All Chapters of Stolen By His Rival: Chapter 31 - Chapter 32

The day began like any other.That was the unsettling part.Nothing announced itself. No warning. No clear reason for the heaviness that settled into my chest the moment I opened my eyes. It was just there, quiet and persistent, like something waiting to be acknowledged.I went through the motions anyway.Dressed carefully. Neutral tones. Hair pinned back just enough to look composed. The mirror reflected a woman who seemed entirely in control of her life.Only my eyes betrayed the truth.At the office, the hours moved, but I didn’t feel them pass.Emails blurred into each other. Numbers lost their usual clarity. Conversations required more effort than they should have. The nausea had eased, but something else had taken its place. A tightness in my throat. A strange, unsteady pressure behind my ribs.Hormones, I told myself.It would pass.It didn’t.By late afternoon, I found myself alone in my office, the door closed, the world kept carefully outside. The quiet pressed in on me, amp