All Chapters of Yours By Contract, Claimed By Fate : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The black SUV struggled up the steep, winding access road of the Berkshire foothills, its snow chains clanking heavily against the wheel wells with every rotation. Evelyn rested her forehead against the cool passenger glass, watching the dense white wall of pine trees disappear behind a blanket of heavy, gray snow. Her phone screen showed no service—just an empty signal bar and a tiny red battery icon sitting at eleven percent. "How much further is this villa, Julian?" she asked, her breath fogging a small circle on the window pane. Julian didn't look up from his leather folder. He was flipping through the final draft of the regional distribution contract for the Swiss clinical trials, his fountain pen making sharp, precise marks in the margins. "Three miles," Julian said, his voice low against the hum of the heater. "The board meeting for the Northeast regional directors was moved to tomorrow morning at eight. Staying in town wasn't an option once Harrison's men started tracki

Evelyn’s breath hitched at his words, the sudden quiet confession settling heavily in the space between them.The fire crackled, sending a scatter of orange sparks bouncing against the iron mesh guard. Outside, the blizzard howled down the valley, throwing sheets of white ice against the floor-to-ceiling glass, but inside the narrow circle of the wool blanket, the air was warm and suffocatingly close.She looked up into his face. In the yellow glow of the oak embers, the sharp, severe lines of his jaw had softened, stripped clean of the corporate armor he wore every day like a shield."What are you apologizing for, Julian?" she asked, her voice barely a murmur above the roar of the wind. "For throwing me into the lion's den with your uncle? Or for treating me like a line item on a spreadsheet for three weeks?"Julian’s hand remained on her shoulder, his long fingers pressing through the heavy fabric of her cardigan. He let out a low, rough breath that brushed warm against her forehead

The two-hour drive back to Manhattan was executed in total, suffocating silence.Julian sat on the left side of the leather bench, his eyes glued to the glowing screen of his iPad while his fingers flew across an encrypted spreadsheet. He didn't offer her a bottle of water. He didn't ask if the heater setting was comfortable. He simply worked, his face set in a hard, unreadable mask that shut her out completely.Evelyn kept her eyes fixed on the gray highway asphalt rushing past the passenger door. Her dead phone was tucked deep inside her coat pocket, heavy as a stone against her hip.When the heavy black SUV finally pulled off the FDR Drive at Thirty-Fourth Street, the vehicle didn't head toward the Midtown office tower or the penthouse. It banked sharply right, pulling up to the side entrance of Saint Jude’s Memorial Hospital.Julian snapped his iPad shut with a loud, metallic click."Marcus will take you inside to the administrative lobby," Julian said, his voice flat, not looking

The reporter with the lowered microphone swallowed hard, taking two awkward steps back into the crowd until his spine bumped against the black tactical suit of a security guard.The deafening roar of forty reporters shouting simultaneously died down to a nervous, frantic murmur. Flashbulbs continued to pop, throwing erratic bursts of white light across the wet pavement, but nobody dared thrust a microphone past the steel security barriers again.Julian didn't rush Evelyn into the back of the Escalade.Instead of opening the heavy car door, he turned back toward the press corps. He stayed standing on the damp concrete lip of the plaza, his broad frame blocking the cold harbor wind from hitting Evelyn. His uninjured left hand remained firmly around her waist, holding her tucked tight against his ribs under the heavy weight of his cashmere overcoat.Evelyn felt the steady, rapid rhythm of his pulse through his suit jacket. Her dead phone was still heavy in her pocket, but the memory of t

The heavy oak front door of the penthouse unlocked with a soft electronic beep.Evelyn stepped into the foyer, her leather boots coated in thin grey city sludge. Her shoulders hurt from holding them tight against the cold wind all morning, and the heavy cashmere coat Julian had wrapped around her at the hospital was folded awkwardly over her arm.The apartment was deathly quiet."Julian?" she called out, her voice raspy and dry.No answer. Only the gentle, rhythmic hum of the central climate control filtering through the high ceilings.Julian had been dropped off at the corporate headquarters fifteen minutes after the broadcast ended, flanked by Marcus and three senior attorneys. He had given her his private phone, told her to stay inside the penthouse, and promised to be back before six.Evelyn set her wet coat on the bench by the entryway and kicked off her boots. Her wool socks felt cold against the dark hardwood floors as she walked toward the kitchen.She poured herself a glass o