All Chapters of Reborn as the Ruthless Heir’s Contract Wife: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Father was moved before anyone informed the hospital staff why.Caelan’s security team placed him in a private medical facility registered under another company’s name. A decoy patient remained in the original room while bomb technicians examined the device.It was not a crude weapon.Someone had built it to resemble part of the hospital’s oxygen system. If it had detonated, investigators might have blamed faulty equipment.“Would it have killed everyone on that floor?” I asked.The technician nodded. “The blast would have caused a fire. With oxygen lines running through the walls, the damage could have spread.”My knees weakened.Caelan caught my elbow.I pulled away—not because I disliked his touch, but because I was beginning to depend on it.“That never happened before,” I said.We stood inside the abandoned consultation room from which his team monitored the operation.He closed the door.“You need to stop speaking about the original timeline where others might hear.”“You admit

The forged name change was more than an insult.It was an attack on Caelan’s right to inherit Voss Industries.Octavian’s succession rules required the next chairman to carry the Voss family name at the time of appointment. By altering the marriage registry to show that Caelan had adopted my surname, someone had created grounds to remove him from consideration.“It won’t survive a legal challenge,” Helena said.We sat inside Caelan’s office at Voss headquarters while reporters gathered outside.“The original document carries both your signatures and biometric verification. The alteration is obvious.”“Obvious forgery still creates delay,” Caelan replied. “The board votes next month.”Helena nodded. “Which gives Octavian enough time to present another candidate.”“Lucien,” I said.Caelan’s half-brother had no official position at Voss Industries, but he carried Voss blood through their mother. If Caelan became ineligible, Octavian could bring him into the company as a compromise candid

Caelan kissed me beneath a storm of camera flashes.It began as a performance.His hand rested carefully against my waist, and his mouth touched mine with enough restraint to preserve the distance between us.Then I kissed him back.Something changed.His fingers tightened. My body moved closer, and the noise of the reporters faded beneath the sound of my heartbeat.This was not like the brief kiss after our civil ceremony.That one had been calculated.This one felt like a confession neither of us understood.When Caelan lifted his head, his composure had cracked. Desire darkened his eyes, and for the first time, the ruthless heir looked uncertain.The cameras had captured everything.“Was that convincing enough?” I whispered.“For them?”“For you.”His gaze dropped to my mouth.Before he could answer, Helena opened the car door.“We should leave before the press requests a second demonstration.”The ride home was painfully quiet.I sat beside Caelan, aware of every inch separating u

Caelan refused Octavian’s invitation.Octavian responded by announcing the dinner to the press.By noon, every society reporter in the city expected the Voss brothers, their wives, and their grandfather to appear together at our estate. Cancelling would allow Octavian to claim that Caelan feared facing his family.“He chose our home because he wants access,” I said.Caelan stood before the evidence wall in the west wing.“He may already have access.”The missing ledger proved that someone inside the estate was helping Crowne.Lucien had taken responsibility for the theft, but he had not explained how he entered the house. He also refused to return the ledger unless I agreed to annul my marriage.“What exactly does Lucien believe you stole from him?” I asked.“Everything.”“That answer is too convenient.”Caelan removed a photograph of Evelyn Voss from the wall.She was beautiful, with dark eyes like both her sons.“Lucien was nine when our mother married my father,” he said. “Octavian

Caelan ordered me to remain in the dining room.I followed him upstairs.The doors to our adjoining suites stood open. One security guard lay unconscious in the corridor, blood running from a wound at his temple.He was alive.Caelan’s team cleared my room first.No intruder.The connecting door stood open.Inside Caelan’s bedroom, the windows remained locked, but his wardrobe had been emptied onto the floor. Someone had cut open the mattress and searched every drawer.“They were looking for something,” I said.“The ledger,” Caelan replied.“Lucien already has it.”“Lucien has the book. He may not have what was hidden inside it.”I remembered the photograph that had fallen from between the pages.“What else was there?”“I don’t know.”The west-wing alarm continued below.Caelan left two guards with me and moved toward the stairs.A sound came from my bathroom.The guards raised their weapons.The door opened slowly.A housekeeper stumbled out with her hands tied and tape over her mout