All Chapters of The Price of Obedience: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Kian Reid, our family may not be an elite legacy, but in this city, we still carry some weight."My daughter Olivia is the one I cherish most. I’m not about to let her marry some spoiled, soft-handed boy."At The Gilded Room, the most exclusive lounge in downtown, Diane Grant lifted spoonful after spoonful of truffle-infused cream soup. Her eyes were full of greed, yet she forced an air of restraint, carefully skimming the surface with her spoon without even bothering to look up.She clearly didn’t belong in a place like this, yet she held her chin high, her tone dripping with pride and a sense of authority that left no room for argument.Sitting across from her, I frowned slightly, the smile at the corner of my lips turning stiff.Olivia and I had been college classmates. We’d been in a steady and serious relationship for four years.After graduation, meeting the parents had been the natural next step. Marriage was already on the table.I had assumed, given my background and e

Chapter 2

"I’ll be checking your daily earnings and performance. That will be the standard for whether you’re fit to marry my daughter."I froze.Diane didn’t know I was the only heir to one of the most powerful families in Crestfall City.But asking me—a finance graduate from Halcyon University, a top 50 university in the world, an analyst at Blackridge Capital, a leading brokerage—to deliver food?This wasn’t about "experiencing life". This was humiliation."Mom! This is too much!" Olivia finally snapped, shooting to her feet, her face flushed."Too much?" Diane let out a cold laugh."Olivia, don’t forget. Your brother Christopher got caught in the rain once, and it left him with a chronic condition. Every time the seasons change, he coughs for weeks."Kids these days are fragile. I’m just giving him a head start, seeing if he has the resilience to take on the responsibility of being a man. If he can’t even handle this, how is he supposed to support a family? How is he supposed to deal

Chapter 3

"What? You ran a red light just to save time?"Kian! Have you lost your mind? If something happened to you, wouldn’t that just disgrace Olivia in front of everyone?"The most ridiculous incident was when I took an urgent order and ran through the streets in the pouring rain. By the time I handed the food to the customer, I was soaked through. When I got back, I came down with a high fever.I called Olivia, hoping she could take me to the hospital, but Diane answered the phone."A fever? Just take some paracetamol. Why make Olivia run around for you?"Olivia has an important meeting tomorrow. She needs to rest. Go to a pharmacy yourself, pick up some medicine, and while you’re at it, think about why other riders are fine, but you’re the one getting sick."At the end of the day, your body’s just too weak. You lack discipline."Then she hung up.That night, I lay alone under the covers, burning up, drifting in and out of consciousness. What chilled me more than the fever was every

Chapter 4

"She also said that as long as your numbers look good today, all those minor mistakes from before will be wiped clean."Her voice sounded light, almost cheerful, like she could already see our perfect future ahead.For a moment, I felt relieved, too.The damage Diane had done to me wasn’t something one dinner could erase. At least, it was finally coming to an end."Alright. I’m busy right now. We’ll talk tonight." I hung up, took a sharp turn, and sped onto the overpass leading to Sunshine Gardens.Ten minutes… five minutes…As the navigation showed I was almost there, the tension I’d been carrying finally started to ease.Sunshine Gardens was one of the more upscale residential compounds in the city. Security was tight. I pulled up at the entrance, reported the unit number and purpose like I’d done countless times before.The guard was about to wave me through.Then a familiar figure stepped out from the security booth and blocked my bike.It was Diane. She held a granola ba

Chapter 5

"What are you laughing at?"The sound of my laughter clearly unsettled Diane. She stopped what she was doing, unease creeping into her expression.I didn’t answer her. Instead, I looked at her calmly and asked, "Mrs. Grant, do you know your son Christopher has a severe peanut allergy?"She froze for a second, then frowned. "Why are you asking that? I’ve taken care of Christopher’s health myself. I know exactly what he can and can’t eat. I never let him touch anything like that.""Is that so?" I lifted the medication box slightly. "Then do you know that at noon today, you had your housekeeper cook him your signature grilled chicken with peanut glaze? Said it was to fortify him?"Diane’s face drained of color instantly. "Y-You… how do you know that?""Because Olivia sent me a message half an hour ago, showing off your cooking. She even sent a photo. In that photo, Christopher looked pretty happy. There was even a piece of crushed peanut stuck to the corner of his mouth."As I spok

Chapter 6

A few minutes later, Christopher’s breathing gradually steadied, and some color returned to his face.The ambulance finally arrived.Olivia and I helped get Christopher onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.Outside the emergency room, the atmosphere was suffocating. Olivia crouched in the corner, arms wrapped around her head, silent.When Diane arrived, her hair was disheveled, her makeup smeared. There was none of her usual polish and composure left. She rushed over to Olivia, grabbing her arm, her voice frantic. "How is Christopher? How is he?"Olivia looked up, her eyes red, filled with anger and resentment. "And you still have the nerve to show up?!"She shot to her feet, shoving Diane hard. "This is all your fault!"If you hadn’t insisted on those ridiculous tests, would Christopher be like this? If Kian had been five minutes late, the doctor said that the consequences would’ve been unimaginable!"Diane stumbled back, hitting the wall. Tears streamed down her face eve

Chapter 7

"Olivia, not once—not a single time—have you ever truly stood on my side. In your heart, your mother’s authority and your family’s pride always come before my feelings and my dignity."My words left her speechless. Her lips parted, but not a single word came out. The color drained from her face, shifting from red to pale, then to ashen."Kian… I’m sorry… I—""No need." I looked at her, then at Diane, who stood frozen nearby. "I should be thanking you, actually. Thank you for using these three months to show me exactly who you are and to show me what this relationship really was."Marrying you wouldn’t have been the beginning of my happiness. It would’ve been the start of my misery."So cutting my losses now is the smartest decision I’ve made in my life."With that, I didn’t spare them another glance. I turned and walked away."Kian!" Diane suddenly scrambled up from the floor and rushed in front of me, grabbing my arm. This time, her posture was completely lowered. Her face was

Chapter 8

Word was that, after Christopher woke up in the hospital and learned that his own mother had indirectly caused everything, he had a massive argument with Diane. Their mother-son relationship, which had once been close, dropped to freezing point overnight.Diane herself took the blow hard. She fell ill and ended up hospitalized for half a month.Olivia was completely overwhelmed by taking care of her brother while trying to comfort her mother. Her work suffered too. With her constant leave, projects started slipping, and her manager tore into her.Then they started trying to reach me.Throughout dawn to dusk, Olivia sent me dozens of messages every day. Every line was filled with apology, pleading, and desperate attempts to win me back.You could even say she used every single tactic I had once used when I was the one pursuing her.Diane, too, completely dropped her former arrogance. Not only did she send people to deliver expensive gifts and luxury items to me, but she even showe

Chapter 9

None of that had anything to do with me anymore.All I hoped was that Christopher could one day break free and find a life that truly belonged to him.…Another half a year passed, and I heard updates about the Grants through a friend.Olivia ultimately failed to win me back. Under Diane’s arrangement, she went on a blind date with Gabe McConnell, a banker from a "suitable" background, and they got engaged soon after.Word was, Gabe had a terrible temper and a domineering personality. He kept Diane completely in check.In front of him, she didn’t dare bring up any so-called "training” anymore. Instead, she acted like a doting mother, constantly accommodating and trying to please him.As for Christopher, after going through that brush with death, it was like he grew up overnight. Ignoring Diane’s objections, he moved out on his own, applied for graduate school overseas, and left the country with a suitcase.Every now and then, he posted photos of blue skies, white clouds, and a

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