All Chapters of The Hybrid’s Forced Bond: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Margot POVBy morning, I was exhausted.I yawned so hard on my way into the lab that one intern gave me a concerned look.“Long night?”I nearly walked into the equipment cabinet.I had almost been late to work.Rhett had only come to my room once.Apparently, that was more than enough to destroy my ability to function before nine in the morning.I sat down with a stack of data and forced my brain back into work mode.I was halfway through checking a set of results when I heard voices outside the lab.I glanced toward the glass wall. A group was moving down the hall. People from the research institute.Several executives from the Vanderbilt Group.And then I saw him. Arian.I knew exactly why he was here.The group was touring one of the chemical research labs connected to the corporation's business operations.He had no reason to come into mine.And I would rather not see him. Twice was already too many.The first time, he had challenged me in front of everyone.The second time, he'd

Margot POVThat selfish woman had taken everything.She’d drained our savings, emptied the accounts, and offered the rest of the family’s assets as collateral for her boyfriend’s debts before vanishing without a word.Almost overnight we went from comfortable to drowning.Grandpa took it the hardest. Already older, already carrying years of quiet strain, he watched the life he’d spent decades building disappear, and something inside him simply gave way.He grew sick. Less than six months later, he was gone.Ellen had spent most of her life living without fear of the next bill.Now she was moving into a cheap apartment, counting every dollar: rent, groceries, medical bills, and utilities, while everything settled onto my shoulders.I was barely old enough to grasp how quickly money vanished each month, yet one truth burned clear: there was never enough.Without my professor’s quiet help, I don’t know how we would have survived those years. I hated remembering that time, not because po

Margot POVNora suddenly leaned across the table.“This is Rhett Vanderbilt we’re talking about.”Her eyes practically sparkled.“The Vanderbilt heir.” I already knew where this was going.“Don’t.” She ignored me.“What does it feel like to get carried by the most powerful Alpha in the city?” I gave her a flat look. She grinned. I had no doubt the leaked footage was connected to Hunter somehow.The problem was that the gossip wasn’t nearly as interesting as people wanted it to be.Hunter Vale’s wife, Grace Baker, was one of the biggest rising stars in the country. She was also a Beta. People had been talking about their marriage from the beginning. A top-tier Alpha marrying a Beta made people uncomfortable.Grace didn’t have a scent. She couldn’t be marked. To people who believed an alpha's partner should be chosen by biology, their marriage made no sense. That was precisely why the paparazzi kept watching them.They wanted cracks: a fight, a cheating rumor, anything they

Margot POVRhett had been restless the night before. Whatever had driven him, it kept us both awake long past midnight, and when he finally settled, he didn’t leave.He simply drew me against him and slept like that, his arm heavy across my waist as if the idea of distance had never occurred to him.The alarm went off at seven-thirty. I usually woke without one, but after a night like that my body felt leaden, limbs slow to answer, and eyelids unwilling to lift.I reached for the phone, silenced it, and had barely drawn a full breath before his arm tightened and pulled me back into the curve of his body.I tried to shift.“I have to get up.” My voice came out rough, still thick with sleep.He pressed his face into the back of my neck and inhaled, slow and deliberate.Warm air brushed my skin. The hold around my waist stayed locked.I sighed and tried to loosen his fingers; he only tightened them further.“I have work.” “No.” The single word was low, sleep-rough against my ear, and

Margot POVI had watched my mother destroy herself chasing love.She had been beautiful, educated, well-connected, and accomplished. She had everything she needed to build a solid life.Instead, she had built her entire identity around being wanted: one relationship after another, one man after another, every time calling it love, every time losing something.Eventually all she had left was me, the child she had once regretted having.I would never become her.I could love Rhett. I could want him. But I would never hand him my entire life.Melanie gave a small hum: I asked Rhett to come with you. He said no. Then I invited you myself, and you still won’t come. Do you hate me? “No. We don’t know each other. I’m sure you don’t need another friend.” “But we’re not friends. We’re sisters.” She sighed.“What happened between our parents belongs to the past. We’re the only sisters we have. Don’t you think we should get to know each other?”Something softened for just one brief second. T