THE ORPHAN GIRL IS THE MARTIAL ARTS QUEEN의 모든 챕터: 챕터 11 - 챕터 20

“You’re hurt.”“I’m fine.” She didn’t look at him, filling the kettle at the sink like the conversation was already over.“You’re not.” He straightened from where he’d been leaning against the counter, testing his own balance now that a night of rest had done their work. “You’ve been guarding that shoulder since you walked through the door. Let me see it.” He slowly made his way towards her.“It’s a bruise and I don’t need a doctor for a bruise, especially one who still shouldn’t be standing.”“I’ve had worse.” He crossed the room before she could stop him, and for a man who’d been carved open by three separate blades less than a day ago, he moved with an ease that made her uneasy all over again. “Turn around.”“No.”“Elaine.”It was the first time he’d used her name. She didn’t know how he’d learned it, she never told him, but hearing it in his voice made her pause just half a second too long, surprise written all over her face, and that was all he needed.He caught her wrist gently,

The Barnes estate had transformed by the time evening fell, its gardens strung with warm lights, the hall now turned into a ballroom filled with people from high society. Cars lined the circular driveway in a slow procession, each one delivering another family dressed in silk and tailored suits, daughters on the arms of fathers eager to make an impression, sons straightening their cufflinks as they eyed the crowd for anyone worth introducing themselves to. Everyone here understood the game. A birthday banquet for a woman as respected as Mrs. Barnes was never just a birthday. It was a marketplace, dressed up in champagne and string quartets, and every family in this room had brought their best offering.Ray stood near the entrance in a dark grey suit, greeting guests with the practiced ease of a man raised for exactly this, though his attention kept drifting toward the door every few minutes.“You’re doing that thing again,” Vicky said beside him, amusement threading through her voice.

“You don’t have to do this.” Vicky’s voice came out broken, fighting through the haze clouding her mind, her hand gripping the sheets like she could anchor herself through sheer will. Sweat had gathered along her hairline, her whole body trembling with a need she clearly hated feeling, humiliation flickering behind her glassy eyes even as her body betrayed her completely. “Ray,…. I mean it….find another way. I can wait it out… I can…..”A shudder cut through her words, her back arching slightly off the mattress, breath catching sharp in her throat.“Vicky.” Ray knelt beside the bed, his jaw tight, torn between the ache of watching her suffer and the weight of what Elaine had told him. “Look at me….this isn’t about me wanting something from you. I need you to understand that.”“I don’t want you to feel obligated.” Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, more from frustration than pain now. “I don’t want this to be because you had no choice.”“Vicky….” He caught her hand, steadying i

Elaine waited until the house went quiet before she opened her laptop, the glow of the screen the only light in her room. She typed through the layers she'd built herself, past the encryption that kept the forum invisible to anyone who didn't already know it existed, until the familiar dark interface loaded.Her post from a week ago sat pinned at the top of the board.TEN units available. Formula: restricted. Date: the 24th. First come, first held.Under it, the replies had multiplied into the thousands, handles she recognized and hundreds she didn't, buyers begging, offering, threatening in some cases when their first message went unanswered. She scrolled through them without really reading, the numbers alone telling her everything she needed to know. Ten would never be enough. But unfortunately for them, that's how she does things.She closed the laptop before she could feel guilty remembering how many more people needed what she made than she could ever produce in time. Ten was alr

Elaine had known Kael was rich as she knew most inconvenient truths about him. The furniture that appeared overnight, especially with how he'd made the place look like his. But she hadn't expected the car, sleek and black and clearly worth more than her apartment, waiting in the alley when she stepped out that evening."You didn't have to do this," she said, sliding into the passenger seat."I know." He pulled out of the alley without another word on the matter of going for the date.She'd dressed simply, jeans and an oversized hoodie, hair pulled back in a loose knot, no makeup. It hadn't felt like the kind of evening worth more effort than that. And yet even now, glancing sideways at her in the dim light of the dashboard, Kael's jaw tightened faintly, she was extremely pretty. She had that effect, dressed up or not, some quality that made ordinary clothes look like an accident of beauty rather than an attempt at hiding it.He said nothing about it, he rarely did, though his silence