All Chapters of THE BOSS'S FORBIDDEN TWINS : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

48 Chapters

Chapter Eleven

ELENAThe champagne cork pops and Rachel cheers so loud half the floor looks over.“To Elena!” she yells, glass in the air. “Proof that the craziest ideas sometimes win!”Everyone joins her. Even Marcus lifts his glass, though he looks like the champagne might be poison.I smile. Say thank you. Act normal. Try not to notice Damien watching me from across the room, that look that makes my skin feel hot and too tight.Two weeks. We agreed on two weeks of distance.We can survive two weeks.“Speech!” David shouts.“Oh no—”“Speech! Speech!” The chant grows.I set my glass down, inhale slowly. Try to find words that are not: I’m falling for our CEO and it scares me.“I just want to thank everyone for trusting me. I know my ideas were… different. But this campaign worked because of this team. David’s creativity. Lisa’s numbers. Rachel’s coordination. All of you.”Applause. Real smiles. For the first time since I started here, I feel like I belong.“And thank you to Mr. Blackwood,” I add, v

Chapter Twelve

ELENAWeek two did not knock politely. It barged in with disaster.I reach my floor and stop cold.My office door is open. Lights on.Marcus Vale is sitting in my chair like he owns me along with the room. Papers everywhere. My papers.“Mr. Vale?” My voice catches in the doorway. “What are you doing?”He doesn’t even bother to glance up. “Routine audit. Two-week internal review for all new department heads.”“No one mentioned an audit to me.”“It’s in your contract.” He flips a page like he can’t be bothered to care. “Section twelve. Subsection four.”He pulls out a folder. My influencer contracts.“These payments. Explain them.”My stomach dips. “Those are all approved partnerships. Every contract went through review—”“You submitted them to Claire,” he snaps. “Who signed off on Mr. Blackwood’s behalf.”Now he looks at me. Eyes icy, sharp. “Convenient, isn’t it? The person signing your expenditures is the one with direct access to the CEO.”The accusation hits harder than a slap.“Ar

Chapter Thirteen

ELENAThe address Damien sends is in the most expensive part of the city. The kind of neighborhood where doormen wear actual uniforms. Where buildings have names instead of numbers.I stand outside The Cartwright for five whole minutes. Questioning every decision that led me here.Going to his apartment crosses every professional line we’ve tried to keep. If someone sees me walk in… If Marcus has someone watching… If—My phone buzzes.You've been standing outside for four minutes. Either come up or go home. Penthouse. Doorman knows you’re expected. —DBI look up at the tall glass tower. No idea which window is his. But I know he’s there. Watching.The doorman’s name tag says Raymond. He greets me with a polite smile like he’s used to beautiful women arriving for Mr. Blackwood.I shouldn’t care.I do.The elevator to the penthouse needs a key. Raymond hands it to me. “Have a good evening, Ms. Martinez.”He knows my name. Damien told him. He planned this. Not impulsive.That somehow mak

Chapter Fourteen

ElenaI wake to the smell of coffee. And to the low hum of a city waking up far below.For one soft, blissful second, I forget everything. I forget the chaos. The danger. The choices waiting for me in daylight.Then the room reminds me.Floor-to-ceiling windows. A skyline soaked in pale gold. Sheets that aren’t mine. A ceiling too perfect. Too high.Damien’s apartment.Damien’s bed.Damien’s shirt on my body.Shit.I grab my phone. 5:47 AM. Early enough to disappear. Early enough to pretend I was never here.I scramble into yesterday’s clothes, trying not to think about how wrong this looks, how much worse it will look on security footage.Water runs somewhere. A door. Footsteps.He’s awake.My heart tries to bolt before I do.Part of me wants to sneak out. Leave this behind like a secret. No eye contact. No “morning.” No chances for anything to feel too real.The other part—God, the other part—wants to see him again. In the normal light of morning. Just once more before we walk back

Chapter Fifteen

Elena I make it through two hours before everything starts falling apart.Two hours of pretending to work while my brain runs through disasters on repeat.Resign. Lose the job. Lose Damien.Stay. Fight. Watch both our careers burn.There’s no safe choice.At 10 AM, Sophia comes into my office with coffee and worry on her face."You look like death. What happened?"I shut the door. Then I tell her. The photos. Marcus’s cold voice. The five-o’clock deadline.She drops into the chair. "Oh God.""I know.""Who would do this? Who has access to footage like that?""I don’t know. Someone with power. Someone who wants me gone."“Claire,” she says instantly. “She knows everything about Damien. She guards him like a dragon.”“Or Brian Chen. Or anyone who thinks I slept my way in.”"What are you going to do?"The question I hate.I hold up Damien’s pen. The hidden engraving. Because you were right."I think I have to resign.""What? No—Elena, no.""I can’t let this explode. If it gets out, ever

Chapter Sixteen

ElenaI stare at the message until my hands shake so hard I nearly drop the phone.Stay away from him. This is your only warning.Someone is watching me. Close enough to take photos. Close enough to threaten.I spin around. People walking, talking, laughing. A man in a hoodie watching the traffic. A woman in a car at the curb, engine running.Any of them could be the one.My phone rings. Same unknown number.I force my voice to stay steady. “Who is this?”“Someone trying to help you,” the voice says, distorted. “You made the right choice. Now stay away from Damien Blackwood.”“Why? What do you want?”“That doesn’t matter. You resigned. Stay out.”“And if I don’t?”A pause. A quiet threat. “Those photos I sent Marcus were only a preview. I have more. Worse ones. Time-stamped. Proof of an affair.”“There was no affair—”“Truth isn’t what destroys reputations. Perception does. And this? This ends Damien Blackwood’s career. The company crashes. Shareholders scream. Headlines everywhere.”

Chapter Seventeen

ELENAI reach my apartment with only minutes before Damien arrives. Seven minutes to decide what lie I’ll use, what truth I’ll avoid, what danger I’ll hide.My apartment feels smaller than ever. One bedroom. Fading paint. Thin walls. A life built on survival. While he lives in a penthouse above the whole city. The contrast hurts in a way I hate to admit.I’m halfway out of my work clothes—well, former work clothes—when footsteps stop outside my door. Sharp. Determined.A knock. Hard enough to shake the frame.“Elena. I know you’re in there. Open the door.”My heart kicks up. Another knock—louder. “I’m not leaving. Your neighbors are already listening.”Mrs. Chen is absolutely behind her peephole.I drag on yoga pants and a sweatshirt and open the door.He stands there—rumpled suit, loose tie, wild eyes. Angry. Hurt. Too handsome for my tiny hallway.“Inside,” I whisper. “Before my neighbors create their own version of this.”He steps in. I lock the door. We stare at each other, the ai

Chapter Eighteen

Elena By midnight, Damien’s apartment looks nothing like a home. The dining table is covered in laptops, open files, scattered photos—both the real ones and the edited ones, lined up like evidence in a crime scene.Three strangers sit there, all of them too calm, too sharp, the kind of people rich men call when things go bad.“Elena,” Damien says, “my team.”He points to a man with military posture. “Robert Chen. Head of corporate security.”Robert nods once. Cold, precise.Next is a woman with a sleek suit and unreadable eyes. “Diana Kowalski. My personal attorney.”She gives me a thin smile. “Ms. Martinez. I’ve been briefed.”Of course she has.“And James Park,” Damien adds, “digital forensics.”James is young, already typing on three keyboards at once. “Those photos sent to Marcus?” he says without looking up. “Beginners’ work. Metadata still on. Sloppy edits. Whoever did it isn’t a pro.”“Or wants us to think that,” Diana says.“Doesn’t matter,” James replies. “They’re traceable

Chapter Nineteen

ELENADiana moves like she’s in an operating room—calm, exact, cutting clean through lies. Each slide she presents feels like another blow landing on Victoria.“Slide one,” she says. “Timeline. Elena Martinez hired three weeks ago as Senior Marketing Strategist. Days later, photos of her and CEO Damien Blackwood begin circulating.”The screen lights up with the doctored photos. A few board members shift, embarrassed.“Slide two. Upload source. The images came from an executive admin terminal on the ninth floor. Three people used that terminal during the upload windows.”Victoria’s name glows on the screen. Her face doesn’t move, but her knuckles turn white around her pen.“Slide three. Financial records. The editing software used to alter these photos was purchased with a credit card belonging to Victoria Blackwood.”Gasps. Marcus leans forward like he misheard.“That doesn’t prove anything,” Victoria says tightly. “Anyone could have used my card.”“Except the purchase came from your

Chapter Twenty

Elena I sleep for fourteen hours straight.When I wake up in Damien’s guest room, sunlight cuts through unfamiliar windows, too bright, too real. My phone is buzzing nonstop on the nightstand, but my head feels thick, foggy. It takes effort just to lift my arm.Then it comes back.Victoria.The board meeting.Reinstatement.Falling in love with.I press my face into the pillow and let it hit me properly this time. The relief. The fear. The strange sense that my life has tilted on its axis and there’s no putting it back.A soft knock breaks the moment.“Elena? You awake?”“Unfortunately.”Damien steps in with coffee and something warm that smells like breakfast. He’s already dressed for work. Suit. Tie. CEO armor firmly in place. Except his eyes soften when they find me.“How do you feel?”“Like I got hit by a truck. A very expensive, emotionally complicated truck.”He sets the tray down and sits on the edge of the bed. “You needed sleep. You’ve been running on adrenaline for days.”

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