جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

✦ ❦ ✦ Selena Pov ✦ ❦ ✦ Sunlight slipped through the curtains and hit my face, pulling me out of sleep. I opened my eyes slowly and felt the heavy presence of Matthew still sleeping next to me. One arm was stretched across the bed like he owned the whole space, his blonde hair messy against the pillow, his expression completely relaxed. For a second I just stared and really looked at him then a slow smirk curved on my lips. *Look at this man. One night of good pussy and the big bad billionaire was moaning like a whole baby.* I carefully slid out of bed, moving slow and deliberate so I wouldn't wake him. The cool air hit my skin as I stood up. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and walked quietly out of the room, heading back upstairs to the master bedroom. The hallway was quiet. Just the sound of my bare feet on the marble floor. Got to the room and closed the door behind me, I locked it and immediately jumped on the bed, pulling up FaceTime. Isabelle answered on the second

The fever started on the fourth day after their conversation in bed. Selena didn't notice it at first. She just felt heavy. Tired in a way that sleep didn't fix. By morning, her throat ached and her body felt like it was burning from the inside. Three days. That's all it took for her to get sick. Matthew noticed immediately. He noticed everything about her now—the shorter replies at breakfast, the way she avoided looking at him for too long, how she disappeared into her wing earlier every evening. The laughter that Alexander used to bring out of her had slowly faded into exhaustion again. The staff felt the shift too. The mansion's atmosphere had changed. The lightness that had been there after the real wedding was gone, replaced by tension that no one talked about but everyone felt. On the third morning, Selena walked down the grand staircase wearing soft grey lounge clothes, one hand gripping the railing. Her curls were tied loosely, several strands already escaped around her fa

The morning after the couch incident was painfully awkward.Selena woke up with her head still resting against Matthew’s shoulder. His arm had somehow found its way around her waist during the night. For a few quiet seconds, neither of them moved. His warmth, his scent, the steady rise and fall of his chest — it all felt dangerously real.Then reality hit her. The rain had stopped sometime during the night, leaving the mansion wrapped in quiet morning light. Selena became aware of warmth first. Then the steady rise and fall beneath her cheek. Her eyes opened slowly. Matthew’s arm rested loosely around her waist, his head tilted slightly toward hers like somewhere during the night the distance between them had disappeared without either of them noticing.Matthew’s eyes opened. The softness in them vanished instantly, replaced by that familiar cold mask. Matthew’s gaze lingered on her face for one dangerous second too long before he stood up. Like he wanted to say something. But didn

Matthew was already tense when Selena came down for breakfast.The dining room felt colder than usual. Half-drunk coffee sat beside his untouched breakfast while three different phones buzzed nonstop across the table.He was on his third phone call, voice sharp as he barked orders about budgets and deadlines. “One more delay and Laurent Holdings pulls thirty percent of the investment,” Matthew snapped into the phone. “Fix it before I get there.”The moment he saw her, he ended the call abruptly.“Get dressed,” he said, ending the call sharply. “You’re coming with me to the Riviera project site.” Selena paused with her coffee cup halfway to her lips. Up close, he looked exhausted. His tie sat slightly loose around his collar, and faint shadows rested beneath his eyes like he hadn’t slept properly in days. “Why?” she asked carefully. “Because I said so,” he replied automatically, already reaching for another vibrating phone on the table. Selena watched him for a second before setti

Breakfast was really suffocating. The silence between them felt heavier than any argument. Selena picked at her food while Matthew scrolled through his phone, jaw tight. The warmth they had shared just days ago felt like a distant dream. Finally, he spoke without looking up. “There’s an important investor dinner tonight at the Aurelia Grand. You’re coming with me.” Selena stared at him for a moment. “Alright.” No questions, no pushback. Just quiet acceptance. Matthew’s grip on his phone tightened slightly, but he said nothing more. Selena stood first and carried her empty coffee cup toward the sink. As she passed him, the sleeve of her sweater brushed lightly against his arm. Both of them stilled for half a second. Just days ago, he had touched her like he couldn’t get enough. Now even accidental contact felt careful. Matthew looked up slowly. “The car leaves at seven.” Selena nodded without meeting his eyes. “I’ll be ready.” By the time she walked out of t