All Chapters of BOUND BY SECRET, BAILED BY LOVE: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

48 Chapters

Pretending it’s Nothing

Lucien stepped away from the window.He shouldn’t be standing there.Watching them.It was ridiculous.He walked back toward his desk and sat down, opening the laptop in front of him. Numbers filled the screen. Reports. Emails. Contracts waiting to be signed.Normal things.Things that actually mattered.Outside the window, Arielle laughed again.Lucien’s fingers paused above the keyboard.He frowned slightly, then forced himself to continue typing.Focus.It was just a conversation.Roman talked too much. That was nothing new.Lucien leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose.The image from last night slipped into his mind again before he could stop it.Arielle standing close.Her eyes lifting to his.The way her breath had caught when his hand brushed her face.His jaw tightened.Stress.That was all it was.The last few weeks had been exhausting. Business pressure. The engagement announcement. His uncle constantly pushing his patience.Anyone would have a moment li

Quiet Questions

The house felt strangely quiet the next morning.Arielle noticed it the moment she came downstairs.Lucien was already gone.Margaret was arranging flowers in the dining room when Arielle stepped into the kitchen.“Good morning, Miss Laurent,” Margaret said warmly.“Morning.”Arielle opened the cabinet and reached for a mug.“Mr. Moreau left early today,” Margaret added casually.Arielle paused for half a second before continuing to pour coffee.“Oh.”“He said he had meetings all morning.”“That sounds like him.”Margaret studied her briefly but didn’t say anything else.Arielle carried her coffee to the dining table and sat down.The chair across from her was empty.Her fingers wrapped around the warm mug.Last night replayed in her mind.The way he had just nodded.The way he had walked upstairs without saying anything more.It shouldn’t bother her.That was the whole point of avoiding him in the first place.Still, something about the silence felt… strange.She took a sip of coffee

A strange Dinner

The house was quiet again after Mary left. Arielle tried to focus on other things. She walked through the garden for a while, then spent an hour in the small library Margaret had shown her the day before. She even tried reading, but the words kept slipping past her. Mary’s voice lingered in her mind. Marriage changes things. Children soften people. You take good care of Lucien, don’t you? It hadn’t sounded like pressure. But it hadn’t sounded casual either. By evening the sky outside the windows had turned deep orange. Arielle was in the living room when she heard a car pull into the driveway. Her stomach tightened before she could stop it. Lucien. She stayed where she was. The front door opened. His footsteps were slow as he stepped inside. The quiet sound of Margaret greeting him drifted faintly down the hall. Arielle stared at the page in front of her but didn’t actually read it. A moment later Lucien appeared in the doorway. His tie was loosened

The Distance

The house felt different the next few days.Not quieter.Just… strange.Lucien was around, but not really around.Arielle noticed it immediately.He still greeted her in the mornings. Still asked if she needed anything when they crossed paths in the hallway. Still kept his usual calm expression.But something about him had shifted.Like a door had quietly closed somewhere between them.And it bothered her more than she expected.⸻Two days after Mary’s visit, Arielle stood near the front steps waiting for Roman.The late afternoon sun warmed the driveway.Roman pulled the car around and stepped out.“Ready?”“For what?” she asked.“You said you wanted to get out of the house.”Arielle crossed her arms lightly.“I didn’t say that.”“You heavily implied it.”She sighed.“Fine. Maybe I did.”Roman grinned and opened the passenger door for her.“Then let’s go before you change your mind.”As the car pulled away from the house, Arielle glanced once toward the tall windows.She couldn’t see

Unwelcome Attention

Two nights later, Lucien told her they were going out again.He didn’t explain much.Just a short message from Margaret that afternoon.Mr. Moreau asked me to let you know the car will be ready at seven.Arielle had stared at the text for a moment before replying.Okay.That was it.No conversation.No instructions.Nothing.By the time evening came, she was standing in front of the mirror in her room, adjusting the sleeve of a dark blue dress Margaret had left in the closet earlier.It fit perfectly.Everything in that closet did.Sometimes that thought made her uneasy.At exactly seven, a soft knock sounded at the door.“Miss Laurent,” Margaret said gently from outside. “The car is ready.”Arielle grabbed her small purse and stepped out.Lucien was already downstairs.He stood near the entrance, checking something on his phone. Dark suit. Black tie. Composed as always.Roman waited near the door.Lucien looked up when Arielle reached the bottom of the stairs.For a brief second, his

After Midnight

Arielle lay on her back staring at the ceiling. The faint light from the garden lamps outside slipped through the curtains and painted soft shadows across the room.Sleep refused to come.She turned to the side. Then back again.Her mind kept replaying the night. The event. Henry’s eyes studying her like she was something he had seen before but couldn’t place.Your face feels familiar.Her fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket.She hated that man.Not because he had done anything obvious tonight. In fact, he had been almost polite.That was what made it worse.He looked at people like he was slowly taking them apart.And for a moment tonight… she had felt exposed.Arielle exhaled slowly and pushed the blanket aside.There was no point trying to sleep anymore.She slipped out of bed and walked toward the window. The garden below was silent. The tall hedges moved gently in the night breeze.Everything looked peaceful.But this house had never felt peaceful to her.This was th

Too Close to The Truth

For a second, Arielle couldn’t breathe.Lucien stood in the doorway, one hand still resting on the handle. The hallway light behind him stretched his shadow across the floor.Her heart hammered against her ribs.Think.“Lucien,” she said, forcing her voice to sound normal.He closed the door behind him slowly. The soft click echoed in the quiet room.His gaze didn’t leave her.“What are you doing in my office?” he repeated.The question wasn’t loud. Not angry.But it was direct.Arielle crossed her arms loosely, hoping the position would hide how fast her heart was racing.“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.Lucien raised one eyebrow.“So you decided to explore the house?”She shrugged lightly. “I saw the light under the door earlier tonight. I thought you were still working.”“I wasn’t.”“I figured that out.”He took a few steps closer.Not fast. Not threatening.Just enough to make the space between them feel smaller.Arielle forced herself not to step back.“You were looking for me?” he

A Different kind of Quiet

Morning came slowly.Arielle woke up later than usual. Pale sunlight filled the room, warming the edges of the bed. For a moment she stayed still, staring at the ceiling, letting the quiet settle around her.Then last night rushed back.Lucien in the doorway.His eyes moving to the shelves.The way he had said, If you’re curious about something, you can just ask me.Her stomach tightened.Had he known?She sat up quickly, pushing the blanket aside. The room suddenly felt too warm.No.If Lucien had actually suspected something serious, he would have asked directly. That was the kind of man he was. Direct. Controlled.Still… the thought lingered like a small stone in her chest.Arielle walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside. The garden below looked calm in the daylight. The same peaceful picture as always.But peace had nothing to do with the truth buried inside this house.She exhaled slowly.Last night had been reckless. Searching his office like that. Getting caught.She

Watching from a Distance

Lucien sat back in the car without moving.Across the street, the café window framed them clearly.Arielle leaned slightly forward in her chair, her hands wrapped around a coffee cup. Roman sat across from her, relaxed, talking easily.Lucien’s jaw tightened without him realizing it.He had told himself he only stopped because the café was on the way.That was the simple explanation.But he hadn’t told the driver to move for several minutes now.Inside the café, Arielle laughed softly at something Roman said.Lucien looked away immediately.The sound hadn’t reached him through the glass, but he could see it. The small movement of her shoulders. The way her head tilted slightly when she laughed.She didn’t laugh like that with him.The thought came before he could stop it.He frowned slightly at himself.This was ridiculous.Roman was his driver even though he’s usually assigned to her. Arielle was simply spending the morning outside the house.There was nothing unusual about that.Sti

Dinner that wasn’t Planned

The car rolled through the gates just after sunset.Arielle leaned her head back against the seat as the house came into view. The large windows glowed warmly against the darkening sky.It looked peaceful from the outside.Almost inviting.She knew better.Roman slowed the car to a stop near the entrance.“You survived the day,” he said lightly.“Barely.”“That bad?”“Just long.”Roman stepped out and opened the door for her.“Well, tomorrow we can drive somewhere farther away.”Arielle laughed softly as she stepped out.“You sound like you’re planning an escape route.”“Every good driver has one.”She shook her head, still smiling as she walked toward the front door.For a moment she forgot where she was.Forgot the house.Forgot the family that lived inside it.The smile faded the moment she stepped into the foyer.Lucien stood near the staircase.Waiting.His posture was relaxed, one hand resting in his pocket, but his eyes moved to her immediately.Something in her chest tightened

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