All Chapters of Trapped By The Billionaire Brothers: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

ALYANA POV The words didn’t register right away. Before the fire. They stayed in the air between us, heavy, sinking slowly into my chest like something I didn’t know how to process. I stared at Julian, waiting for him to say something else. To explain. To fix how wrong that sounded. He didn’t. “Before the fire,” I repeated quietly, my grip tightening around the folder. “You’re saying my father worked for you… and you never thought to mention that?” Julian’s jaw shifted slightly. Not defensive. Not guilty either. Just… careful. “It wasn’t relevant,” he said. A short, disbelieving breath escaped me. “Not relevant?” I shook my head, taking a small step back. “You brought me into this house, into your life, into whatever this arrangement is—and you didn’t think that mattered?” His gaze didn’t leave mine. “At the time, it didn’t.” “That doesn’t even make sense.” “It does,” he replied, voice still calm, still controlled. “Your father was one of many people connected to the comp

ALYANA POV The car ride to the office felt different. Not tense like last night. Not quiet in that suffocating way. But not normal either. Julian sat beside me, scrolling through something on his tablet, his expression composed like always. The city moved outside the window—busy streets, people rushing, everything loud and alive—but inside the car, it felt controlled. Measured. Like everything around him adjusted to his pace. I rested my hand lightly on my lap, fingers brushing against each other as I stared ahead. “I didn’t expect you to actually let me come,” I said after a while. Julian didn’t look up immediately. “I didn’t say you could wander freely.” I let out a small breath, almost amused despite myself. “Of course you didn’t.” That earned me a brief glance. Quick. But I caught it. “You’ll stay with me,” he added. “That sounds more like supervision than learning.” “It’s both.” I turned slightly toward him, studying his profile. “Do you ever not control everythin

ALYANA POV The rest of the morning passed slower than I expected. Not because there was nothing to do—but because I kept noticing things I hadn’t paid attention to before. The way people adjusted their tone when Julian walked past. The way conversations paused for half a second before continuing. The way everything stayed… controlled. Even when it looked relaxed. I stayed near his office for most of it, going through more reports he assigned. At first, I thought he’d just leave me alone with it, but he didn’t. He stayed. Not hovering. But present. Every time I paused too long on something, he noticed. Every time I flipped a page too quickly, like I was trying to move past something I didn’t understand, he noticed that too. “You skipped that section,” he said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. “I didn’t skip it.” “You skimmed.” I turned back to the document, exhaling quietly. “I got the idea.” “That’s not the point.” I frowned slightly, tapping the edge of the

ALYANA POV “You’re not ready for what comes next.” His words didn’t leave right away. They stayed there, hanging between us, pressing into my chest like something unfinished. I held his gaze, refusing to look away first this time. “You don’t get to decide that.” Julian didn’t react immediately. His expression stayed steady, but I saw it again—that small shift in his eyes. Like he was choosing his next move carefully. “I’m not deciding for you,” he said. “I’m stopping you from walking into something blindly.” “That’s the same thing.” “No,” he replied, his voice still calm. “It isn’t.” I exhaled slowly, trying to keep my frustration from spilling over. “Then explain it to me.” “I already did.” “You told me half of it.” “That’s all you need right now.” “That’s not your call to make.” The words came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t take them back. Julian’s jaw tightened slightly. He looked at me for a second longer, then stepped away, putting a bit of distance betw

ALYANA POV “Then be careful what you decide to believe.” His voice stayed with me even after I left the study. It followed me down the hallway, into my room, into the quiet that should’ve felt comforting but didn’t. Everything felt different now. Not because something dramatic happened, but because something shifted. A line had been crossed. Not loudly. Not obviously. But I felt it. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at nothing, replaying every word Julian said. The way he chose them. The way he avoided others. The way he looked at me like I was getting too close to something he didn’t want me to touch yet. Placed. That word didn’t make sense no matter how many times I turned it over in my head. My father wasn’t the type to be placed anywhere. He worked hard. Took whatever job he could get. He wasn’t part of anything strategic or hidden. At least… that’s what I always believed. I pressed my fingers against my temples, letting out a slow breath. “Stop overthinking,” I mu