《Bound by paper 》全部章節：第 61 章 - 第 70 章

CHAPTER SIXTY ONE: Jade’s POV The week had been a slow, agonizing lesson in restraint. After the afternoon at the museum, Killian had followed through on his threat. He had punished me with a precision that left my body humming for days, his hands marking me in ways that made it impossible to forget who I belonged to. But since that night, a wall had gone up. Not a wall between us, but a wall of responsibility. Killian was fighting for his empire, buried under contracts and late-night calls. And I was fighting for my future. Every hour he spent in the boardroom, I spent at my desk, drafting presentations for investors and researching suppliers. I watched the way he moved, the way he commanded a room, and I stole those little pieces of fire for myself. I didn't want to be a gold digger. I didn't want to be a trophy. I wanted to be a partner. But the physical distance was starting to feel like a hunger. Every time we brushed past each other in the kitchen, or his hand lingered o

CHAPTER SIXTY THREE: Killian’s POV I should have known. The moment I saw her in that dress, I should have known the night was already lost. Jade did not just walk into that ballroom; she owned it. Black velvet wrapped around her like sin. Diamonds caught the light with every step. That tiara sat on her head like she had always belonged in my world, like she had not been forced into it. Like she had chosen it. Like she had chosen me. That was the problem. I was starting to believe it. I had dealt with hostile boardrooms, ruthless investors, and men who would sell their own mothers for profit. None of them ever made me feel the way she did tonight. Jade made me feel reckless. Like control was optional. Like discipline was something I could abandon the moment her eyes met mine. The entire night, I watched men stare at her like they wanted to taste what was mine. And Jade? She did not stop it. She let them look. She let them wonder. Every time she smiled, every time she laughe

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE: Killian’s POV Caleb chuckled, the sound grating against the heavy silence of the room. It was a sound that suggested my threats had lost their teeth, mostly because he had spent the last decade watching me bark and bite at the world while he remained the only one who didn't flinch. He walked further into the office, dropping into one of the visitor chairs with the practiced ease of a man who owned the air he breathed. I didn't move. I couldn't. Jade was still on my lap, her fingers a ghost-touch in my hair, her warmth seeping through my shirt. It was a terrifyingly domestic position for a man who had built his life on the scaffolding of cold logic and sharp edges. I felt exposed. Not because Caleb was watching, but because Jade’s presence was beginning to feel like a necessity rather than a strategy. "I should go check on Aurelia," she whispered, her voice a soft hum against my chest. "I don’t want her waking up and looking for me." She started to shift,

CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN: Jade’s POV I spent the afternoon exactly where I belonged. I had pulled a small mahogany desk toward the window in Aurelia’s room, keeping my laptop open while she slept fitfully in the bed beside me. The room was quiet, filled only with the rhythmic hum of the humidifier and the occasional click of my keys as I refined the pitch for my company. My mind was a chaotic blend of market projections and fever charts. I was exhausted, but it was a grounded kind of tired. For the first time, the work felt like it had a purpose beyond just proving I could do it. I was building a future for myself, but I was doing it while anchoring a home that was beginning to feel terrifyingly real. The silence was broken by the sharp buzz of my phone. I saw the name on the screen and my blood turned to ice. Sheila. I answered before the second ring, my voice a sharp whisper to keep from waking the child. "Sheila?" "Jade, darling," her voice was like syrup over glass. "I was j

CHAPTER SIXTY Nine: Jade's POV The morning air in the room felt thick with a new kind of silence. It wasn't the heavy, suffocating quiet of a contract or a secret; it was the settled peace of a rhythm we were finally beginning to share. I woke up on top of him, my body draped over his like a second skin. Killian’s chest was a steady, warm landscape beneath mine, and his arms were locked around my waist as if he had decided mid-sleep that I wasn't allowed to drift an inch away. His scent filled my lungs, that dark, expensive, and familiar musk that now felt like home. For a long moment, I didn't move. I just stayed there, enjoying the way the world seemed to stop at the door of this room. Then, I shifted slightly, trying to sit up and clear the sleep from my head. His arm tightened immediately. "No," he murmured, his voice rough and low. I blinked, a lazy smile tugging at my lips. "Good morning to you too." His eyes stayed closed, but his hand slid down my back in a slow, deliber