جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 110

Thea’s POVThe following afternoon, the rain finally stopped, leaving the sky a heavy, bruised gray. The mansion felt even more suffocating when it wasn't raining. The silence was louder, broken only by the occasional crackle of the fireplace or the distant, synchronized footsteps of Elias’s new security guards patrolling the hallways.I spent most of the morning in the grand library, surrounded by thousands of books that didn't belong to me. I hadn't found anything useful in the historical study the night before. Elias had guided me back to the bedroom shortly after our conversation, and though he had been gentler than usual, his presence felt like a heavy weight pressing down on my chest.The double doors of the library swung open with a sudden, sharp creak.I expected to see a maid with another tray of tea I wouldn't drink, or perhaps one of his securities checking the window locks for the third time today. Instead, two junior security guards walked into the room, carrying a mas

Darius’s POV I didn't move. I kept my eyes fixed on Sirius’s face, ignoring the red laser sights that were now bouncing across my coat. "Sirius. I didn't know you had an interest with a wanted prisoner." "We all have to expand our portfolios, Darius," Sirius said, stepping past me to stand next to Maya. He placed a large, heavy hand on her shoulder, and she shrank back slightly, though her eyes stayed wide and wild. "The Vane shipping empire has been under Elias’s for too long. He is letting his emotions run the business. He spent fifty million dollars last week just to buy up old Sterling debts to please his little wife. The board is tired of his romantic distractions." "So you broke Maya out to kill him?" I asked, my voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Kill him? Oh, heavens no. That would look like a corporate coup," Sirius chuckled, his eyes turning dark and cold. "Maya here has a personal grudge against my lovely sister in law. If an unstable, bankrupt girl slips into th

Thea’s POV The engine of the dark sedan hummed quietly as we cleared the massive iron gates of the Vane estate. The security guards bowed as the car passed, their faces serious under their caps, but Elias didn't look at them. He kept his eyes fixed on the gray highway ahead, both hands resting firmly on the steering wheel. The silence inside the vehicle was heavy, thick with things we couldn't say to each other. I turned my head toward the passenger window, watching the bare trees and the dark, wet concrete of the city rush past. The sky was a pale, flat white, threatening more rain before the night fell. As the car moved deeper into the city, my mind began to drift backward. Not to the argument in the library, and not to the courthouse from yesterday, but much further back. To the life I had lived before I died. Before I was reborn into this same body with a second chance. I remembered the coldness of the Sterling house in that first life. I remembered the way my mother— I s

"So it really was just a business deal," Thea said, her voice shaking slightly with frustration. "A piece of paper signed before we were even old enough to speak. Tell me the truth, Elias. We are standing in the ruins of my family's house. There are no cameras here. No reporters. No grandfather watching us."She took a step closer to him, her blue eyes drilling into his. "Why did you actually marry me? When my father brought me to your office with that contract, you could have chosen Maya. She was the favorite daughter. She had the backing of the entire Sterling board. Why did you choose the outcast?"Elias looked down at her. The silence in the room stretched so long that the sound of the rain outside seemed to grow louder. His face was completely still, his jaw tight. "You want the truth?" Elias asked, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register. "Yes." "I only agreed to the marriage because of my grandfather," Elias admitted bluntly. His dark eyes didn't blink. "At that

The fire in the hearth of the master bedroom crackled softly, throwing warm orange light across the room. Thea lay in the center of the large bed, covered in thick velvet blankets. Her face had regained a bit of its color, but she was still deeply asleep, her brow slightly furrowed as if she were trapped in a bad dream.Elias stood by the side of the bed, his coat removed and the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows. He watched her for a long minute, his expression dark and unreadable. A private doctor had already visited, giving her a mild sedative and declaring that her collapse was due to extreme emotional exhaustion and sudden shock.Elias reached out, his thumb gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from her forehead. Then, his face hardened, turning back into the cold, ruthless mask of the Vane family chairman. He turned around and walked out of the bedroom, closing the heavy door quietly behind him.- - - - - - Minutes later he was walking straight down the