THE CEO’S VIRGIN SURROGATE(WOMB CONTRACT) のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

(Elena’s Pov ) "$150,000, Miss Hart. That's the cost " the doctor had said. "I'm sorry, but we can’t proceed without a deposit." $150,000. I didn’t even have close to $15,000. My hands trembled as I tried to focus on the pile of reports on my desk. But all I saw was my dying father on the hospital bed, hoping that his daughter would find a means to give him a new heart in the nick of time. "Elena!" My head shot up from my desk to look at the wide eyed and frantic Lana that was holding up her phone and waving it like it was a flag. Her ponytail was a mess, her lipstick smudged and I knew instantly that she had just finished making out with someone and in the employee break room and was in the middle of cleaning up when she got whatever information she did that made her run out like that. "You're not gonna like this!" "What now?" I asked already apprehensive. It’s been bad news after bad news since yesterday and I wasn’t sure if I could take any more. "Look, the board just made

(ELENA'S POV) "How long are you going to pretend not to see him?" Lana whispered as we stepped out of the coffee shop. "Who said I'm pretending?" I breathed as I clutched my coffee cup closer to my heart. "I just want to focus on my work." That was partially a lie. I just couldn't allow Xavier to take the best of me. But there he was smiling down at his new fiancé like she hung the stars for him. I haven’t had a good sleep for days. Not after everything that’s happened and Alaric’s voice keeps playing in my head like a broken record. “Marry me, be the mother of my child. I will give you the money for your father’s surgery.” I had laughed then. Who proposed marriage like it’s a business contract? Still my chest tightened I could almost hear him saying it again. “Or do you want to know what your sister was doing in the club that night before she disappeared? The last one had carved itself into my brain like a worm. I still don’t know how to react to that—his tone, the way his eye

(Elena’s POV)Alaric didn’t finish the sentence.The silence that followed his words were worse than anything he could have said.I waited—my heart pounding faster than drumroll, breath shallow just for Alaric to continue. For a name, an identity, a truth that would finally rip the wound open instead of letting it fester.But, he didn’t.He simply moved back like a man who had said enough.“That’s more than enough for today.” He said calmly.The words hit me like a sharp slap.Enough. Is he being serious right now?I stared at him, disbelief rushing like water in my eyes. “You can’t stop there.”“I think I can,” he replied evenly. “And I am.”My hands curled into a fist. “I didn’t ask you anything you were the one that brought up my sister and now…”“ I stated it clearly that I wasn’t offering comfort ,” he said. “Only leverage.”His statement hurt more than anything I have experienced today.He turned away, signaling his housekeeper to attend to me.And just like whatever thread that

Alaric’s ( POV) “Come to the estate now!” My grandfather never calls. He summons. The message came through my private line just after dusk—no greeting, no explanation. I already knew what this was about. I need not waste time to deliberate about it. I got ready and called Alex to get the car ready. The Carrington estate loomed the way it always had—too large, too quiet, too certain of its own power. I hadn’t lived here in years, but the house still recognized me. The guards stepped aside without a word. The doors opened before I touched them. Some things never change. My grandfather was waiting in the west study. Of course he’s always there, his second bedroom. He stood by the window, his back straight despite his age, hands clasped behind him as he watched the city lights flickered far below. He didn’t turn when I entered. He didn’t have to. “So,” he said calmly, “you’re engaged.” He added which sounded more like a question than a statement. I closed the door behind me

(Alaric’s POV) The city was still asleep when we left the penthouse. That was deliberate. No cameras waiting outside. No press lurking behind tinted vans. No staff moving through the lobby except the security team I trusted with my life—and now, with hers. Elena sat beside me in the backseat, hands folded in her lap, coat wrapped tightly around her frame. She hadn’t spoken since we got in. Not because she didn’t have questions—but because she was bracing herself. I recognized the posture. It was the same one I wore before hostile negotiations. Before decisions that couldn’t be undone. The hospital wasn’t public. It never appeared on maps. It didn’t accept walk-ins or emergencies. It existed for people whose names carried weight—and whose secrets could never afford daylight. We entered through an underground access road, the vehicle slowing only long enough for biometric clearance. Steel gates slid open. Cameras scanned us. Then silence again. Elena’s gaze shifted to the win