All Chapters of Contracted to him: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

-Evangeline-I should have known peace never lasted long in my life.It always showed up quietly, like it was testing the waters.Then it left the same way chaos entered—without warning, without apology.That morning, I woke up earlier than usual.Not because I wanted to.Because my mind refused to let me rest.There was something about the night before that sat wrong in my chest.Not Theo.Not Kennedy.Not even the dinner, which had gone better than I expected.It was something else.Something I couldn’t name.Something I didn’t want to name.I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence in the house.Too quiet.Theo’s presence always made silence feel different.He didn’t have to speak to fill a space.He just existed and somehow everything became aware of him.I turned over and reached for my phone.Nothing new.No messages.No threats.No Lucas.That alone should have been comforting.Instead, it made me uneasy.Because Lucas never stayed quiet for lon

-Evangeline- I never thought I would see the day Theodore Duke would willingly stand in a kitchen. Not a metaphorical kitchen. An actual kitchen. The same man who had a personal assistant, a driver, a chef, and probably an entire team of people whose only job was making sure he never had to inconvenience himself was now standing beside me holding a wooden spoon like it was a foreign object. And somehow… It was adorable. I hated that word. Adorable was not a word I associated with Theodore. Intimidating? Definitely. Arrogant? Absolutely. Frustrating? Most definitely. But adorable? Never. And yet here he was. “You’re staring,” he said without looking at me. I blinked. “I’m not.” “You are.” “I’m observing.” “That’s a nicer way of saying staring.” I rolled my eyes, turning back to the stove. “You’re very confident for someone who almost burned onions five minutes ago.” “I did not burn them.” “You absolutely did.” “They were slightly darker.” “They were black.”

Evangeline The strangest thing about healing was that it never happened all at once. There was no magical moment where everything suddenly felt okay. No morning where I woke up and thought, *I’m completely fine now.* It happened slowly. A conversation here. A small apology there. A moment where something that used to hurt didn’t hurt as much anymore. And maybe that was what I was experiencing. Not forgiveness. Not yet. But movement. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I wasn’t stuck in the same place. My relationship with Ava wasn’t magically fixed after one phone call, but it was something. A beginning. And I was learning to appreciate beginnings. Because endings had become far too familiar. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the gala arrangements. The foundation’s annual event was approaching quickly, and the closer we got, the more chaotic everything became. There were vendors to confirm, guest lists to finalize, sponsors to contact, and a thousand

The house felt different when I woke up. Not quieter. Not louder. Just… different. Like something had shifted in the air while I slept and I hadn’t been invited to notice. I lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, trying to place the feeling. Then I felt it. Warmth. Heavy. Familiar. An arm was draped over my waist, holding me close in a way that made it impossible to ignore the fact that I was not alone in bed. I turned my head slightly. Theo. Asleep. Completely unguarded in a way I wasn’t used to seeing him. His face was relaxed, hair slightly messy, the usual sharpness softened by sleep. His arm tightened slightly when I moved, like even unconscious he didn’t want distance between us. I should have moved away. That would have been the logical thing to do. Instead, I stayed. Which was a problem. A very noticeable problem. Because my mind immediately reminded me of everything else that had happened the night before. The drive. The silence. His jacket s

"Strip."The word fell from his lips severing the last thread of composure I had managed to cling to. My blood ran cold, turning my veins into icicles as I stared at him, my mind scrambling for a way out, for anything to stop this nightmare from escalating."Should I repeat myself, Ptichka?" He shifted on the couch, the leather creaking under his weight as he removed a gun from his waistband and placed it beside him.My throat closed up but I managed to shake my head."Words," he prompted, his tone dropping dangerously."No," I breathed, my voice barely audible.He took a slow, deliberate sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving mine, before nodding at the dress. "Go on."My fingers trembled as they fumbled for the invisible zipper at my back. I wasn’t a clumsy person, but the weight of his cold stare paralyzed me."Faster."I panicked, pulling at the zipper, my movements jerky and uncoordinated."Slower."I forced myself to breathe, my fingers finding the track and sliding the metal