve been clenching his teeth, fighting the agony.Instead, all I could feel was him.His closeness.His scent.The way his brows pulled together in concentration, lips parted slightly as he worked.And when he kissed me—just once, soft and instinctive—the pain disappeared entirely. It was as if his lips erased it, like it had never existed. For those few seconds, the world went silent, and there was nothing wrong with me at all.I forgot the blood.