All Chapters of Bound to the Ruthless CEO: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

19 Chapters

CHAPTER 11

Rachel's POVEvery time I closed my eyes, I saw the photograph, the abandoned property, and those four words painted across the wall in red letters: SHE SHOULD HAVE DIED. The message felt like a promise, not a threat meant to scare me. By the time dawn crept across the city, I had given up trying to sleep. I sat beside the massive window in my guest suite, wrapped in a blanket, while the photograph rested on my lap.My mother's photograph, the one that proved Clarissa had known my parents years before she claimed she ever met them. Who was my mother really? Why had she hidden the key? Why was Clarissa lying? And why were people willing to kill me over something I didn't even understand?A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts, “Come in.” A housekeeper stepped inside, “Mr. Kane would like to see you for breakfast.” I nodded, “I’ll be there shortly.”The woman smiled politely before leaving, once alone again, I slipped the silver key into my pocket. I never let it leave my possess

CHAPTER 12

Rachel's POVThe press conference started at exactly eleven o’clock, I wished I hadn’t asked to watch it. I wished I had listened to Matthew when he suggested I stay away from it entirely but some stubborn part of me still needed to see it for myself. I wanted to know whether my father would choose Raphael Enterprises or me.I turned on the television inside one of Matthew’s private sitting rooms. The moment the live broadcast came on, I saw Victor, Clarissa, and Elena. They sat behind a long, polished table surrounded by cameras, reporters, and flashing lights.They looked perfect from a distance, the exact image Raphael Enterprises had spent years creating, I sat on the sofa while Matthew stood near the window behind me as the conference began. Victor stepped toward the podium, “I want to address the recent events surrounding my daughter Rachel Raphael.” He said in a concerned voice but I could see beyond the act. “As many of you know, Rachel has recently made several independent d

CHAPTER 13

Rachel's POVI never understood that silence had weight. I used to think silence was simple, the absence of sound. But standing inside Matthew Kane's private study while Antonio held a recovered journal page in his hand, silence felt heavy enough to press against my chest. My mother had written my name years ago before she died. She had written it in a context I still couldn't fully read, in a document that someone had tried to erase from existence, and somehow the two letters of my name had survived when everything else had turned to ash.I stared at Antonio, then at the damaged page sealed inside the transparent evidence sleeve, then at the engagement contract resting untouched on Matthew's desk. Nothing in my life felt real anymore. Not the room, not the contract, not the man standing quietly on the other side of the desk watching me the way people watch something fragile balanced at the edge of a surface. "What exactly does it say?" I asked.Antonio stepped forward and placed th

CHAPTER 14

Rachel’s POVAntonio’s voice cut through the room, “We have a problem.”The words were simple but something in his tone made my entire body go still. I had learnt something about Antonio since I got here, he was not the kind of man who panicked or raised his voice. So if he said there was a problem, then it was a big problem. Matthew turned away from the balcony and faced him, “What happened?”Antonio’s expression was tense as he stepped further into the penthouse. He placed a tablet on the table. “The engagement announcement leaked.”I frowned, “What?”Antonio looked at me, “The news was supposed to be released tomorrow morning after the preparations were completed, but someone pushed it out early.”My eyes went to the tablet, i saw the headline: MATTHEW KANE ENGAGED TO RAPHAEL HEIRESS. Matthew’s expression didn't change, “How long ago?”“Thirty minutes,” Antonio said as he swiped.“That’s impossible,” I said, stuttering.Antonio looked at me, “Why?” He asked. “Because nobody had

CHAPTER 15

Rachel’s POVI woke up before my alarm, for a few seconds, I forgot where I was. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, the sheets were too soft, the room was too quiet. Everything about it felt like it belonged to someone else. Then I saw the ring on the bedside table, and the reminder came crashing back. Matthew Kane, the engagement, the cameras, I closed my eyes. For one second I wished I could go back to being the woman who did not understand the danger surrounding her, the woman who thought her biggest problem was a marriage arranged by her father.My phone vibrated, I reached for it, opened it and the screen was filled with notifications, messages and news alerts. My stomach tightened as I unlocked the phone. The first headline appeared, MATTHEW KANE ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO RAPHAEL HEIRESS. The second one followed, THE ALLIANCE THAT COULD CHANGE THE CITY’S POWER BALANCE.The third one made my fingers go cold, WHO IS RACHEL RAPHAEL? I stared at those words, it was strange becaus

CHAPTER 16

Rachel’s POVI woke up expecting fear, after everything that happened last night, I thought I would open my eyes and feel the weight of the threat pressing down on me. The photograph, the message, the man beside my mother, the words that still haunted me. Next time, we won't attack your reputation, we’ll take your life. But instead, the room was quiet, the morning sunlight slipped through the curtains of the penthouse, painting soft lines across the floor. For a moment, I allowed myself to pretend that everything was normal. Then I looked at my hand, the engagement ring caught the light, a beautiful reminder that my life had changed, a reminder that I was no longer just Rachel Raphael, I was now Rachel Kane, Matthew’s future wife. A woman whose name appeared on every headline, a woman whose name appeared on every headline, a woman someone wanted dead. I pushed myself out of bed and walked into the living area, I expected to find Matthew there. Maybe we would finally talk about the t

CHAPTER 17

Rachel’s POVI didn’t sleep because anytime I closed my eyes, I saw the video again, the hidden face, the distorted voice, the words that had crawled under my skin and refused to leave, the truth about Rachel’s mother would destroy them both. I hated how easily those words affected me. They weren’t just a threat, they were a promise. Someone out there knew things I didn’t know. Things about my mother, Matthew, and me. And the worst part is I didn’t know which scared me more, the person hunting me or the possibility that Matthew knew the truth. Morning arrived before I knew it. The city outside my window was waking up, completely unaware that somewhere beneath the luxury and power, people were moving pieces on a board I couldn’t even see. My life had become a game and I didn’t even know the rules.I walked into the dining area expecting to find Matthew there, instead, I found him standing near the glass wall overlooking the city, dressed completely in black. He looked like he belonge

CHAPTER 18

Rachel’s POVThe papers were spread across the table, but for the first time, I wasn’t looking at them like a victim searching for answers; instead, I was looking at them like someone trying to solve a crime. My mother’s journal pages, the old photographs, the names Antonio had collected, and the dates that appeared again and again, everything connected to a past I had spent my entire life being kept away from. I traced my fingers over one of the photographs, my mother, young, beautiful, and confident. A version of her I barely knew, not the woman from my childhood memories, not the woman everyone described after her death. This woman looked like she knew things, like she carried secrets, like she had been fighting a war long before I ever knew there was one. And somehow, that war had found me. I looked at the collection of files Matthew had allowed me to see. Everyone in my life has always decided what I could handle; Victor decided the kind of daughter I should be; Clarissa decid

CHAPTER 19

Rachel’s POVThe first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was not the ceiling above me, it was the photograph, the image of my mum holding a baby from the videos. A child I had never seen, a sister I never knew existed.For several minutes, I stared at the ceiling, unable to move. Because every time I closed my eyes, my entire childhood changed, the memories I had remembered suddenly felt like lies. My mother’s smile, her hugs, the nights she told me everything would be okay. Had she been hiding her whole life from me? Had she been afraid? Or had she believed I was too young to know?I sat up slowly, my fingers tightening around the sheets, a strange anger settled inside me, not the kind that exploded, but the kind that stayed and burned quietly. Everyone had secrets, even my mother, everyone knew pieces of my life except me. I was always the person standing outside the door, always the last one invited into the truth and I was tired of it.I got dressed and went straight to the room w

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