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Home / Romance Short Story / Beware the Heart Thief / Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

All Chapters of Beware the Heart Thief: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

26 Chapters

Chapter 11

The tight knot in my chest loosened just a little. Had Oliver… finally come to his senses?He reached the door, then stopped and turned to look back at me with a meaningful smirk playing on his lips. "But, babe, I'm not a patient man."Tomorrow morning, I expect to see you at the table, wearing the clothes I picked out for you."He gestured toward the walk-in closet and continued, "If you don't show up, or if you wear something else…"He paused, and a dangerous light flickered in his blue eyes. "I'll have to invite your classmate, Sean, to our estate as a guest. He can… join us for breakfast."I stared at the closed door and could feel all the blood in my veins turn to ice. Damn it, Sean. Oliver was not joking. That madman was a man of his word.I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. I hated this feeling of powerlessness; it felt like having a hand around my throat and controlling the rhythm of my breathing.That night, I slept like the dead, not because I was c

Chapter 12

Oliver's knife paused midway through cutting a sausage. He looked up at me and asked, "Do you not like it? If you don't, we can switch themes. "Do you want it to be dark or cottagecore?""I prefer freedom-core," I replied."Freedom?"He set down his cutlery and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "You'll be free the moment you stop thinking about running away."He delivered the twisted logic with total conviction."Let me ask you, how long have you been stalking me?" I asked, staring him down."From the day you received your student exchange offer," he calmly answered. "I had to know when my little puppy would come running back to me."I could feel a chill creep up my spine. It turned out that my supposedly secret trip to Canverly, which I had thought was cleverly hidden, had played out under his nose the whole time. In his eyes, my clever attempt to avoid him and cut ties was just a farce that led me straight into his arms."You're seriously—" I was so mad that wor

Chapter 13

Oliver turned me around to face him. "You weren't like this before," I said, searching his face for even the faintest trace of the man I used to know. "You used to cry, you'd say your heart was sick, and you'd beg me not to leave."He traced his fingers lightly over my cheek and softly said, "Back then, I thought that was the version of me you liked. Now, I understand that tears can't keep you; only chains will."His gaze darkened, and that madness began bubbling to the surface again.The alarm bells in my head went off as I scrambled to change the subject. "I've forgotten most of the Canverlian you taught me."Sure enough, his attention was shifted, and a faint frown formed between his brows. "How's that possible? I taught you for such a long time."I began improvising some wild excuses. "I'm rusty after not using it in ages. Look, I barely even remember how to write the word 'love' anymore."He stared at me for a few seconds with unreadable emotions flickering in his blue eye

Chapter 14

Leaning lazily against the desk, I poked the sharp final letter "e" of the word "Radcliffe" with the tip of my pen."Waking up in your arms every morning?"I looked up at Oliver and continued, "That sounds like a premium add-on, which will cost you extra. Mr. Radliffe, do you run your kidnappings on a KPI performance review system?"The smile on Oliver's face flickered for a split second. He clearly had not expected me to start haggling under these circumstances."What do you want?" he asked after quickly regaining his composure. Amusement flickered in his blue eyes."What do I want?" I tossed the pen aside and stood up, slowly pacing around the study as if I was inspecting my territory. "Let me think… First, the steak was decent, but the sauce was way too salty, so get a new chef. "Second, your WiFi speed sucks, and I can't even stream HD without the videos buffering, so upgrade to gigabit fiber."Third, I prefer if the chicken named Lucy lays green eggs. Make that happen."

Chapter 15

William's expression shifted to utter bewilderment as if he had just heard an unbelievable fantasy.I ignored him, pushed open the glass doors of the side hall, and stepped out into the back garden. The rose bushes were perfectly trimmed, and a competitive bloom of varieties filled the air with a thick, sweet fragrance.At the far end of the garden, a patch of perfectly flat lawn had been dug up with several workers busy hammering and drilling away.When I walked over, I saw Oliver standing over a set of blueprints, gesturing as he spoke to a man who looked like a foreman. The blueprint was unmistakably a professional copy of my crappy little chicken coop back home."The ventilation here needs to be perfect," Oliver said in Canverlian as he pointed at the blueprint. "Set the perch height according to these measurements so they sleep comfortably at night, and line the nesting boxes with the softest straw available."The foreman nodded enthusiastically and wore a look that clearly s

Chapter 16

"What are you looking at?" I snapped at Oliver."You," he naturally replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "The way you eat is adorable.""I'm even more adorable in the bathroom. Would you like to see that too?"He choked on my words for a moment, then softly chuckled under his breath. "Sure, if that's an invitation."I completely gave up. I clearly couldn't compete with Oliver when it came to shamelessness.By the time dinner was over, I was so full that I felt warm and sluggish. Oliver had the maids prepare dessert and fruit, but I did not touch any of it and went straight upstairs. I needed a shower to calm down.The bathtub was filled with warm water when I entered the bathroom. Rose petals floated on the surface, and my favorite white tea scented candle burned softly nearby.I sank into the warm water and let out a long sigh. The decadent, luxurious lifestyle felt infuriatingly comfortable. In fact, it was so comfortable that I almost forgot I was a pri

Chapter 17

Oliver was a complete madman. Every word he spoke, and every action he took was precisely calculated to challenge my limits and dismantle my defenses.He was not trying to conquer me with violence; he was trying to drown me in his relentless tenderness and obsession and trap me in the cage he had built.…The next morning, I overslept. When I headed downstairs, Oliver was in the living room reading a newspaper. The morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him and outlined his silhouette in a soft, golden glow.When he heard my footsteps, he set the paper down and looked up. "Did you have a good night's sleep?"I ignored him and took my seat at the dining table, while William immediately served my breakfast."What's on the agenda today?" I casually asked over a glass of milk."Whatever you want," Oliver said and walked over to join me at the table. "Would you like to go horseback riding, or perhaps boating by the lake? There's a small lake by the estate.

Chapter 18

"I was just… concerned about you." Oliver switched to his wounded puppy expression with blue eyes that glistened with tears. "I was afraid you'd get scammed.""Oh, please." I snorted, picked up my phone, and unlocked it right in front of him.Ignoring Sean's message, I tapped on the Amazon shopping app. "Since you said that your money is mine, I need to test that claim."I quickly typed "outdoor dance speaker" into the search bar and picked the model with the highest wattage and flashing rainbow lights. After placing the order, I set the shipping address to this estate.Then, I searched for extra-thick, floral-padded jackets with a fleece lining and bought ten in one go, with sizes ranging from S to XXXL.Finally, I searched 10,000 screaming rubber chickens, clicked into the store, and hopped into a chat with customer service.Me: "Hi. Do you have 10,000 in stock? What's the shipping to Canverly?"Customer service: "Dear customer, are you starting a chicken farm?"Me: "No. I'm hosting

Chapter 19

One morning, Oliver saw me come downstairs for breakfast in a vibrant red-and-green floral padded jacket. His eyes twitched ever so slightly, but he still managed a compliment. "It's very… unique, like a blooming rose."I rolled my eyes at him. "Speak human.""You're beautiful. You look good in anything," he said, adding an omelet to my plate.I was starting to suspect his Crisean was not fluent enough to cover the concept of "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."…The screaming chickens caused the biggest scene when they arrived. There were ten enormous boxes, so William had to direct two gardeners just to haul them inside.Right in front of Oliver, I ripped a box open, grabbed a chicken, and squeezed hard. Its piercing, soul-shattering shriek echoed through the towering ceiling of the living room in full surround sound. The Radcliffe ancestors hanging on the walls seemed to wince in unison. Oliver looked at me with eyes full of indulgent fondness. "Do you like them? If i

Chapter 20

"Oliver," I said and looked at him. "That was the online version of me. Have you ever considered that the real me might not be anything like that?""What difference does it make?" he snapped back and took a step forward while locking his blue eyes onto mine. "The you online and in real life are both you, aren't they?"You're the only one I've ever loved."Oliver's confession was blunt and burning, like a flame that left me unsettled and uncertain.I turned my face away and looked at the chickens still digging happily in the sand pit. "Even the chickens have more sense than you. At least they don't lock their companions up.""That's because their companions don't try to run away," he immediately shot back.His ridiculous logic made me laugh out of sheer frustration before I tossed the screaming chicken in my hand at his chest. "Then go live with the chickens."When I turned and walked off, he did not follow, but his voice came from behind me. "Summer Reed."It was the first ti

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