Lahat ng Kabanata ng IN LOVE WITH MY FATHER'S DANGEROUS FRIEND: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Solyn Fairchild locked the door of her studio with fingers that ached from hours of gripping charcoal and brushes. The clock above the exit blinked past midnight, its soft ticking suddenly loud in the empty corridor. She tucked her coat tighter around herself and glanced at her phone, Four percent battery. No signal and the last metro would leave in less than five minutes.The night swallowed her footsteps as she cut through the alley behind the art block, the city unusually quiet for a weekday. Her bag thudded against her hip with every stride. She hated working late, hated the way the city changed after midnight, how even familiar streets felt sharpened and watchful. When she reached the metro entrance, her lungs burned and her pulse hammered, but the turnstile lights were still on. She slipped through just as the warning chime echoed down the platform.The platform was nearly empty. Solyn slowed, forcing herself to breathe evenly as she walked closer to the edge. The train lights a

Solyn stood frozen where Calian had left her, the word still echoing in her head.Contained.“What does that mean?” she demanded, her voice sharp with disbelief. “You don’t get to say something like that and walk away.”Calian did not turn back. His footsteps faded down the corridor with infuriating calm, as though her fear and confusion were irrelevant details he had already accounted for. The silence that followed felt heavier than any argument."I asked you something!! You cannot shut this door on my face." Solyn was troubled to hear such things from a man she barely knew, but her father had blind faith in this man. She was about to bang the door of Calian Winslow's office when a figure appeared in the corridor.Gerard appeared moments later, his expression carefully neutral. “Miss Fairchild,” he said gently, “Please come with me. Dr. Winslow has instructed that you must rest.”“I’m not tired,” Solyn snapped. “I want answers.” She was persintent and didn't want to leave.Gerard inc

The pressure around Solyn’s throat tightened until breathing became a foreign concept.Her back slammed against the cold tile of the restroom stall, the impact sending a fresh jolt of pain through her already injured shoulder. The door rattled as the man shoved it shut with his foot, sealing them into a narrow space that smelled faintly of disinfectant and fear. His forearm was locked beneath her jaw, crushing her windpipe with deliberate restraint, not enough to kill her quickly, but enough to make every second stretch.“Shh,” he murmured calmly, almost gently, as she clawed at his arm. “You’ll pass out faster if you waste air.”Solyn’s vision blurred as panic surged through her. Her fingers scraped uselessly against his sleeve, nails bending, skin burning. She tried to scream, but only a broken, muffled sound escaped her throat, swallowed immediately by his grip. Her chest heaved violently, desperate for oxygen that would not come.Her mind raced in fractured thoughts.Not like this

Gerard entered Calian’s study without announcement, closing the door behind him with deliberate care. The house was still asleep, but Calian had not moved from his position near the window since midnight. The grounds outside lay quiet under low mist, the security lights casting pale halos across trimmed hedges and stone paths. Nothing moved. Nothing ever did without his permission.“You asked for everything,” Gerard said calmly. “I brought everything.”Calian turned slowly. “Start.”Gerard placed a slim folder on the desk, followed by a tablet. “Solyn Fairchild. Born and raised here. No disciplinary issues in school. Above-average intelligence. Consistent academic performance. Art focused from adolescence onward. No behavioral red flags.”Calian remained silent.“College was uneventful,” Gerard continued. “Close circle. No documented enemies. No romantic attachments that ended poorly. She keeps distance by nature.”“Friends,” Calian said.Gerard nodded. “Few, but loyal. One stands out

The nightclub looked like a mouth.Wide open, pulsing, swallowing people whole.Lights spilled onto the street in broken colors, neon bleeding across wet pavement. Music thundered through the air, vibrating in Solyn’s bones. The line outside curled around the building, laughter and perfume mixing with cigarette smoke and cheap alcohol. Everyone looked carefree. Everyone looked alive.Solyn had never hated strangers more.Because they didn’t know.They didn’t know that somewhere inside this building, the man who had almost killed her in a hospital restroom could be standing shoulder to shoulder with them, smiling like a normal person, ordering a drink like he hadn’t just whispered death into her ear.Calian walked ahead of her, a wall in a black coat.He didn’t hold her hand. He didn’t need to. His presence was its own leash.“Stay close,” he said without turning.Solyn matched his pace, her heart hammering. “I’m close.”“That’s not close,” he replied.She almost laughed, but the sound