Lahat ng Kabanata ng HIS COLD ADDICTION : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

The city lights stretched endlessly outside the penthouse window, but Tiana didn’t look at them. Her eyes were fixed on the folder Vince had left open on the desk—Caldwell’s empire laid bare in black and white.Her fingers traced the edges of the documents absentmindedly, but her mind wasn’t on the paper. It was on the night’s events. On Vince. On the way he had carried her through the chaos, his presence unwavering, his gaze never leaving her.She sighed softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. He had saved her—again—but the words he had whispered before, the ones about keeping her alive, echoed in her mind. “I don’t want you to die.”She hated that it made her heart beat faster.The sound of footsteps made her jump slightly. Vince appeared in the doorway, hands casually in his pockets, yet every inch of him radiated controlled intensity.“You’re still awake,” he said.“I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted quietly. “Too much on my mind.”He stepped closer, resting one hand lightly

Tiana did not speak for a long time.The paper trembled slightly between her fingers, though she told herself it was only the air from the vents above the table. Vince stood across from her, unmoving, his eyes locked on the document as if staring hard enough would force it to rearrange itself into something that made sense.It didn’t.Donovan Industries — Signed Authorization.His name.His signature.The approval that had cleared the demolition crew to erase her home like it had never existed.Tiana’s throat felt dry. “Tell me,” she said quietly, “that this is fake.”Vince’s jaw flexed. “It is.”“That is not what I asked.”He looked at her then, really looked at her, and she saw something she had never seen in him before.Uncertainty.“I did not sign this,” he said carefully. “I would remember a demolition order tied to a residential property. That’s not how my company operates.”She swallowed. “But your name is here.”“I know.”Her chest tightened painfully. For months she had fed h

Caldwell’s estate sat on the outskirts of the city like a monument to quiet arrogance.Tall iron gates. Long private drive. Trees trimmed into obedient shapes. Security cameras placed with tasteful subtlety that only made them more dangerous.Tiana stared through the windshield as the car rolled to a slow stop a distance away.“So this is where he hides,” she murmured.Vince followed her gaze. “Men like Caldwell don’t hide. They dare you to come close.”Lucas adjusted something on the tablet in his lap. “Security grid is private. Not linked to any public network. I can’t disable it remotely.”Tiana’s eyes didn’t leave the estate. “Then we go in where he doesn’t expect.”Vince glanced at her. “And where is that?”She looked at him. “The front door.”They walked up the drive like invited guests.Tiana’s pulse beat steadily, strangely calm. She wore a simple black dress, hair tied back, expression composed. Vince walked beside her in a tailored suit, every inch the controlled power Caldw

The penthouse felt smaller than it had before.Tiana sat cross-legged on the floor, files and tablets spread around her like a war map. The glow from the city lights outside barely touched the dark corners of the room. Her mind was a storm of calculation, adrenaline, and the strange new feeling of hope she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in months.Vince leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her work. He didn’t offer advice unless asked, but his presence was steady, like a rock in a raging current.“So,” Lucas said, sliding a chair closer, “we know Caldwell manipulated you, manipulated access, and weaponized people around you. But we also have all his files.”Tiana nodded, tapping her pen against the open notebook in front of her. “We know his moves. Now we need his weaknesses. His patterns. He thinks he’s untouchable, but no one is.”Vince pushed off the wall. “And we hit him where it hurts.”Tiana didn’t look up. “Not yet. First, we need to make sure he can’t manipulate any

Caldwell did not sleep.He sat in the dark of his study, jacket discarded, tie loosened, staring at the muted television as headlines began to crawl across the bottom of the screen.Executive corruption. Private data manipulation. Anonymous leaks.His phone had stopped ringing not because people had stopped calling—but because he had turned it off.For the first time in years, silence did not comfort him.It threatened him.He replayed every move in his mind. Every careful step he had taken to design people, shape outcomes, eliminate risk.And at the center of his unraveling…Tiana Solche.He had created her desperation. Guided her path. Positioned her in Vince Donovan’s life like a perfectly placed chess piece.And now, that same piece had crossed the board and become a queen.His jaw tightened.Desperation, he knew, had teeth.And he was about to bite back.Tiana was reviewing updates from Lucas when the first sign came.“Vince,” Lucas said sharply from the screen, “Caldwell just em