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Chapter 9
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2024-09-16 23:46:47Related chapters
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 10
Aiden's POVTwisted, my guilt heaved inside my chest. I shook my head, tried to shake the feeling off. No, I had every reason in this world to be angry. She'd messed up big time. We might even lose millions because of her mistake. I was doing what any responsible CEO would do: hold her responsible. I had no choice.Right?It was only that my phone buzzed with an email of the rescheduling meeting. As if I didn't feel bad enough. Pocketing my phone and snatching my jacket from the back of my chair, I wordlessly left the office.Halfway to her apartment, it belatedly dawned on me that was, in fact, where I was headed. My hands clamped around the steering wheel tight enough my knuckles were white.What was I thinking, anyway? What did I hope to accomplish by pounding on her door? I didn't know, but the urge to see her - to confront her - was too strong to fight.I pulled up outside her building and just sat there, staring at the entrance for a second. The more I sat, my heart pounding aga
Last Updated : 2024-09-17Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 11
TESSA'S POVAfter Aiden left. I sat dead silent, still shocked from everything that had gone down. Alone in my apartment, it felt as though the weight came down on me. Had I done what was right, really, or was it Aiden frustration bottled up inside of him, pushing me over the edge?I wasn't deep enough in my head when the ringing door cut through the air. Chloe had texted earlier to let me know she was on her way over. Truthfully, really, I wasn't in the mood for company, but maybe Chloe's presence could lighten up my mood.I worked the latch, swung the now-open door, and there she was, standing, one hand clutching a bottle of wine, the other donned with that mischievous grin."Surprise!" Chloe chimed, wiggling the bottle in front of me. "Wine for your sorrows."I dredged up a smile and stood aside to allow her entry. "I don't think wine is going to help this time."Chloe blew an exaggerated, melodramatic huff as she stomped into my living room, plopping onto my couch and kicking her
Last Updated : 2024-09-17Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 12
TESSA'S POVI stared, my heart skipping a beat. A person was standing in my doorway, but that wasn't Chloe; it was Damien.His eyes still had that same old intensity to them, his lips curled in that same cocky smirk as he casually leaned a shoulder against the doorframe-like he owned the place. My stomach churned its protest at just the mere sight of him and yet some part of me-some part I almost hated to admit existed-was stirred in his wake."Surprised to see me?" Damien asked with an amusing shade in his voice.I swallowed hard, and my throat went suddenly dry. "What are you doing here?"He relaxed against the doorframe took a step closer, devouring with his eyes the length of me. "I heard you quit your job.""That's none of your business, Damien," I said, hastening to cross my arms in front of my chest, to block his view."None of your business?" He laughed, stepping inside sans my invitation. I instinctively took a step backward. "Everything about you is my business, Tessa. You k
Last Updated : 2024-09-18Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 13
TESSA'S POVLong after he was gone, his words still hauntingly remained in my head while the mocking tone still echoed within my silent apartment.‘Coward.’‘Running away when things get tough.’Standing square in my living room, staring at the closed door while his voice ran over and over in my head-he knew just where to hit, didn't he-for the first time it wasn't Damien's words that cut but rather the truth in them.I'd been running. Not just from him, but from everything: from Aiden, from my job, from the whole mess my life had turned into. Somewhere, deep inside of me, I knew that couldn't happen anymore, that I couldn't keep letting other people, Damien, Aiden, or anyone else keep calling the shots in my life.I was done running.---I strode into the office next morning, not at all like it had been all these days; my step steely and determined, resignation clutched in my gut. Well, this just wasn't going to be the end of that story. Nobody was going to take this job away from me
Last Updated : 2024-09-18Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 14
AIDEN'S POV“What's going on here?" The deep voice filled the room, and in that instant, I tensed. My father's voice did that to any conversation-sliced right through like a blade.Slowly I looked up, eyes locking onto the towering figure of Mr. Gray standing in the doorway.Intimidation-factor, yet: tall, broad-shouldered, and immaculately attired in one of his several tailored suits, gray hair slicked back, sharp lines of age framing his face, yet those steel-blue eyes still had that commanding aura to them. No one had ever dared question his authority-and for good reason."Dad," I grunted, trying to bite the irritation inside of me, but by the look off his face I knew he'd already came up with a conclusion that something was wrong.Mr. Gray turned from Tessa, eyes narrower now, suspiciously guarded. "I did ask you a question, Aiden. What is going on?”I didn't budge. Nor did Tessa. I could feel her, out of the corner of my eye; she hugged her arms tightly around herself, as though
Last Updated : 2024-09-20Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 15
DAMIEN'S POVI like it to be quiet around my office, losing myself among tasks. Gray walls, sterile-just right to set in the background for the dull rhythm of corporate life. This was my respite-the only place I needn't think about anything else.That was desecrated the very moment the door opened unexpectedly.I didn't need to look up to know who it was, for as heavy as his presence was, the tidal wave was unmistakable. My dad, Mr. Grey strode into the room as if owning every square inch of it. He did, but still. This man loomed tall and broad-shouldered; grey eyes sharp as ice-cold and unyielding.. A force of nature, he moved with the surety of command oozing with every step, with as much certainty as the glances that would shrink anybody in his path.Except I wouldn't. Not anymore.I straightened my back while my eyes did not leave the screen right in front of me. "I didn't know you were coming around," I said evenly-really wasting no time with any pretenses to mask the loathing la
Last Updated : 2024-09-20Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 16
TESSA'S POV"Your suite is on the top floor," I said as we stepped out of the car which had brought us from the airport."Got it," he said without looking at me.All I had said to him since we boarded the private jet back in New York, equally as he hadn't said too much to me either, and I was more than pleased to return the favor.The sleek black sedan rolled away from the entrance, leaving us at the foot of a grand marble façade gleaming in the evening light.Skyscrapers with high glass window panes mirrored city lights twinkling down below, much like the stars.An entranceway of sorts-overgrown with vines-truly gave one that sense that he was stepping into some sort of hidden oasis as he stepped inside-a work of art in high-end design, cuing crystal chandeliers overhead that sparked from a vaulted ceiling with intricate gold detailing. Gleaming marble in creamy and beige tones, its floor; the sides huge reception area lined with plush velvet sofas in deep emerald.Aiden wordlessly h
Last Updated : 2024-09-22Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 17
AIDEN'S POV"Tessa, tonight we attend a business party," I said, her message open on my screen, my fingers pausing to send. I ordered a dress and shoes for her too, something appropriate. Maybe it wasn't necessary to explain it, but at least she needed to look the part. My thumb tapped the screen, the message gone in an instant as I didn't second guess myself.I leaned back in my chair, my eyes drifting to the clock on my desk. The evening stretched open before me like an open yawn, but I couldn't shake that nagging feeling something tangible had lain between them since the moment that plane took off. Business only it was. Only business.Yes. Only business.But my head circled right back to Tessa. Icy and shut down on that plane, she'd stayed shut down-ever since, really-and hell, I couldn't exactly blame her. I'd been doing the same thing.But somehow this utter disconnection from me was what clawed at my brain. It was for the best that way, anyway. I couldn't afford complications, a
Last Updated : 2024-09-22
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
