Signed into his trap のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

The boardroom at Sterling Holdings was built to impress, not to comfort. Glass walls stretched from floor to ceiling, giving an uninterrupted view of the city skyline. The table itself; long, dark, and polished to a mirror finish, reflected the faces of the people seated around it like a second, quieter meeting beneath the first. Everything in the room was intentional. Even the lighting was engineered to make decisions feel heavier than they already were.Julius Sterling sat at the head of the table.He wasn’t the oldest in the room, but he carried himself like the final word had already been spoken and everyone else was simply waiting for confirmation. His posture was relaxed in a controlled way—leaning slightly back in his chair, one hand resting on the table, the other still as if it had no reason to move unless necessary.Around him sat executives, legal advisers, and major shareholders. They were not unified in opinion, but they were unified in expectation.Across from him, a man

Valeria didn’t sleep.By morning, the apartment felt unfamiliar, like she had spent the night in a place that no longer belonged to her. The silence from the previous night still lingered in her chest, not as relief, but as residue. The kind of silence that came after something inside a person had been stretched too far.Ethan had already left for a morning check-up at the clinic. He insisted he could go alone. She let him, because arguing would have required energy she didn’t have.Her phone was on the table.Screen cracked slightly at the corner.Still alive. Still waiting.She stared at it for a while before it rang.Victoria Whitmore.Valeria answered immediately. “You’re up early.”“I’ve been up,” Victoria replied. “Are you free for lunch?”Valeria blinked. “Lunch?”“Yes. I want to talk to you in person.”There was something in Victoria’s tone that didn’t invite refusal. It wasn’t forceful. Just certain.Valeria hesitated. “I should check on Ethan first.”“He’s stable for now,” V

Valeria changed her outfit four times.Not because she cared what Julius Sterling thought.At least, that was what she kept telling herself.The problem was that nothing felt right.The blue blouse looked too formal.The cream-colored one looked too casual.The black dress made her feel like she was attending a funeral.By the time she finally settled on a simple navy blouse and dark trousers, she was already running out of time.She stood in front of the mirror for a moment.The woman staring back looked exhausted.No amount of careful dressing could hide that.The dark circles beneath her eyes remained.The stress remained.The fear remained.She picked up her bag and left before she could talk herself out of it.Because part of her still wanted to.The entire journey to Sterling Holdings felt surreal.She spent most of it staring through the taxi window.The city moved normally around her.Street vendors arranged merchandise.Office workers hurried toward meetings.Students crossed

Valeria barely slept.Again.The contract remained on her bedside table throughout the night, untouched but impossible to ignore.Every time she closed her eyes, she saw a different version of the future.In one, Ethan recovered.In another, he didn't.In one, she signed.In another, she walked away.The problem was that only one of those futures felt real anymore.By dawn, she had stopped debating.Not because she was certain, but because certainty had become a luxury she couldn't afford.The hospital deadline was now three days away.Three.The number sat heavily in her chest.When morning arrived, she dressed quietly and left the apartment before Ethan woke up.She didn't want questions.More importantly, she didn't trust herself to answer them.The drive to Sterling Holdings felt shorter this time.Or maybe her mind was simply elsewhere.The city passed outside the window in a blur.Traffic lights.Pedestrians.Office buildings.Ordinary lives moving forward.Meanwhile, she was he