جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

The city lights glittered outside the Hale penthouse windows, but inside, the air was heavy. Elara stood just behind Adrian, her palms pressed against the cold marble railing of the balcony. The noise of the streets below seemed distant, irrelevant, compared to the storm brewing inside these walls.Adrian had been quiet for hours. His expression was unreadable, jaw tense, eyes dark. Normally, she could read him his moods, his thoughts but tonight, he was a fortress. A predator waiting for the right moment to strike.“Elara,” he said finally, voice low, sharp enough to cut through the silence, “do you understand the kind of game you’ve stepped into?”Elara swallowed. Her pulse raced. “I… I think so,” she admitted. “But I’m not afraid.”He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared out at the city, his profile sharp against the glowing skyline. Then, almost casually, he turned to her.“Good. Because fear will only slow you down. And mistakes… mistakes here are costly.”Her stomach tw

Adrian didn’t sleep that night. He sat in the study, fingers tapping rhythmically against the edge of his desk, eyes flicking occasionally to the large windows overlooking the city. Every time Elara stirred in her room, every time her soft footsteps crossed the hall, his muscles tensed. He knew Lydia was close. He could feel it. She was patient, calculated, and dangerous, and she had never liked losing.Elara, meanwhile, tried to calm herself. She had spent hours arranging flowers in the penthouse, pretending it was just another ordinary day, but the note from Lydia burned in her mind. Her hands still trembled slightly as she straightened the last bouquet. She knew she couldn’t rely on Adrian forever, though part of her wanted to. The way he watched her, silently guarding every moment of her life—it was suffocating and comforting all at once.By mid-morning, a sharp knock at the door made them both startle. Adrian moved first, swift and controlled, standing in front of the door before

Elara woke to the sound of her phone buzzing insistently on the bedside table. The message preview made her stomach tighten:“You think you’re safe? Think again. —Lydia”She let out a shaky breath, gripping the phone as if holding onto her courage. Lydia had taken things a step further. Every step Elara had taken in the past weeks every decision, every movement seemed monitored, tracked, tested.Adrian appeared in the doorway before she could react, arms crossed, jaw tight. “Another message?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous. His gray eyes held that familiar storm, the one that made her heart race in equal parts fear and thrill.Elara nodded, handing him the phone. “She… she’s escalating.”Adrian read the message, then slowly crushed the phone in his hand. “She’s crossing a line. Again. And this time, I won’t let her slip past me.”Elara’s pulse quickened. “I…I want to face this, Adrian. I can’t just hide.”He stepped closer, close enough for her to feel the heat radiating from h

The broken lily stayed on the table long after nightfall.Elara couldn’t stop staring at it the snapped stem, the petals already beginning to wilt. It wasn’t just a threat. It was a message. Lydia wasn’t hiding anymore. She wanted Elara to feel watched, vulnerable, shaken.Adrian hadn’t left her side since.He stood near the window, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and clipped. “I want eyes on every entrance. No gaps. No excuses.”He ended the call and turned toward her. His gaze softened for a split second when it landed on her face—but the tension never fully left his posture.“She’s escalating faster than I expected,” he said. “Which means she’s desperate.”Elara swallowed. “Desperate people do reckless things.”“Yes,” Adrian replied. “And reckless people are dangerous.”She hesitated, then spoke carefully. “You went to see her today.”It wasn’t a question.Adrian didn’t deny it. “I needed to make something clear.”“And did it work?”His jaw tightened. “It made things worse.”El

The city outside the flower shop seemed deceptively calm, its usual bustle a stark contrast to the tension inside. Elara’s hands still trembled from the near-abduction earlier in the day. She had survived, yes but she felt a new awareness, a subtle edge sharpening her every movement. Every sound, every shadow could mean danger.Adrian hadn’t left her side since arriving. He stationed himself by the door, arms crossed, eyes scanning the street. Every time the door creaked or a passerby stepped too close, he flinched something rare for him—something rare and protective, directed entirely at her.“You shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly, not in anger but with a weight that pressed against her chest.“I can’t just stay locked up,” Elara replied, trying to keep her voice steady. “It’s my shop, my life.”Adrian’s gray eyes softened just enough to make her heart skip a beat. “And you’ll never lose it. Not while I’m here. But I won’t pretend this is safe anymore.”Elara’s gaze dropped to the