Lahat ng Kabanata ng Addicted to His Bitter Rival: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Kael didn't like waiting, but this time, he checked the time more than once. Lucian had always been on time before. He would show up exactly when he said he would, not early, not late. Kael had come to expect that over the years. So when the door opened at the exact minute they agreed on, Kael wasn't surprised. But everything else felt strange.Lucian walked in as if nothing had changed. He didn't hesitate, his face showed no stress, and there was no sign that his whole company had just fallen apart for reasons no one could fully understand. He closed the door quietly, his eyes meeting Kael's with a steady look.For a moment, Kael just watched him. "You're on time," he said.Lucian's mouth turned up a little, not quite a smile. "Did you expect me not to be?""I expected something," Kael replied. "I just haven't figured out what yet."Lucian didn't answer that. He walked further into the office and stopped in front of the desk without sitting down, as if he wouldn't stay long. That als

Kael woke up the next morning feeling wide awake, and that feeling didn't go away even when he lay still. For a moment, he stayed on his back, eyes open, looking at the ceiling. The memory of the night before came back in pieces that fit together too perfectly to ignore. There was no confusion, no fog to excuse what had happened. He remembered how it started, how sure he had been, how every decision felt planned. He remembered the change that followed, quiet and controlled, happening in a way that gave him nothing to push against. And he remembered the end most clearly of all—not because of what was done, but because of what it showed.He had not been in control.The thought settled completely this time, without any argument. Kael pushed himself up, his jaw tightening as he sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't rush to move past that point. He let the realization sit there, pressing into him in a way that made it impossible to dismiss as a small mistake. This wasn't a minor error that

I didn't rush.I never do.The glass doors sealed shut behind me and the city swallowed me whole. Noise, movement, light. The indifferent machinery of it grinding forward like nothing had happened.My name scrolled across the screen above the intersection.Thorne Dynamics Collapse.Lucian Thorne Falls.I made myself look at it. Stood there on the steps while people moved around me, while cameras I couldn't see recorded whatever they could get. There was a particular vertigo in watching your own name become a headline. Like reading an obituary over your morning coffee and realizing halfway through that it's yours.I adjusted the cuff of my sleeve.Smooth. Precise.My father had taught me that before he taught me anything else. Composure is performance. And performance, maintained long enough, becomes real.I had never decided if I believed that. I had never had the luxury of not acting like I did.One step at a time. Unhurried. I was aware of the eyes on me the way you're aware of weat

The waiter came and went without either of them acknowledging it beyond the minimum. Wine was poured. Menus were set down. Kael didn't open his.Neither did Lucian."You're not eating," Kael said."Neither are you.""I'm waiting for you to say something worth hearing."Lucian's mouth curved slightly. "You came. That already told me what I needed."Kael's jaw tightened. "Don't do that.""Do what?""Treat everything like information you've already processed."Lucian looked at him steadily. "Isn't it?"The candlelight between them was low. Warm. It did nothing to soften the quality of Lucian's attention, which was the kind that made you aware of every word before you said it. Kael had sat across from difficult men his entire career. Men who used silence as pressure, who watched for weakness with the patience of something predatory.Lucian was different.He didn't watch for weakne

Kael held Lucian's gaze and waited.Nothing came.Lucian sat exactly as he had all evening. Fingers loose against the stem of his glass, posture easy, expression giving away nothing. The low light softened everything around them. It didn't touch him."You're enjoying this," Kael said."Am I?""Yes."A pause. "That would imply I'm getting something out of it.""Aren't you?"Lucian picked up his glass instead of answering. The deliberateness of it grated."Stop doing that," Kael said."Doing what?""Acting like you're in control.""I am in control."Kael let out a quiet, humorless sound. "You signed everything over to me this morning.""Yes.""You have nothing left."Lucian tilted his head. "Is that what you think?"It hit harder than it should have. Kael leaned forward, not hiding the edge in his voice. "If you're suggesting this was intentional, you're either lying or you've lost your mind.""Those aren't the only options.""Then explain it.""No."Immediate. Calm. Absolute.Kael's fi