LOGINShare
Chapter 106
Last Updated:
2024-11-27 17:20:45Related chapters
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 107
AIDEN'S POVBlinding flashes of camera lights intertwined with the roar of reporters' voices in one crazed symphony outside Gray Enterprises. My car inched its way forward, cutting through the mob of journalists and cameramen, but I barely noticed. My mind was already turning inward-to the storm brewing inside the company, and inside me.My knuckles were white as I clutched the armrest in a death grip, staring for what must have been the hundredth time at the glowing screen of my phone. No calls, no texts.Tessa's number was in pole position in my call log, with an empty record beside it. Two days, not a single sign. "Darn it, Tessa," I growled low, "where are you?“Mr. Gray," my driver ventured, twisting halfway in his seat to peer at me in the rearview mirror, "should I take you in through the side entrance? It might get you around the press.""No," I said shortly. "Take me straight up to the front. I'm not hiding.With every word, the weight of every question gone unanswered seemed
Last Updated : 2024-11-28Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 108
Tessa's POVPainful pulsations at the base of my skull yanked me out of my sleep. I felt groggy and wooly-headed, like I'd been fogged into some damp tunnel and every breath I took tasted musty and mold. I hurt everywhere as I lay in an awkward position, my arms pinned behind my back-the coarse fibers of rope chafing at my wrists.That was when panic kicked in. Inwardly I sprang awake, trying to stir. The binding was tight, clinging fast to the cold, hard chair. This rhythmic pulse hammered against my ribs-my heart gone crazy, my gaze flying around the half-dark room.A small, stuffy room; one bulb hung from the ceiling shone dimly and cast eerie shadows on cracked concrete walls. From somewhere very, very far away, a small tinkle sounded and raised the oppression of overwhelming silence.Where am I?I couldn't get my breathing to shut down completely, my mind racing on how this was all my reality at this moment. It was just bits and pieces, indistinct and fuzzy. I remembered sitting
Last Updated : 2024-11-28Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 109
Aiden's POVI had clutched in my hand the result of a paternity test, some bomb just waiting to go off in my face. The whole world blurred before my eyes as I read and reread that one condemning sentence, some mantra it seemed: "99.9% probability of paternity."A cold rage brewed, barely contained beneath the surface, tugging my chest tight and curling my fingers in. I clenched my jaw on the storm brewing inside. It wasn't real. It couldn't be.Across from me in my office, Chloe brimmed her eyes with sham vulnerability. "I told you the truth, Aiden," she whispered, shaking. "I didn't want it to come to this, but you deserved to know."I slammed the papers down onto the desk and she jumped. "This is bullshit," I growled. "I know you, Chloe. You've lied before, and I wouldn't put it past you to lie about this too."She scrunched up her face in some hurt and indignation. "I'm not lying! How could you even think that? Do you think I'd make this up? That I'd risk humiliating myself like th
Last Updated : 2024-11-28Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 110
Aiden's POVThe boardroom felt thick with air. My father, as composed a man he was, definitely was breaking down while pacing across the room as he addressed the senior executives."Ladies and gentlemen," he furthered in an extremely low strained tone of voice. "We're officially out of time. Unless we pull a miracle, or better said, an investor, Gray Enterprises will go to its knees within weeks.”Their murmurs sounded to my skull like fingernails on a chalkboard. I sat at the head of the table, knuckles white in my fists as I clung to the armrests of my chair."We have options," I said, doing my best to sound confident at a moment when I was feeling just about everything but. "I'll personally reach out to potential investors. I'll find a way."My father stopped his pacing and whirled back to me. Angry grey eyes skewered me. "And when, Aiden? While you're running around looking for answers, the wolves are at the door, ready to pick our company apart. We can't afford missteps.”Whoever
Last Updated : 2024-11-28Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 111
Damien's POVThe sheen of mahogany opposite me shone soft under my office light. A smirking tug of the lips, and I fell back against my chair to savor it. My lawyer, Gerald, sat opposite; his glasses teetered precariously on the edge of his nose as he reviewed the documents I handed him."Gray Enterprises is going down with the ship, and I'm the only one going to save what's left of the wreckage."Gerald looked at him, caution dripping from his face. "And by 'salvage', you mean take the reins, right?”I smiled. "Precisely. Mr. Gray and his golden boy Aiden being the proverbial weight that dragged this company down. But once the board sees just how incompetent they have been, they will not hesitate one minute in voting them out. Which is where I come in as the savior they so desperately need."To which Gerald nodded, his pen tapping upon his notepad. "The board is going to want concrete proof of mismanagement. You got the clout to persuade them?"I slid forward, my elbows onto the desk
Last Updated : 2024-11-29Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 112
Aiden's POVThe sound of the clock on the wall of the police station sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. Like some sort of countdown to defeat, it just seemed a metronome mocking me with every passing second of my helpless situation. Detective Harris sat opposite me, leaning back in his chair with an indifference that was just insulting.“Mr. Gray," Harris said quietly, almost dispassionately, "we spoke with the neighbor who saw Tessa leave the house. She had a suitcase with her. Based on that alone, coupled with the complete and utter lack of evidence of foul play or a struggle, we are officially closing the case.""Closed the case?" I echoed, thoroughly incredulous. "You honestly believe that she just packed a bag and just disappeared? Just-just poof? Without calling anyone? Without calling me?”Harris didn't even bat an eyebrow. "People have their reasons for leaving, Mr. Gray. To our collective knowledge, Miss Mills's disappearance was of her free will.”"Free will?" My voic
Last Updated : 2024-11-29Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 113
CHLOE'S POVI leaned back against the cool wall of my apartment, staring out the window as the city lights blurred in below in a haze of anxiety. Damien's words just burrowed into my brain, some sort of record that had a scratch in it."Aiden will be yours, as long as you do as I say." Worst of all, I had believed him. Convinced for so long that one day he would care for me, that this twisted relationship was somehow my fault, my weight to carry.But finally now, the scales were falling from my eyes; through the web of manipulations he'd wrapped so skillfully around me, I was beginning to see the deceptions. He would never love me. Nor anybody else for that matter. Just himself.Sliding down the wall onto the floor, I gathered my knees to my chest. How blind could a person get? All that he had done-all of the manipulation and the threats and the games of power-all so as to lead to this moment, He wasn't only playing with me. He was playing with us all.I had been such a fool, such a p
Last Updated : 2024-11-29Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 114
Chapter: The Falling EmpireAIDEN'S POVMy cell phone shrieked its ding into my office silence, but I knew in advance that I'd gotten bad news. I could feel the tension in the air, always choked. The stress of the last weeks pushed against me like a ceaseless storm.I swiped my phone off the desk and read the headline.Gray Enterprises in Chaos: Sensitive Documents Leaked, Stock Plummets to Bottom."My stomach did a backflip off the high board. My fingers instinctively closed around the phone, sending my mind racing. Who? How? This was no leak-a premeditated, precision strike to gut the company when it was already down and out.The intercom on my desk suddenly buzzed. "Mr. Gray," my assistant's panicked voice came over. "Your father wants to see you in the boardroom. Immediately.”I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Of course he did. The vultures circled, and I was about to meet the sharpest talons of them all.The door to the boardroom slammed shut behind me as my father, Mr. Gray,
Last Updated : 2024-11-29
Latest chapter
Falling for my cocky Boss Epilogue
TESSA'S POVSunlight streamed through the huge window panes of our house onto the invitations laid across the dining table. I sat with a pen in hand, writing down final guest names, while Aiden leaned against the counter sipping his coffee."We could just elope, you know," he joked, the corner of one lip tugging upwards with a mischievous smirk.I turned a mock glare his way. "After all this planning? Not in your life, Aiden GRAY. We're doing this properly."He laughed, setting his mug down as he ambled over to me. "Properly, huh? That's why you've been vetoing half my suggestions?""You wanted a firework display during the vows!" I reminded him, laughing.“And what’s wrong with that? It would’ve been epic.” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my temple. “But fine, no fireworks. As long as you’re there, it’ll be perfect.”It was what he said that always made my heart flutter, and the words this time were not an exception. It was one of those weddings that put me into anticipation and j
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 130
AIDEN'S POVMonths melted away.Weirdly, life went on since it all came crashing down. It had been months since Damien's death, Chloe leaving the city, Tessa and me over his grave saying our goodbyes. Time didn't heal everything; that it never could. But the space it gave. to breathe, rebuild, and put pieces of our lives back into place-was something all of us had desperately needed.That, with me and Tessa, gradually slipped into rhythm, and whatever in our daily life had disappeared with time turned into the time worth living. The daily morning coffee on the balcony, the late evening lying on the couch curled up, making small talks about the future-this had become a routine thing with us. Indeed, chaos seemed to bypass us somehow, yet the shadows took one corner of my mind with the coming night.But as I watched Tessa, humming to herself and arranging flowers in the sitting room, it suddenly hit me-the ton of bricks they say are always used in such situations. I loved her; I had alw
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 129
AIDEN'S POVI did not want to come here. I had told myself that I wouldn't-that some things quite simply were not worth a second chance. But here we were. Tessa stood beside me, her hand in mine, as we walked through the cemetery toward Damien's grave. The wind was cold, a bite into my skin, but nothing compared to the chill now setting into my chest.There it lay, the newly turned soil, the headstone, and the blunt inscription stating his name: "Damien Gray." Seemed so … normal. No great sentences of poetically flowing verbiages, no flowery platitudes of an exaggerated regard. A plain, uneventful name to denote an end of the life so full of promise to me and torn by just so many things… in particular by myself.I had stopped in front of the grave, said nothing. All these emotions warred in my brain, jumbling anger, guilt, sorrow. And it wasn't just because of what happened to him. It was for everything, things that could have gone differently, which I should have done."Do you think
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 128
TESSA'S POVChloe sat up against the mountain of pillows that propped her back. Her skin was a dull white; those alert features dulled by exhaustion and pain. When her gaze locked with mine, something flickered over her face-shame, perhaps? Regret?"Tessa," she husked out, her voice husky, yet steady. "I didn't expect you to be here.”"I did," I said, stepping inside. The door clicked shut behind me, and the soft hum of machinery in the room served to fill the brief moment of silence.A minute swept by with neither of us speaking. I had absolutely no idea where to begin, while Chloe seemed to fish for the right words. Then she spoke.“I'm so sorry," Chloe said, her voice breaking. She looked down at her hands, which were twisting the hospital blanket over and over in a nervous fashion. "For everything. For what I did to you. For what I let Damien do.”Her words were like a wave, and all the anger and hurt I'd been trying to bury surfaced. I crossed my arms, my voice sharper than I mea
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 127
AIDEN'S POVIt all boiled down to me standing against cold brick outside of a hospital. The sharp night air almost nipped my skin but couldn't take away what had been brewing inside of me since the night Damien was finally gone.Dead.The word reverberated in my mind, hollow yet heavy. He had not reached the hospital. Just a few minutes later, when the ambulance had speedily gone away from the warehouse, the police confirmed that my brother was no longer alive. In the pit of my chest, a tussle between relief and guilt twisted itself into this sensation, which has made me so ill.I stared upwards, trying to make sense of the darkened sky. It was a path he'd chosen, wasn't it? He'd refused every olive branch, clung to his rage, and let it consume him. Still, a part of me couldn't help but ask: What if?The sound of footsteps pulled me from my reverie. Tessa came forward, her face ashen, eyes red-rimmed from crying. She wrapped her arms around her middle, as if holding herself to protect
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 126
AIDEN'S POVThe ropes chafing my wrists were heaved into the painfully darkened room by two of Damien's men. My rib cage was racing, pounding within me like a war drum, as my eyes coursed over every inch, scanning the space for her. The echoes of my footsteps rattled through this large, high-ceilinged area, joined by the smothering tension in the air.Then I see her.“Tessa!” screams my hoarse voice in desperation while seeing her tied around the chair, white faced, and tear streaks covering it, her arms bound behind her back, a gag over her mouth, muffling her cries while her big terrified eyes remained fixed on mine, imploring for help.It came finally with the breaking of the silence from Damien's cruel laughter. "Well, well, your Prince Charming is finally here.""Let her go, Damien," I said, shaking all over with anger mixed with fear.Damienne cocked his head to one side, his face a mockery. "And miss this little family reunion? I don't think so.”Damien started to circle me wit
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 125
TESSA'S POVThe stench of that dark room shredded through my senses. My wrists throbbed, sore where the coarse ropes had lacerated into the skin, and with each weak inhalation, it was like the final one that could break this tenuous will hanging by a thread.I was not going to back away from him, not from Damien after what he pulled on Aiden, on me, and our lives.Standing in the doorway was a mountain of a man, with a great scar running down his cheek, scraping his boots on the floor and yawning and weighing his weight on one side. He had been left to watch me; now or never was the time to try anything that came into my head.I pulled carefully, testing the looseness of the rope binding my hands, my heart racing in my chest. Hours of subtly working at this knot had finally paid off; it gave way just enough for me to slide my wrists free.I glanced over to the guard, who now had his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes shutting.Go, Tessa. Now.Summoning every last shred of cou
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 124
AIDEN'S POVThe house was creepily silent when I went in-the kind of silence that twisted my gut. Something was off because it was too still, too empty."Tessa?" I called out, dropping keys on the counter. Nobody answered.My eyes scanned around the living room, the kitchen-nothing. My chest had already tightened as I tried again, louder this time. "Tessa? Marcus? Garret?"No response.And then I saw it-her phone. It lay on the counter, cracked at the screen, looking like she had dropped it there in haste. Tessa would never leave her phone lying anywhere.Now dread set in as my heart began racing, strode toward the security room for some answers, though my gut already told me otherwise.I burst through the door into the room to find Marcus and two other guards huddled around the monitors."Where the hell is Tessa?" I growled low, an edge to my voice that could cut through glass.Marcus slowly turned to me, white as marble, and seemed to fish for his answer. "Sir… we were reviewing the
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 123
TESSA'S POVIt wasn't until we stopped before Aiden's building that the car came to rest; it was my safe refuge now turned into a sanctuary in which the fears inside my head seemed to nestle. Those were instances from two weeks ago, haunting in my mind like some unsavable storm-accusations which memory just didn't seem willing or able to rid itself of."You're home," Aiden whispered, and immediately his voice was an anchor of solace amidst my rioting thoughts.Turning back to him, I pushed a small smile. "Home," I echoed, though the word felt wrong. Was I ever again safe?Aiden climbed out first, coming around and pulling my door open. His firm hand reached inside toward me, steady and reassuringly strong. "Come on; got you.I hesitated, staring at his hand. For a moment, the hospital was safer. Out here, the world was too big, too dangerous. But I chased the fear away, telling myself Aiden would never let anything happen to me.I took his hand and he led me out of the car."Take it e
