All Chapters of From His Rejection to His Uncle’s Obsession : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Veda’s POV Sleep was a luxury I couldn’t afford in a house that felt like it was breathing.The Kingsley estate was too quiet, a sprawling fortress of stone that seemed to amplify the frantic thrum of my own heart. It had been four days since Rowan put his mother’s diamonds around my neck, and the weight of them felt like a tether I wasn't sure I wanted to break.Restless, I slipped out of bed. The silk of my nightgown brushed against my legs like a ghost as I padded down the darkened hallway. I didn't have a destination until I heard it—the dull, rhythmic thud of flesh hitting leather.I followed the sound to the lower levels, where the air grew cooler and smelled of cedar and ozone. The private training gym was bathed in a dim, amber glow.I stopped in the shadows of the doorway, my breath catching.Rowan was alone. He was shirtless, his back to me, and the sight of him was enough to make my skin prickle. His muscles were a map of violence and discipline, rippling under skin that w

Rowan’s POV The rain in Kings City didn't wash things clean; it just turned the grit into a slick, dangerous sludge.I stood in the center of my study, the only light coming from the dying embers in the hearth and the distant, neon glow of the skyline through the rain-streaked glass. I was nursing a glass of neat bourbon, my third one, while trying to drown out the memory of Veda’s skin under my hands in the gym.I could still feel the phantom heat of her. Still smell that maddening vanilla and salt.The heavy oak doors didn't just open; they hit the wall with a hollow thud. I didn’t turn around. I didn't need to. The scent of unearned arrogance and cheap cologne told me exactly which Kingsley had decided to commit suicide tonight."You’re a hard man to reach, Uncle," Julian snapped.I took a slow, deliberate sip of my drink, watching his reflection in the window. He looked pathetic. His tie was loose, his eyes were wild, and his Alpha aura was leaking out of him like air from a punc

Hunger was a hollow ache, but the frustration simmering in my gut was far sharper.I stood in the center of the walk-in closet of the East Suite, surrounded by a fortune in silk, wool, and velvet, and I had never felt more like a pauper. Every dress I pulled from the rack hung off my frame like a sail on a broken mast. The waistlines were inches too wide; the bodices sagged where I should have filled them out."Dammit," I hissed, throwing a slate-grey slip dress onto the floor.It was a beautiful thing, but on me, it looked like a shroud. I caught my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and flinched. My collarbones were too prominent, the hollows of my cheeks shadowed by the dim light. The stress of the last year, the months of being Julian’s secret shadow while eating scraps in the kitchen, had whittled me down to nothing."Is there a problem?"I whirled around. Rowan was leaning against the doorframe of the closet, his presence instantly shrinking the room. He was still in his

Gasping for air, I tangled my fingers in the cold sheets as the remnants of Rowan’s touch melted back into the shadows of my mind.I was exhausted. Every morning for the past week, I woke up feeling as though I had run a marathon, my skin hot and my pulse racing from dreams that were becoming increasingly violent and erotic. In the dark, behind my closed eyelids, Rowan wasn't the distant, cold Enforcer who forced me to eat venison. He was a tyrant who stripped away my defenses with heavy hands and a mouth that tasted like sin."Veda? Oh, thank the Goddess, you're awake."Lila stepped into the room, carrying a steaming mug of tea and a garment bag. She took one look at my flushed face and tangled hair, her brow furrowing with immediate concern. "Are you alright? You look like you haven't slept a wink.""I'm fine," I lied, throwing my legs over the edge of the mattress. My body let out a dull, heavy ache that felt dangerously real. "Just a restless night. What is all this?""Wedding pre

Julian’s voice cut through the hum of the idling engines, a desperate, scraping sound that made the Enforcers nearby shift their weight.I stopped a few feet from the open door of the SUV. My heart hammered against my ribs, an erratic, panicked rhythm. Across the wet asphalt, Julian looked completely undone. The golden prince of the Kingsley line had shadows under his eyes, his knuckles white where he gripped the lapel of his tailored coat."Veda, please," he called out again, taking another step toward the plaza's boundary line. "Just five minutes. Let me talk to you. Privately.""She has nothing to say to you," Rowan’s voice rumbled, a low, tectonic vibration that seemed to physically push Julian back.Rowan didn't turn around to look at his nephew. He stood by the open door of the vehicle, his massive frame a wall of absolute rejection. His Alpha aura bled into the chilly air, thick and oppressive, warning Julian that he was one step away from crossing a line he wouldn't survive.