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CHAPTER SEVEN
Dernière mise à jour:
2025-02-11 12:59:28
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Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER EIGHT
(Natalie’s POV) It was forty minutes to 6pm, I was back in my house staring at my reflection. A reflection of a woman I barely recognized. The makeup on my face was subtle but polished. The eyeshadow was soft brown, there was a touch of eyeliner, and as for the lips, it was muted red. Behind me, was Sophie on my bed, watching me with a thoughtful expression. I had insisted that she come home with me after the hospital visit in the morning, pleading that her presence would make my preparation so much easier. And Sophie, ever the loyal friend, hadn’t hesitated. Now, she observed me with both admiration and concern, tapping her fingers absently against her knee. "You look like a goddess. Uhm…a goddess about to make history." I let out a quiet scoff, shaking my head. "Or ruin it." "Come on, Nat," she chided, uncrossing her legs and sitting forward. "You’re stunning. And besides, no one at that party has to know how much you would rather be anywhere else but
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-12Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER NINE
(ALEXANDER POV) The moment Lila threw out those words, I didn’t need to look at Natalie to know she had frozen beside me. The sharp intake of breath I heard from the corner of my ear was enough. But I couldn’t let her respond couldn’t allow this situation to spiral any further. Before Natalie could even open her lips, I stepped forward, smoothly placing myself between them, a controlled smile settling onto my face. The same kind of smile I used during business negotiations when the other party was being particularly insufferable. "Lila," I half whispered with a tone that was effortlessly composed. "Didn't expect to see you here." Her blue eyes narrowed, the corners of her lips curled upwards in a smile that held nothing but malice. "I can see that" She sneered. I ignored her bait, reaching for Natalie’s hand with smooth ease. Then with a mechanical nod I murmured. "Excuse us," The voice was just loud enough for Lila to hear but not the others. "We have things to
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-13Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER TEN
(Alexander’s POV)Natalie’s eyes were locked on me inside the car, her brows drawn together, her lips hanging open.I couldn’t blame her reaction.I mean, even I would have done the same if I were in her position. But right now, I had bigger problems.My fingers clenched against the steering wheel, observing the SUV once more. "Alexander?" Natalie’s voice came again.I barely turned my head before murmuring back a limp,"Not now," I took yet another glance at the front before turning back to her."Duck down and stay low. Don’t let them see you."She blinked at me without moving, too stunned to even process the command, too dumbfounded to react.A muscle in my jaw ticked. "Natalie," I stressed.But she still did not move a muscle.With a heavy sigh, I pushed open the door and stepped out, slamming it shut behind me and locking up the doors with my remote.“Fuck” I whispered as I hurried off. I strode forward outside the car, my steps swift but measured. My shoulders tensed as
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-14Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER ELEVEN
(NATALIE POV)My bag hung loosely from my shoulder as I stepped inside the room Alexander later showed to.It was exquisite and undeniably luxurious but my mind barely took in any of these details. The anger and bewilderment that I still had on my face made it hard to appreciate anything other than what I had just witnessed this evening.Alexander had walked away just moments ago, leaving behind the scent of his perfume.His voice still played in my head calm, composed, as if he was literally a different person from the one I saw before we entered this room."Would you like to take anything? The maids must have retired, but I can call them to make you dinner."He had talked like I intended to come. Like this was some sort of casual visit.Without hesitation I had shrugged to refuse. "I have no appetite."That was it. He had made a small sound, something between acknowledgment and dismissal, before walking off, leaving me here.I sighed and reached for the strap of my bag, pullin
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-15Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER TWELVE
(Natalie’s POV)The next time I opened my eyes again, it was morning, the first sight that greeted me was the white, unfamiliar ceiling of the extra large room.A quiet reminder that I wasn’t in my apartment. I blinked about once or twice before it clicked.I was still in Alexander’s house.Alongside this realization, also came the memories of last night.The echo of Alexander's voice, raw and desperate in tone.And the echo of the “Eleanor” he kept mentioning.I remember debating back and forth with myself about getting up to check what was wrong.But as I made my first attempt to reach the door, I hesitated.My feet stopped themselves.What exactly was I doing? Was I really about to involve myself in something I didn’t understand?What if he was drunk again, was it really my business to pry?I had stood there for a long moment, one hand resting against the doorframe.Then, after an appropriate interval, I had forced myself to step back and return to the bed. Whatever it was, it c
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-16Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTEEN
(Natalie’s POV)The blare of the car kept reverberating from the gate side.And from where I stood I saw how the continuous sound made Alexander's whole body stiffen to his chair. His fork had since dropped to his plate.Across the room, I barely suppressed my own jolt,And for a moment, neither of us could move.After a few seconds had passed, Alexander finally exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face as though breaking away from a trance.He clapped with a sudden urgency, making the maid beside him half jump at the sound, her head jerking toward him.“Go now,” Alexander ordered huskily, stretching his hands towards the door.“Find out who it is before the guards lets them in. If it's family, stall them. Find a way to make him take his time. If it’s not…” He ground his teeth.“ Then let them through.”The maid hesitated for only a second before nodding and scurrying off, her apron swaying with each hurried step.Alexander let out another deep breath, shaking his head as his attention
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-18Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER FOURTEEN
(NATALIE POV)After a quick shower, Sophie had insisted I take my time to freshen up, but she, too, had changed into a simple pair of high-waisted jeans and a navy sweater. I opted for something similar a knit top and a dark denim.By the time we slipped into her Honda Civic, it was already passed noon.For a while, the only sound was the rhythmic swiping of the windshield wipers against the glass, I could tell Sophie was waiting from the corner of my eye, she was waiting for me to fill in the blanks, waiting for me to explain why I had reacted so strongly at the mention of Lila earlier.Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait for too long.With a sigh, I leaned my head against the window and began with the very first thing I remembered about the lady."She called me a whore." Sophie glanced at me at once from the steering, and I saw the way her hands tensed on the wheel but she managed to remain quiet. I continued, letting the words flow into themselves.I told her everythin
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-02-20Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alexander’s POV Later that afternoon, after dropping Natalie off at her place and after returning back to my residence. I stood before the mirror, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt, staring back at the full length mirror in my room with a blank expression. The room was quiet except for the sound of the air conditioner. I shrugged on my suit jacket. I had a few more things on my list to take care off today. The first, was a quick stop at the office to retrieve the file I needed. Then the second and the most difficult was the visit. The visit I had been dreading. I blinked and exhaled at once. This wasn’t just another formality it was a moment that would demand every element of control I could summon. It was another performance. Another carefully curated illusion. For a very long time now, I have developed this wariness, this constant need to avoid situations that will bring me in contact with my father. I have tried to reduce the number of times I see him i
Dernière mise à jour : 2025-03-03
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Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
The silence between us stretched even more.It wasn’t the kind of interval that lingered lightly, this one was beginning to grow heavy and awkward, coiling itself around my ears in a way I did not like. I could hear Natalie breathing faintly, the intake of air that spoke volumes, it was making my doubt grow by twice.Then finally, Natalie’s voice returned, almost as if she hadn’t realized the call was still connected. Then it picked up, carrying something…a strange. tone that bore a hint of surprise. Not the innocent kind, but something thinner, calculated… or maybe not. Maybe I was just reading too much into it. But how could I be sure?“I….I don’t even know who that is,” she said. “I’m just…hearing the name now, same as you.”I swallowed, hard. My Adam’s apple bobbed oncel as I forced out my next words, “Swear,”. I began with a voice that scraped low. “Swear on everything you hold dear that you’re just hearing the name… right now.”There was another inhale from Natalie but
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
(ALEXANDER POV)I kept my eyes fixed on Jordan as I started to rise slowly.“What the hell could be so urgent?” I muttered under my breath, narrowing my eyes as I observed him further, his shoulders were twitching with the kind of tension that didn’t sit well with me.Jordan didn’t speak. He didn’t even have to. His face was saying all that needed to be said.Those tight jaws of his and his nervous eyes was enough to tell me that this wasn’t some sort of scare tactics.He wouldn't even dare try that with me ordinarily.I blinked and started to move past him with a purposeful gait now, as far as I knew, Victor and that dirty stooge of his had nothing….not a shred of truth, not even a damn photo worth being scared of. Their antics had always been smoke and mirrors, bluffing through power plays they could never follow through on.But if that were really the case, then what were the reporters here for? What where they doing at my gate and at this time of the day?What the hell was ac
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
The morning light filtered in gently through the curtains, I stirred beneath my sheets, blinking as my eyes opened into the calmness of the new day. My hand, still half-asleep, fumbled along the side of the bed as it brushed against my phone, which was still lying face down gainst the mattress. Right where I had dropped it last night before sleeping off.I lay still for a second, breathing in the fresh air.The ceiling above my head was still faintly blurred by the remnant of sleep in my eye, but I wasn’t groggy. Not really. All I felt was this rare stillness, the kind that made me realize I hadn’t tossed or turned during my unconscious state.It was even unbelievable that my sleep had not come with the usual nightmares and that alone was almost unsettling.I stretched out my limbs slowly, the joints of my shoulders and spine cracking with a satisfying pop, letting out a yawn that nearly unhinged my jaw. My chest was steadily rising and falling as I let the quietness settle in
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
(NATALIE POV)I didn’t stop moving until I was as close to the end of the hallway as possible, my pulse a repeatitive thud against my ribs. The hallway was dim, shadows from the sconces spread across the wooden floors.I moved quickly past the framed portraits, wound tightly around my phone, the vibration still humming against my palm.Finally I slipped into my room, shut the door and leaned against the door for a second, holding the phone to my ear as my eyes dimmed.“Alex.” I whispered.His voice came at once with neither pleasantry nor preamble.“Like I said earlier I know who it was.”I straightened up feeling my breath becoming shallow, the anticipation was making my heart beat faster.Alexander was still speaking,“I had one of my private investigators follow the trail of the man on the screen. That’s how we found out it was Victor Lawson.”I blinked.Victor Lawson? For real the same Victor Lawson?I knew the man.Even before the contract, in my first few months as Alexand
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
(NATALIE POV)The car had barely stopped before Sophie leaned over with her fingers lightly drumming on the wheel."See you tomorrow Babe"I nodded, reaching for the door handle. "First thing.""And don’t overthink it tonight, Ellie." Her voice was softer now, heavy with a knowing kind of concern.I forced a small smile, pushing the door open. "I won’t."Sophie didn’t look convinced, but she let it go with a small shake of her head. "Alright. Just go inside before your mom decides to send a search party."With a final wave, I stepped out, feeling the caress of the late evening breeze as Sophie started to pull away. The front yard was soon before me, but I wasn’t quite ready to go in just yet.I exhaled slowly, wandering toward the stone bench beneath the large sycamore tree at the far left. On getting there, I lowered myself onto the bench, tilting my head back to stare at the dark sky. Alexander’s voice on the phone about an hour ago was still ringing in my ears, edged with u
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
(GENERAL POV)The room was very dim, it's walls had shadows stretching ominously along the paneled walls. A haze of smoke coiled through the air, the smoke was coming from a long, polished pipe held between the fingers of the man seated behind the massive desk. One of his fingers had an oversized ring, and it kept tapping against the desk’s surface. The sound was the only thing that filled the silence apart from the occasional creak of the leather chair as the man shifted slightly.Two men in dark suits were standing by him, their expressions unbelievably serious.Their hands folded before them, but their presence alone was a warning. Standing in front of the boss, was a man whose body seemed to shrink with every passing second.The cowering man also wore a suit like the others, but it didn’t fit him as perfectly. His knees were bent slightly, his head lowered, as though he wished the ground would swallow him up.The boss inhaled deeply from his pipe as his dark eyes bored in
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Bells restaurant as usual was comfortably packed today, a mixture of professionals unwinding after a long day and couples sharing quiet dinners.Sophie was opposite me leaning back in her chair, pulling out her phone with a casual flash of her wrist.I sat across from her, with distant eyes and my thoughts distant, scattered. The noise of the restaurant soon faded into a low buzz as I stared blankly into space absently tracing the rim of my glass with my thumb.Sophie had her phone glued to her ear. “Hey, Matt,”She was saying to the other person on the line who was infact her immediate younger brother Matthew.“Yeah, I’m still at Bells with Natalie. No, I didn’t forget ” She rolled her eyes, with her cheeks lifting slightly.“I said I’ll send it when I get home. Just chill.”She listened for a second, her expression shifting into something between amusement and mild exasperation. “Seriously, what do you even need it for right this second? You’re not” She stopped, sighing. “Fine
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
The security gates opened up at once as my car sped into the headquarter building of the Capital News.The digital screen at the entrance flashed a brief acknowledgment of my credentials before granting me access, I barely gave it a single glance. My SUV hummed softly as I guided it into the VIP section of the lot.Then with a swift turn of my key, I killed the engine. I stepped out fluidly, shutting the door behind me as I pressed my thumb against the biometric lock.I didn’t slow my pace as I headed toward the entrance, barely acknowledging the lower staff members who had turned at the sound of my arrival. I could sense their curious eyes following me, some of them shifting awkwardly, as if unsure whether to greet me or pretend they hadn’t seen me. Not that any of that mattered. I had no time for pleasantries actually.I kept my head up as I pushed through the glass doors, my steps firm and purposeful.It wasn't long before I spotted the reception desk, but I didn’t stop.My ey
Bound By The CEO's Contract CHAPTER THIRTY
(Alexander’s POV)Mark’s words were like arrows shot into the air.I didn’t move at first.Instead, I stared at him, my expression slowly changing into something taut. I grind my teeth, my fingers slightly curling against the desk’s surface.Across from me, Natalie had gone still too, the tips of her brow touching as she turned toward me. Her confusion reflecting my own, a silent question in her dark eyes.A pause persisted.Then, in a much voice lower tone, I finally murmured, “What’s happening on Capital News?”Mark let out deep breath, raking a hand through his hair in an agitated restless fashion. His chest rising and falling as if he was forcing himself to breathe steadily.“Boss…” He called in the same frustrated and urgent manner he did earlier,“Please, just check for yourself. I…” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it properly. You need to see it.”And with those words something cold settled in my gut as I realized just how grave things, nothing like the exaggeratio
