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หน้าหลัก / Romance / Betrayed, I Become The CEO'S Contracted Bride / บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

บททั้งหมดของ Betrayed, I Become The CEO'S Contracted Bride: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

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Chapter 31

Alexander turned back from the ballroom to face her. "He possessed someone genuinely brilliant. He held someone with actual, verifiable talent and immense capability. He had someone who could have made him legitimately successful instead of just successful by institutional association." His expression hardened into a mask of pure corporate disdain. "And he systematically destroyed her because he felt threatened. Because his fragile ego could not handle not being the smartest person in the relationship. That is not strategy, Elara. That is pathetic insecurity. That is pure fear masquerading as power." Alexander's voice dropped into a lower, darker register. "A truly intelligent man would have elevated you. He would have weaponized your talent to build an empire neither of you could achieve alone. He would have instantly recognized that your success was his success." "That is exactly what you are doing with me," Elara noted. "For Victoria." "Yes. But I am entirely honest

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Chapter 32

They left the gala at eleven. Alexander said his goodbyes to Dr. Martinez, thanked her for the evening, and exchanged brief words with the remaining guests. Elara remained anchored to his side, offering polite smiles when required and projecting the flawless image of Mrs. Alexander Thorne. The press was still outside, fewer cameras than before, but enough to document their departure. Alexander placed his hand on Elara’s waist and guided her toward the waiting sedan as a fresh wave of camera flashes erupted in the darkness. A few scattered questions cut through the cold night air, nothing like the aggressive mob from their arrival. They slid into the back seat of the vehicle. The armored door pulled shut with a mechanical thud, severing the street noise. The frantic shouts and shutter clicks vanished, leaving only the quiet hum of the engine to fill the cabin. The driver merged into the heavy traffic and navigated away from the downtown core. Elara leaned her head against t

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Chapter 33

"I believe it makes you an entirely different weapon. Whether it makes you worse depends entirely on where you aim." Alexander continued. "Where do you want me to aim?" she asked. "I want you to save my sister's life. Absolutely everything else is secondary noise. Revenge, vindication, and dismantling Sterling’s empire are personal luxuries you may pursue only after you fulfill your primary contractual obligation." "And after the contract formally concludes?" "After that, you collect your capital." He shifted his gaze back to the windshield. "You rebuild your existence however you see fit. You walk away from me, from Aethelgard, and from this corporate war. You start over in a space where your past is completely irrelevant." Elara studied his strict profile. "Do you care at all about what happens to Marcus and Isabella?" "No." The answer was immediate and devoid of hesitation. "They are functionally irrelevant to my operations," he elaborated. "They are s

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Chapter 34

Elara woke early on Monday morning.She had slept poorly. Her rest was fractured by scattered, disjointed images from the charity gala. Marcus's cold eyes, Isabella's triumphant smile, and Alexander's assessment in the back of the sedan all blurred together into a chaotic sequence.Giving up the attempt to sleep at five thirty, she showered and dressed in functional work attire. She pulled on black trousers, a simple white blouse, and reinforced laboratory shoes. The expensive designer gowns were no longer necessary. Today needed utility.Mrs. Chen had fresh coffee waiting when Elara entered the massive kitchen."You are up early." Mrs. Chen wiped down the marble counter."Big day. First real work in the laboratory.""Mr. Thorne already left for the corporate office. He asked me to remind you that the new technicians arrive this morning.""I remember."Elara drank her black coffee standing beside the island. The physical restlessness building in her limbs made sitting impossi

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Chapter 35

Dr. Mitchell nodded once and returned to her workstation.The afternoon dissolved into highly productive, hyper-focused work. At exactly six o'clock, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Wong logged their progress and left the facility for the evening.Elara remained on the floor. She needed to complete the initial synthesis cycle and verify the preliminary baseline results.At eight thirty, her phone vibrated against the mahogany desk.Mrs. Chen indicates you are still in the laboratory. The driver is waiting downstairs. Come back to the estate.It was not framed as a suggestion. It was a direct logistical order.Elara finished documenting her chemical yields, shut down the heavy equipment, and locked down the fortieth floor.The ride back to the residential district passed in total silence.Mrs. Chen waited in the penthouse foyer."Mr. Thorne requested I prepare a formal dinner," Mrs. Chen noted, taking Elara's coat. "He will be joining you shortly."Elara walked to the master suite and

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Chapter 36

The week passed in a state of hyper-focus. Elara spent every day on the fortieth floor, running experiments, formulating compounds, and testing chemical reactions to build her physical case against Isabella piece by piece. Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Wong operated efficiently. They understood the underlying science, asked sharp questions, and made highly valuable contributions. The collaboration mirrored everything Elara had hoped for at Aethelgard but never actually achieved. By Friday afternoon, she extracted the preliminary results. The toxic byproducts she had predicted were fully measurable and quantifiable, located exactly where she expected them to be within Isabella's flawed structure. It was not enough for a federal case yet, but it represented solid, documented progress. Mrs. Chen appeared in the laboratory doorway just before six o'clock. "Mr. Thorne asked me to remind you about the technology summit tomorrow." Elara lifted her head from the microscope eyepiece. "Tomor

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Chapter 37

The following week settled into a relentless rhythm.Elara swiped into the fortieth-floor laboratory by six o'clock every morning. She anchored herself at the stainless steel bench before the sun rose over the city. She operated in tandem with Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Wong, driving steady progress across two separate projects.The first track demanded the creation of a novel gene therapy tailored specifically for Victoria Thorne's failing nervous system. It required building a complex delivery mechanism completely from scratch.The second track required taking apart Isabella’s stolen Aethelgard Formula. Elara spent her afternoons making compounds directly from the compromised blueprints. She tested the chemical reactions, meticulously documented the resulting toxic byproducts, and built the proof that Isabella was manufacturing a lethal poison.Two isolated projects. Two massive objectives.By Thursday evening, she had successfully manufactured three lethal compounds from the flawed

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Chapter 38

"Isabella stole highly preliminary, incomplete data. She attempted to implement the chemistry without understanding the foundational biology. She executed critical errors, and her published version will trigger catastrophic neural degeneration within eighteen months.""I am aware." He picked up his water glass. "I outlined the instability of the ester bond when I extracted you from the alley.""You already possessed that specific data." She watched him drink."I execute comprehensive research before initiating any corporate acquisition. I needed to understand the exact nature of the asset I was purchasing."Mrs. Chen emerged from the kitchen to clear the plates, smoothly replacing them with wide bowls of steaming mushroom risotto."So Victoria's compound is a completely isolated development." Alexander picked up his fork. "You are not patching Isabella's mistakes. You are building a new architecture from scratch.""Yes. The compound is tailored specifically for the variables de

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Chapter 39

The dinner routine continued through the following week. Alexander returned to the penthouse for dinner on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The schedule occurred with enough frequency that Mrs. Chen began preparing multi-course meals. Elara anticipated the quiet hours at the mahogany table. The appeal extended beyond the food. Alexander offered his undivided attention when she detailed her research, asking sharp questions and grasping implications without requiring simplified explanations. The dynamic felt different from any previous relationship. It lacked warmth, but it felt substantial. Alexander called her phone on Friday afternoon. "There is another event tonight." He offered no preamble. "What kind of event?" Elara adjusted her grip on the receiver. "Museum fundraiser. Art exhibit opening. You'll attend with me." "I am in the middle of an experiment." "How long until you're done?" "Four hours." "Then you'll finish with time to spare." The line clic

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Chapter 40

Elara stayed in the penthouse on Saturday.She attempted to rest exactly as Alexander had ordered, but her eyes snapped open before nine in the morning. She paced the length of her bedroom. Marcus’s taunts and Isabella’s cruel laugh played on a continuous loop, tangling with the incomplete evidence and Victoria’s collapsing timeline.She pulled her laptop onto the mattress, reviewed the week's data, and drafted the experimental parameters for Monday. Work remained the only variable she could fully control.By Sunday afternoon, she abandoned the pretense of relaxation and returned to the fortieth floor. The sterile environment and the methodical hum of the centrifuges instantly settled her pulse.When Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Wong clocked into the lab on Monday morning, Elara was already at the primary bench working."You are here early." Dr. Mitchell set her bag on a chair."I couldn't sleep."The relentless pace carried her straight through the week. By Thursday evening, Elara sat

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