All Chapters of The Antidote To His Ruin : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Suzan’s POVEmerald leaned over the table, resting her chin in her hands as she looked up at Draven. "Mr. Sterling?""Yes, Emerald?""Why don't you have a little girl like me?"My breath locked in my throat. Every nerve in my body went taut as iron. I froze, my heart hammering violently against my ribs as I waited for his answer, praying my face wouldn't betray the sudden, terrifying panic surging through my veins.Draven didn't pull away from her. His expression grew tender, shadowed by a quiet, lingering grief."I used to think..." he began slowly, his voice raspy with emotion, "...that I wasn't built to be a father. I thought I had too many responsibilities."He reached out, his broad fingers gently brushing a stray lock of dark hair away from Emerald's forehead, a gesture so natural, so instinctually paternal, that it brought an agonizing sting to the back of my eyes."But standing in this room today..." Draven whispered, his gray eyes lingering on her face, "...I realize I was ju

Suzan’s POVBy a few minutes to ten, the warmth of breakfast had completely disappeared beneath the hard, unyielding edges of corporate reality.The moment the private elevator doors opened onto Sterling Pharmaceuticals' executive floor, Draven changed.I watched it happen right beside me. His shoulders squared. His expression hardened into carved marble. The rare, genuine warmth that had lingered in his eyes while Emerald dubbed him "Sir D" vanished beneath the familiar, cold mask of the CEO.It was almost unsettling. The man who had eaten pancakes under the strict supervision of a five-year-old had vanished. In his place stood Draven Sterling, heir, corporate predator, and CEO of a global titan currently bleeding billions.I stepped out of the elevator behind him, Edward and two members of our scientific team following close in our wake.The executive floor was alive with frantic energy. Assistants hurried between offices carrying confidential folders. Employees spoke in hushed, hu

Suzan’s POV“Where did she learn those words?”Draven’s voice was barely a murmur, yet it sliced through the quiet apartment with the weight of an executioner's blade.Too quiet.I knew that voice, that low, measured cadence he adopted whenever he was no longer posing a question, but simply waiting for someone to realize they had been backed into a corner.My fingers tightened around the aluminum edge of my laptop until my knuckles turned bone-white. For one terrifying, suffocating second, the oxygen left my lungs entirely.Judging by the way he reacted, his eyes glowed with realization, I could easily guess the words Emerald had just gurgled into his ear were buried beneath five years of carefully curated memories I had locked behind heavy steel doors. Words I had taught my daughter as a playful bedtime mantra because they belonged to a fairytale she begged to hear whenever the storm outside grew too loud.A story about a brave little girl who had once stumbled into a dark, abandone

Draven’s POVI said nothing. I gently disengaged from her arms, pulling my clothes back into place.I walked into the master bathroom without looking back, closing the frosted glass door behind me.I turned on the shower, cranked the temperature to scalding hot, and stepped beneath the deluge. Steaming water slammed into my face and shoulders, washing away the scent of sex, sweat, and cheap triumph.I stood there for ten minutes, my hands pressed flat against the wet tile wall, my head hanging low.The physical release had cleared the adrenaline, but it hadn't cured the hollow, sickening emptiness in my chest. If anything, it had laid it bare. The act had been intense, explosive, and completely devoid of soul. It had been an attempt to drown out a memory with raw noise, and it had failed.Because as the hot water washed down my spine, the fog lifted, leaving me with absolute, razor-sharp clarity.Suzan.I closed my eyes, letting the water pelt my eyelids.I replayed the living room co

Suzan's POV I turned back to the workstation, but my hands were shaking so hard I couldn't type. The lie was getting harder to carry.Because the truth was painfully, terrifyingly simple: I could control my tone. I could control my face. I could build walls and demand professional distance.But I couldn't stop my heart from slamming against my ribs every time he looked at me like I was the only person in the world worth seeing.And that scared me far more than any corporate scandal ever could.By late-afternoon, internal security had flagged three shift workers who had accessed the synthesis floor during that fourteen-hour window. Draven called an emergency closed-door meeting with his legal counsel and risk directors.I stayed behind in the quiet, sterile sanctuary of the laboratory.I should have been relieved to have the room to myself. Instead, his voice kept echoing in my head.I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the window, closing my eyes. I hated that I knew the an