Lahat ng Kabanata ng Contract Over: You're Free to Go: Kabanata 191 - Kabanata 200

The air seemed to have been instantly sucked out of the second-floor workspace.The drafting pen hit the solid wooden desk with a sharp crack. It wasn't loud, but it landed like a resounding slap, shattering the smugness in Teresa's eyes.Slowly, the uplift curve at her lips stiffened, then completely froze. She was used to being in control of everything, but now, it felt like the ground had dropped out from under her, and an invisible hand tightened around her heart again.She didn't even realize what she had done wrong."Silas?" she tentatively called out. She could sit through billion-dollar negotiations without batting an eye, but now there was a crack in her usual composure. Her voice betrayed a hint of panic she didn't even notice."Is there something wrong with the agreement? I only did it to—""Help me?"Silas slowly rose from his chair. His long fingers closed around the high-end, faint leather-scented black folder. Instead of opening it, he simply held it by his side

Silas took a step back to put a little more distance between him and Teresa, yet it felt as though he had carved an impassable chasm between their souls."You don't really love me that much." He looked into her eyes and delivered the final, brutal blow."You learned to cook and threw around a fortune to buy out my projects because you can't stand the thought of something that was once yours now leaving your control."At the end of the day, your affection, desperate chase to win me back, and compromise are just to feed your horrifying possessiveness. You're just putting on a show, lying to yourself."Teresa kneeled on the cold floor, clutching the agreement tightly. The sharp edges of the paper sliced into her index finger and drew a drop of blood, but she didn't even notice.Her throat tightened, as if it were stuffed with soaked cotton. Overwhelming tears blurred her vision, but she couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal because Silas was right. His words struck a nerve so hard

The seat belt dug painfully into Teresa's chest until it made her choke.A deathly stillness fell over the car, save only for the endless, drumming rain outside and the barely audible hum of the idle engine.Her chest heaved violently as she gasped for breath. She turned around to look at the crumpled document on the passenger seat and stared at the words "Controlling Stake" still visible on the papers.The thread in Teresa's mind—the taut one holding her together for an entire month as she was sure she could win Silas back—finally snapped with a clean pop on this freezing, rain-soaked night."Ah!"Teresa suddenly let go of the steering wheel and buried her face in her hands as a muffled, anguished cry tore from her throat. She collapsed over the steering wheel, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.This breakdown was unlike any she had experienced before.When she had wept in her enormous apartment, it had been out of regret, bitterness, and the painful realization of losing th

The VIP consultation room was so quiet that the only sounds audible were the soft hum of the air conditioning and the steady rain tapping against the windows.A full minute passed in silence."Are you done cringing, Teresa? Have you finished feeling sorry for yourself?" Alice finally asked. Her voice was calm, but her words were strong and impactful, like a boulder dropped into still water.Teresa froze, thrown off by the professional tone. "What do you mean?""If you're done crying, I have one question for you, not as your best friend, but as a psychologist with ten years of clinical experience."Alice leaned slightly forward and locked her eyes on Teresa's evasive gaze."For the past two weeks, you learned to cook, swapped into flats, and today you even threw a fortune to forcibly buy out Silas' project. You've gone to such lengths to win him back, but did you really do it for him, or was it for yourself?"The question was so sharp and abrupt that Teresa sat stiff on the armch

The heavy rain continued and finally began to ease sometime after midnight.The Maybach with a badly dented front end crawled into the underground garage of a luxury neighborhood in Bellmere, like a battered tank.Teresa practically stumbled out of her car. When she shut the door, her knees gave out, and she stumbled, barely managing to steady herself.After taking off her cream-colored coat, soaked through with rain and cold sweat and wrinkled beyond recognition, she draped it carelessly over her forearm and drifted into the elevator like a ghost."Beep. Welcome home."The smart lock's robotic female voice was as sweet and professional as ever. But in the vast, dark riverfront apartment, its words sounded almost like a precise mockery.Teresa didn't turn on the lights. Without even changing into slippers, she walked barefoot across the cold hardwood floor to the broad leather couch in the living room before collapsing heavily onto it.The apartment was pitch-black. Only the pal