Semua Bab His Forbidden Mate: The Billionaire stepbrother’s claim : Bab 31 - Bab 40

Recovery is strange.The doctor said days instead of weeks, and she wasn't exaggerating. By the second day, Lucian's breathing is easier. The chest tube comes out. His color returns from deathly pale to something almost human.And I feel all of it.Every improvement in him improves me. Every milestone he reaches, I reach. We're synchronized in ways that go beyond the physical."This is weird," Lucian says on day three. We're in the private room Viktor arranged. Large windows overlooking a garden. Two beds pushed together so we don't have to separate. "I can feel you feeling me feeling better.""That sentence hurt my brain.""Mine too. But you know what I mean." He shifts carefully, wincing. I wince with him. "It's like feedback. A loop.""Professor Greene called it bond amplification. The trauma made the connection stronger." I trace patterns on his hand, the one without the IV. "We're more linked now than before.""Is that good or bad?""Both?" I think about it. How I can sense his d

Month four brings snow.It starts as flurries. Delicate. Beautiful. Then becomes a storm that blankets everything in white and traps us inside for three days.We don't mind."It's like the world disappeared," Lucian says, watching from the window. "Just us and the quiet.""We've always been just us and the quiet," I point out."Yeah. But now it's official." He grins. "Even Brandon can't visit. The roads are impassable."I'm curled on the couch with my laptop. Second book. This one purely fiction. A fantasy about dragons and magic that has nothing to do with mate bonds or billionaire stepfathers.Lucian's at the piano. He's been composing a piece for weeks. Won't let me hear it until it's finished. Says it's a surprise."How much longer?" I ask."On the composition? Few more days." His fingers dance across keys. "It's complex. Layered. Like us.""We're not that complex.""We're two people who share dreams, feel each other's pain, and almost died because being apart was killing us." He

We don't talk about it on the drive home.Can't. The weight of Adrian's words sits between us like a third passenger. Heavy. Suffocating.It's only when we're back in the cabin, surrounded by the safety we've built, that I finally break."What if he's telling the truth?"Lucian's at the window. Staring at mountains that suddenly feel less protective and more like walls. "Then everything we thought we knew is a lie.""My father wasn't just a salesman. He was a researcher. Someone who understood mate bonds before we did." I sink onto the couch. "Someone people killed for what he knew.""Adrian could be lying. Creating one last manipulation to haunt us.""Could be. But what if he's not?" I look at Lucian. "What if my father died protecting research that could save other bonded pairs? Research that powerful people want buried?""Then those people are still out there. Still looking." Lucian turns from the window. "And if we go searching for this research, we paint a target on our backs.""

The email arrives at 3 AM.Brandon's encrypted laptop pings. Once. Quiet. But in the silence of the warehouse, it sounds like a gunshot.We're all awake. Have been for hours. Reading Dad's research. Trying to understand the implications. Trying to decide what to do.Brandon opens the email. His face goes pale."What?" Lucian asks."It's from them. Genetech." Brandon turns the screen. "They know we have it."The email is professional. Polite. Terrifying in its civility.Dear Ms. Bennett,We understand you've recently come into possession of research materials belonging to your late father, Dr. Robert Bennett. We would like to discuss acquiring these materials for a fair price. Your father was a brilliant researcher, and his work deserves to be continued by people who understand its value.Please respond within 24 hours to arrange a meeting. We're prepared to offer substantial compensation for your cooperation.We hope this can be resolved amicably. For everyone's sake.Dr. Sarah Chen D

The contract arrives in four hours. Not six.Patricia Chen reviews it with Harper. Fifty-three pages of legal terminology that basically says: we won't kill you if you let us study you."It's airtight," Patricia says, sitting in Brandon's warehouse with the printed pages spread across the table. "Immunity for you, your immediate family, and anyone designated as part of your support network. Protection from corporate interference. Non-disclosure agreements on both sides.""What's the catch?" I ask."The testing clause. It's vague. 'Non-invasive procedures as determined by qualified medical professionals.' That could mean anything from blood draws to brain scans.""Or nothing," Harper points out. "They need us cooperative. They won't push boundaries that make us walk away.""They also need us alive," Lucian says. "Dead test subjects don't provide data.""Comforting," I mutter.Patricia taps a section. "This part concerns me. 'Publication rights to any discoveries made during the testing