บททั้งหมดของ THE CEO'S FORBIDDEN FLAME : บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 53

The hospital room was too quiet. Not the peaceful kind. The kind that pressed against the ears until every breath sounded wrong. Machines hummed softly, steady and watchful, while pale morning light crept through half drawn curtains.Vivian sat upright on the bed.For the first time in years, she was not curled inward.Her hands rested calmly on her lap. Her shoulders were straight. Her eyes were open and focused, not drifting, not lost.Valerie stood near the window, arms folded tightly around herself. She had not slept. Her clothes smelled faintly of smoke. Her hair was pulled back in a way that suggested urgency rather than care.Ethan stood beside her, silent, protective, watching Vivian with an intensity that bordered on reverence.The doctor had already left.The nurse had whispered something about improvement and miracles and trauma responses unlocking unexpectedly under extreme stress. None of that mattered.What mattered was the look on Vivian’s face. Valerie turned slowly.V

Morning came quietly, like it was afraid to interrupt them. Gray light filtered through reinforced glass, softening the sharp edges of the safe house. Outside, guards rotated shifts, weapons slung low, eyes scanning shadows that refused to disappear. Inside, the world narrowed to two people learning how to exist in the same space without armor. Valerie woke first. She lay still, listening. Ethan’s breathing was slow and even beside her. One arm rested loosely across the pillow between them, not touching her but close enough that she felt the warmth of him. The distance felt intentional, careful. As if neither of them had wanted to assume too much after everything that had been said the night before. She turned her head slightly and watched him. In sleep, he looked younger. Less burdened. The tension that usually lived between his brows had eased, leaving him open in a way she had never seen. Dangerous, she thought. Not because of him. Because of what he made her want. She sl