All Chapters of MY CEO, MY OBSESSION : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

89 Chapters

THREE AM TRUTH

We talk until the coffee goes cold.Not about us, exactly. About everything else—the books he's been reading, the meditation practice he started and abandoned three times before it stuck, the community garden he volunteers at on Sundays. I tell him about teaching that Harvard workshop, about the mentorship program I started for young women in business, about the cooking classes I've been taking even though I'm still terrible at anything beyond basic pasta.It's easy. Too easy. Like slipping into a conversation we paused a year ago and are just now resuming."You volunteer at a garden?" I can't keep the surprise from my voice."Don't look so shocked." He stretches, and I deliberately don't watch how his shirt rides up slightly. "Dr. Morrison said I needed to do something where the results weren't immediate. Where I had to learn patience and surrender control to natural processes. Turns out, plants don't care how many companies you've restructured.""And you stuck with it?""Every Sunda

Last Updated : 2026-06-04

THE MORNING AFTER

The Uber driver asks if I had a good night."I don't know yet," I answer honestly, and he laughs like I'm joking.Back at the hotel, I strip off Damien's clothes and stand under the shower until the water runs cold, trying to wash away the feeling of his apartment, his presence, the easy intimacy of four AM pancakes. But it clings to me like smoke—invisible but impossible to ignore.My phone buzzes as I'm toweling off. Rachel."You were supposed to call yesterday. Are you okay?"I stare at the message, trying to figure out how to explain that I spent the night at my ex's apartment, talking until dawn, and somehow it felt like both the healthiest and most reckless thing I've done in a year."I'm fine," I type. "Just got caught up in work stuff. Call you later?"Another buzz. This time, Clara."You're avoiding me. Which means something happened. Spill."My sister knows me too well."Had dinner with Damien," I respond. "Then went back to his place. Nothing happened. Just talked."The thr

Last Updated : 2026-06-04

UNLEARNING

We stay on the mountain for hours.Not talking, mostly. Just sitting on that flat rock, watching clouds move across the water, boats leaving white trails in their wake. Occasionally Damien points out landmarks—Bainbridge Island, the Olympic Mountains, the ferry routes he's memorized from watching them pass.It's the most comfortable silence I've experienced in years."Can I ask you something?" I finally say, breaking the quiet."Anything.""When did you stop being angry at me?"He's quiet for so long I think he won't answer. Then: "I was never angry at you. I was angry at myself for becoming someone you had to escape from.""That's not what I mean." I pull my knees to my chest. "After I left—you must have been furious. I walked away from everything. From you, from us, from what we were building. You don't just get over that.""You're right. I don't just get over it." He picks up a small stone, turning it over in his hands. "The first month, I was livid. Convinced you'd given up too ea

Last Updated : 2026-06-04

FRACTURES

We're walking back down the trail when my phone rings.Catherine's name flashes on the screen, and reality comes crashing back like cold water. I'd almost forgotten I'm here for work, that this trip has a purpose beyond excavating the ruins of a failed relationship."I need to take this," I tell Damien.He nods, stepping away to give me privacy, but not so far that I can't see him examining a tree like it holds the secrets of the universe."Catherine, hi.""Elena. How's Seattle treating you?""Good. Really good. The Fremont location is perfect, and I think we can move forward with—""That's not why I'm calling." Her voice shifts, loses its warmth. "I got a call this morning from Marcus Reed."My blood runs cold. Marcus Reed runs one of our biggest competitors, a firm known for aggressive poaching and cutthroat tactics. "What did he want?""To let me know that Damien Voss reached out to him last week inquiring about opportunities in Boston. Apparently Voss Consulting is considering Eas

Last Updated : 2026-06-04

AFTERMATH

I make it halfway down the mountain before I have to stop.Not because I'm tired, but because my hands won't stop shaking and my breath is coming in short, painful gasps that have nothing to do with exertion. I sink onto a fallen log beside the trail, head between my knees, trying to remember the breathing exercises Dr. Chen taught me for moments exactly like this.Four counts in. Hold for seven. Eight counts out.It doesn't work. Nothing works except the anger burning through my chest like acid.He knew. He fucking knew I was considering Seattle and said nothing. Just sat there last night in his apartment, making pancakes and talking about honesty, while holding onto information that could derail everything I've built.My phone buzzes. Damien."Please let me explain. This isn't what you think."I delete the message without responding.Another buzz. "I should have told you. You're right. But please don't leave like this."Delete."Elena. Please."I turn off my phone.The walk down tak

Last Updated : 2026-06-04

THE LOBBY

I take fifteen minutes instead of ten.Not to make him wait, but because I need to look like someone who has their shit together even if I'm crumbling inside. I change into jeans and a sweater, fix my face with enough makeup to hide the evidence of crying, pull my hair into something that resembles intentional rather than disaster.The woman in the mirror looks composed. Controlled. Nothing like the mess I feel like inside.When I step out of the elevator, I see him immediately.Damien's sitting in one of those uncomfortable lobby chairs that's more design than function, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He looks wrecked—hair disheveled like he's been running his hands through it repeatedly, still wearing the same clothes from the hike, shoulders tight with tension.He looks up when he hears my footsteps, and the expression on his face nearly undoes me. Relief mixed with fear mixed with something that looks like pain."Thank you for coming down," he says, standing."Five minutes

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

THE CALL

I don't call him that night.Instead, I order room service I don't eat, run a bath I don't get into, and stare at my laptop pretending to work on the expansion proposal while actually doing nothing but replaying every conversation we've had since that coffee shop.By midnight, I've made lists. Pros and cons. Risks and benefits. Evidence for and against the possibility that Damien Voss and I can be in the same room without destroying each other.The lists don't help. They never do when feelings are involved.At one AM, I call Dr. Chen."Elena?" Her voice is thick with sleep. "Are you okay?""No. Yes. I don't know." I pull my knees to my chest. "I'm sorry for calling so late. I just—I need help thinking through something and you're the only person who knows all the history.""Give me a minute." I hear rustling, water running. When she comes back, she sounds more alert. "Okay. Tell me what's happening."I do. Everything from the coffee shop to the fight on the mountain to the conversatio

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

MORNING CLARITY

I wake up at six AM with immediate regret.Not about Damien, exactly. But about the fact that I made a life-altering decision at one in the morning when I was emotionally compromised and running on no sleep. Dr. Chen would have a field day with that timing.I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, doing a mental check-in the way she taught me.Am I still connected to my own needs? Yes. I need to know if this can work.Am I saying yes because I want to or because I'm afraid to disappoint him? Want to. Definitely want to, even though it scares me.Do I still have access to my own preferences and desires separate from his? I think so. But I need to keep checking.The fact that I'm doing this analysis at all feels like progress. A year ago, I would have just said yes and dealt with the consequences later. Now I'm at least trying to be intentional about potentially destroying my life.My phone buzzes. Damien."I know I said I wouldn't pressure you, but I need to know you're okay. That you did

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

THE UNEXPECTED COMPLICATION

The meeting at two goes sideways in a way I don't see coming.Catherine's on the call, along with two board members I've never met before—Richard Crane and Marilyn Foster. The Fremont location is on screen, my expansion proposal open, and I'm mid-presentation when Richard interrupts."Ms. Torres, I need to stop you there. We have some concerns about the Seattle market."I pause, cursor hovering over a slide about projected growth. "What kind of concerns?""Conflict of interest concerns," Marilyn says, her voice clipped and professional. "We've done some additional research into the competitive landscape, and it's come to our attention that you have a personal relationship with Damien Voss, CEO of Voss Consulting—one of the major players in this market."My stomach drops.Catherine's face on screen is carefully neutral, but I can see the tension around her eyes. She knew this was coming and didn't warn me."I knew Damien Voss previously," I say carefully. "But that relationship ended o

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

THE CHOICE

I don't go back to the hotel.Instead, I walk. Through downtown Seattle, past the waterfront, into neighborhoods I don't know, letting the rain soak through my jacket until I'm shivering but still moving. My phone buzzes repeatedly—Damien, Rachel, Clara, even Catherine checking in—but I ignore them all.I need silence. I need to think without anyone else's voice in my head telling me what I should want.By the time I finally stop, I'm somewhere in Capitol Hill, standing outside a small bookstore with a cat sleeping in the window. The absurdity of it—that I'm having a career crisis while staring at a sleeping cat—almost makes me laugh.Almost.I duck inside, shaking off rain, and the owner barely glances up from her register. It's warm and quiet, smelling like old paper and coffee. I wander through the stacks, not looking for anything specific, just needing to be somewhere that isn't a hotel room or Damien's orbit.My hand lands on a book about women who changed careers in their thirti

Last Updated : 2026-06-10

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