All Chapters of Bound Unwilling : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

47 Chapters

Chapter Thirty-One

Miriam sat on the floor for a while before reaching for her phone. She found Emily's name and pressed the call button. It rang twice before Emily answered."Hey, what's up?""Can you come over?"There was a pause. "Are you okay?""Just come please."Emily arrived in twenty minutes. Rosie met her at the door and led her upstairs without asking any questions.She knocked once and pushed the door open. Miriam was sitting at the edge of the bed, still wearing her robe, with her phone resting on her lap. Emily stepped inside and stopped, her eyes immediately drawn to Miriam's neck. “Miriam,” she said as she crossed the room. “What happened to your neck?” Miriam looked up at her. “Did Damien do that to you?”She didn’t respond, and that was enough.. Emily sat beside her. “You told me he was treating you well,” she said, her voice careful and measured. “So what’s all of this?” “I haven’t been completely honest with you,” she admitted. Emily studied her for a long moment before slowly n

Chapter Thirty- Two

Miriam was quiet for a moment. Then she picked up the phone and looked at the message again. “He says he won’t be coming home tonight.” Emily said nothing for a second. “You don’t have to be sad about that, Miriam.” “I’m not sad.” She set the phone down. “I just don’t know what’s going on in my marriage anymore.” She exhaled slowly. “I feel like I made the wrong choice.” “Don’t beat yourself up right now.” Emily’s voice was gentle. “I think you’re just overthinking it.” Miriam didn’t respond. Emily moved closer and drew her in. Miriam leaned into her without resistance, her head finding Emily’s shoulder. They sat like that for a moment, the room quiet around them. “You know what,” she said. “I’m spending the night.” Miriam looked up at her. “You don’t have to be alone tonight.” She said, trying to cheer her up. Miriam pulled the face. Emily pointed immediately. “Don’t make that face.” Miriam kept it going anyway. “I hate that face,” Emily said, already smiling. “You

Chapter Thirty-Three

She sat in silence on the drive back.Damien had said everything he needed to say in front of that building, and she had listened, nodded, and said the right things. But her mind had been somewhere else entirely.It was still there now.She looked out the window and let herself ask the question she had been running from.Had she made the right decision?She sat with it quietly, turning it over in her mind.Damien was kind when he chose to be. Generous in ways that caught her off guard, a whole building with her name on it said something, regardless of what either of them could afford. He was attentive. And then there was his temper. It was the only thing getting in the way.She pressed her lips together.All her life, no one had tried to make things happen for her. Not really. Her father had provided but never championed. Margaret had taken. Lucas had also taken.Susan had been the exception—the one person who had consistently shown up. She thought about what leaving would look li

Chapter Thirty-Four

The smell hit her before anything else — that distinct mix of antiseptic and clean linen that could only mean one thing. She turned her head.Damien was sitting beside the bed, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, still in the clothes she had last seen him in. He looked like he hadn’t moved in hours.The moment he saw her eyes open, he exhaled — sharp and long, like he had been holding it in.“Thank God.” He reached for her hand immediately. “I thought I had lost you, baby.”She blinked at the ceiling. “Where am I?”“Hospital.” He squeezed her hand. “You fainted this morning.”She looked at him. Then around the room again.It had started in the kitchen.She had come down that morning while Damien was still upstairs, having taken the day off. She had been standing at the counter, reaching for a glass, nothing unusual, until the room tilted.She didn’t remember hitting the floor.Rosie had found her and had stood there for barely two seconds before she turned and ran.“Sir.” She had pu

Chapter Thirty- Five

It’s been three months, and her stomach is still flat — barely a hint of what is growing inside her. Most mornings, she had to remind herself it was real. That somewhere underneath the surface, something was happening that she couldn’t see yet.The morning sickness reminded her every time she forgot.She sat by the window in the bedroom, tea in hand, watching the city do its usual thing below. It was early. Damien was still asleep.He hadn’t lost his temper in three months—not once. She didn’t know how to handle this change, the absence of something she had grown accustomed to anticipating. Every time he came home late, she braced herself for the shift. Each time she said the wrong thing, she watched his face for a flicker of anger.It never came.Maybe he had changed, she thought. Maybe this baby had done something to him that she hadn’t been able to do on her own.Or maybe she was just hoping.She set her tea down and looked at her stomach.She had always wanted children. She had i

Chapter Thirty-Six

The text was from Adrian.They had been talking properly for a few months now. It had started with an apology she sent the morning after the restaurant.I apologize for my silence. I'm unsure what you expect, considering my marriage. So I need to ask. What do you truly want from this?He hadn’t taken long to reply.A friend. That’s it. I enjoy talking to you.She had believed him, mostly because he had always respected their boundaries. He was just someone on the other end of the phone when she was bored or needed to laugh at something lighthearted. He checked in on her and sent random messages that made her smile. Never once did he push past the line they had both agreed upon without discussing it first.Damien had noticed she was always on her phone lately. She had caught his eye on her a few times and waited for the question that never came. He was trying not to lose his temper, and she could see the effort in the way he chose silence over reaction. The pregnancy had done something

Chapter Thirty- Seven

A knock came at the door.She looked up from her desk.“Come in.”The door opened.Lucas.She blinked. Then she slowly leaned back in her chair.“What are you doing here?”He stepped inside, hands in his pockets, looking around the office like he owned the place.“Is that how you welcome your only brother to your company?”“Lucas.”“Nice place.” He looked at the walls, the desk, the logo on the glass partition. “Mira and Co.” He nodded. “I like it.”He dropped into the chair across from her without being told.She watched him.“How have you been?” he asked. “How’s married life? Is Damien treating you well?”She looked at him. “I’m sure you know where your friend works. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” She tilted her head. “Or is he not your friend anymore?”Lucas went quiet.He looked at his hands briefly. Then back at her.“I don’t like this,” he said. The casual tone was gone. “The way things are between us. I want to make it right, Miriam. I mean that.”She closed the file in front

Chapter Thirty-Eight

She stood in front of the mirror, hands resting lightly on the sides of her stomach.It was there now. The slight curve, the unmistakable roundness that hadn’t been there a few weeks ago. She turned slightly to the side, studying it.Then she felt it— a small flutter. It was gone in a second.She pressed her hand flat against her stomach.There it was again.A kick.She exhaled slowly. Something settled in her chest that she had been holding at a distance for months. This was real. All of it. She was going to be a mother.She looked at herself in the mirror, and for the first time since the doctor had said those words in that hospital room, she didn’t feel conflicted about it.She felt the kick again and smiled.“I’m going to the hospital tomorrow,” she said. “For a check-up.”She hadn’t looked at him, but she could feel him watching her. He had been watching her since she got up.“I’ll come with you.”She turned.He was lying on his side on the bed, head propped on his hand, eyes on

Chapter Thirty- Nine

Emily stood up and walked straight toward Damien.“You did this.” Her voice was low, but it carried weight. “Didn’t you?”She stepped closer, finger raised. “If anything happens to her — if anything happens to that baby, you will be hearing from my lawyers. I will make sure of it.”Damien’s jaw tightened. He looked past her toward Miriam.“I need to speak to her.”“You need to leave.”“Emily, that’s my wife. My child”“That’s exactly the problem.” Emily’s voice didn’t waver. “She doesn’t want you here right now.”Damien looked at Miriam across the room.Miriam met his eyes for a second. Just long enough.Then she looked away.“Please go,” her voice was low, not loud enough for him to hear directly, but Emily caught it and turned back to him.“You heard her.” Emily’s voice was final. “Leave, Damien.”He stood there for a long moment, jaw working, hands clenched at his sides.Then he turned and walked out without another word.The doors closed behind him.Miriam exhaled and let her hea

Chapter Forty

Emily appeared at the stairs, her hair still slightly damp. She wore a comfortable shirt that she had grabbed from her old room.She looked at Miriam.“Don’t tell me that was him.”Miriam set the phone down.“That was fast.” She looked her over. “Did you even shower properly?”“You’re silly.” Emily laughed and dropped onto the couch with her, close enough that their shoulders touched.The laughter faded.“Why did he call?”Miriam exhaled slowly. “What else would it be, Emily? To apologize. Same thing he does every single time.” She patted her lips. “I’m so tired of hearing him say sorry. I’m exhausted by it. He says it, I believe it, things get better for a while and then—” She stopped. Pressed her lips together. “Then we’re back here.”Emily was quiet.“He’s been saying sorry since the first time he touched me. Sorry with flowers. Sorry with a care package. Sorry with a whole building with my name on it.” She shook her head slowly. “And I keep letting him back in because when he’s go

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