Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

The water shifted around us, warm and restless, carrying the weight of everything weweren't saying. Ares' fingers were still warm against my skin, his dark eyes locked ontomine with a fierce, quiet intensity that made my chest tighten. My breath came in short,shallow gasps, every nerve ending in my body humming with a dangerous, intoxicatingheat.Ares looked at me intensely, making it more hard to even take back the words I said.I was drowning in him. I could feel it, feel the edges of my common sense dissolvingaway into the steam. All I wanted now was for Ares to just help me here right now.Then, cutting sharply through the quiet hum of the bathroom, a low chime rang outfrom the bedroom suite outside.I froze.Ares didn't stop moving immediately, his thumb brushing over my lower stomach onelast time before his hand stilled.The chime rang again. Ping. Ping. Followed by a frantic, vibrating buzz that rattledacross a table out in the main room. Someone was spamm

The federal detention center smelled of cheap cleaning products and old iron. The booking process had been cold and mechanical. They stripped away my designer suit, forced me into a standard gray detention jumpsuit, and took every personal item I owned, including my phone, my watch, and my wedding ring—though I didn't wear one, the emptiness on my fingers felt just as bare. They led me down a narrow corridor lined with locked doors and pushed me into a stark, windowless holding room. A single metal table was bolted to the floor, flanked by two matching chairs. The overhead fluorescent light hummed with an irritating, high-pitched buzz that made my temples throb. I sat down at the table, wrapping my arms tightly around my waist. The reality of the situation hit me like a wave of freezing water. The trap was complete. Every move I had made over the last week had played directly into Damon's hands. By isolating myself, by fighting off Ares' help, by tr

The heavy security gates of the Sterling estate swung shut behind us with a loud, finalmetallic click.I stepped out of the car, the cool afternoon breeze sweeping across the paved courtyard.As I moved toward the grand entrance, a soft, mechanical pulse buzzed against myankle. The electronic monitor strapped to my leg felt like a brand of shame, a constantreminder that I was legally bound to this place, restricted to house arrest while myenemies ran free.A few hours ago, walking back into this fortress would have felt like walking into aprison cell. But things had changed. The courtroom battle had shifted the groundbeneath our feet. Damon and his hidden allies had tried to bury me, and now I wasn'tjust fighting to protect my independence—I was fighting for total retaliation."Come inside," Ares said quietly, his hand resting gently against the small of my back aswe crossed the threshold into the expansive foyer. There was no overbearing commandin his voice, no

The sterile white walls of the federal prosecutor’s office felt a hundred degrees hotterthan the rest of the building.I sat across the heavy wooden table, my back straight, my hands resting flat against myknees. Beside me, Miller slid a thick, bound file across the polished surface. It containedPeterson's signed confession, the raw server logs tracking the IP spoofing back to anoverseas proxy, and the verified financial records proving the entire drug scandal was anengineered hit job designed to steal my company.The senior prosecutor flipped through the pages, his expression shifting from skepticalannoyance to stark, undeniable realization."The forensic trail checks out," the prosecutor admitted, sliding the documents backacross the table. He looked up at me, his tone dropping its initial hostility. "TheDepartment of Justice is officially dropping all charges against you, Mr. Vane. The arrestrecord will be expunged, and your electronic ankle monitor will be dea

The grand ballroom glittered under thousands of overhead lights, alive with the steady murmur of wealthy socialites, jittery investors, and corporate vultures waiting to see who would survive the night. As Ares and I stepped past the velvet ropes and into the sea of tailored suits and glittering dresses, the room seemed to shift on its axis. Conversations died down mid-sentence. Dozens of eyes snapped in our direction, tracking our every movement with a mix of shock and wary respect. "Look at them," I murmured, keeping my posture straight and my expression completely neutral as we walked toward the center of the floor. "They thought I'd be sitting in a holding cell tonight." "They forgot who they were dealing with," Ares replied smoothly, his hand resting lightly and protectively against the small of my back, a subtle anchor that kept me grounded amid the sea of staring faces. Before we could take another three steps, a group of fair-weather investors blocked