Bound By Forbidden Desire의 모든 챕터: 챕터 21 - 챕터 30

I woke up to find his side of the bed empty.The smell of coffee reached me first, drifting in from the kitchen. It felt like someone had quietly gotten up on purpose. I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling of a room that wasn’t mine. It felt good. I grabbed my phone and noticed several missed calls from unfamiliar numbers. Then I saw a message from Marcus and another from Jamie, which contained just a link.I clicked on it and landed on an entertainment site that posted the news forty minutes ago. The photo was taken from across the street. It showed Nikos and me outside the restaurant last night, with his hand on my lower back. My father was slightly blurred behind us but recognizable if you knew who to look for.The headline read something like: Stavros International CEO and mystery woman? The comments were already pouring in.I flipped my phone face down on the mattress and sat still for a moment.Then I picked it up again and called Jamie.He answered before the first r

Chapter 23, The Board (Elena)I heard about the four o’clock meeting from Nikos’s assistant at two thirty.He had been on calls since his conversation with Papadakis ended. I sat at my desk and worked through my afternoon. I didn’t knock on his door or ask questions. I trusted he’d tell me what I needed to know when I needed to know it.“Board meeting at four,” he said, stopping at my desk. “I need you in the room.”“I know,” I said. “Maria told me.”“I should have told you myself.”“Yes,” I said. “But you were managing twelve things at once, so I’ll allow it this once.”He looked at me for a moment. “You’re very calm.”“I’m terrified,” I said. “I’m just good at this part.”He almost smiled. “So am I.”We went in together at exactly four o'clock.The boardroom felt different from the last time we had been in it together.Last time, we were on the offensive, getting there before Bella. This time, the news had already broken. The articles were out. The statement was out. The phones had

Nikos texted me before I had fully convinced myself to get out of bed. “Are you awake?” I stared at the message for a moment. The ceiling was still hazy above me, as if my body had woken up before my mind was ready to join the day. “Yes,” I typed. His reply came almost immediately. “Did you sleep?” I exhaled and shifted slightly under the sheets. “Not really,” I answered. Then I got his next message. “Eat something before the interview.” I smiled faintly at that, even though my stomach was already in knots. “You talk like I’m about to go to war.” “That’s exactly what today is,” he replied. I looked at the screen longer than I should have. “Are you trying to scare me?” I asked. “No,” he replied quickly. “I’m trying to keep you grounded.” That word lingered. As if I wasn’t already floating somewhere between control and collapse. I eventually got up, dragging myself into the quiet of the room and moving without real thought. The apartm

By Wednesday morning, the internet had decided I was either brave or stupid. There didn’t seem to be much difference between the two.The interview had spread further than I expected. Clips of me speaking popped up everywhere, edited into short segments with dramatic captions that made my own face feel strange.She looks heartbroken.Classic billionaire manipulation.She sounds genuine.No woman defends a powerful man unless something is wrong.That last one irritated me enough to put my phone face down on the kitchen counter.I had spent two days watching strangers turn me into something easier to talk about.As if I had accidentally walked into my own life and needed people online to explain what happened to me.The coffee tasted bitter, or maybe I was already in a bad mood.My phone buzzed.Nikos.Have you eaten?I stared at the message. Not “good morning.” Not “how are you holding up?” Just concern disguised as management.You ask this every day now.His reply came immediately.

I didn’t go home after Katrina’s because something about the folder she gave me felt like it didn’t belong inside any normal version of my life. It stayed open on the passenger seat beside me the entire drive. My father’s office was still lit when I arrived. That alone told me everything I needed to know about him. He was always awake when things were collapsing or when he wanted to control how they collapsed. “Elena?” His assistant looked surprised when I walked past the reception. “I need him,” I said. “He’s in a call.” “It can end.” My voice didn’t rise. The door to his office was slightly open, so I pushed it anyway. He looked up the moment I entered, and for a second, something flickered across his face. “You saw something,” he said calmly. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. “Yes,” I said. He didn’t move; that was his way of stillness before control. “Then sit,” he said. “I’m not here to sit.” Then he leaned back slightly, studying