เข้าสู่ระบบแชร์
What I almost lost
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด:
2025-04-22 22:10:30
บทที่เกี่ยวข้อง
My arranged marriage Broken quietness
Emma Watson The morning after the gala felt like waking from a dream I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to remember. My heels were still by the door, my gown crumpled on the back of a chair, and the faint scent of Ray’s cologne still lingered on my skin. But instead of warmth, a cold unease pressed into my chest. The truth had been laid bare last night—in pieces, in glances, in the way Ray’s jaw had tightened when I confronted him about the offshore accounts and Moreau’s sealed files. He hadn’t denied it. Not fully. Not the way I needed him to. I stood in the kitchen now, a mug of untouched coffee in my hands. The penthouse was quiet, save for the hum of the fridge and the low murmur of a news anchor’s voice drifting from the TV in the other room. I hadn’t turned it off. Maybe I needed the noise to fill the silence. Ray hadn’t come home. I kept replaying the last thing he said before walking away: “I’ll fix it.” But what did fixing it mean to a man like Ray? More secrecy? More d
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The weight of redemption
Ray Kingston There’s a strange kind of silence that comes after chaos—the kind that doesn’t soothe, but unsettles. Like standing in the eye of a storm, knowing that even though the worst might be over, you’re still surrounded by wreckage. That was the silence I woke up to the next morning, lying in bed with Emma curled against my side. She hadn’t said much after last night. Just that she needed time. And space. But when I offered to leave, she reached for my hand and said, “Not yet.” Not yet was better than goodbye. She was still asleep now, her lashes casting soft shadows against her cheeks. Her breathing was steady, her brow uncreased. Peaceful. I hadn’t seen her that way in weeks. Maybe months. I brushed a strand of hair from her face, my chest tightening. She deserved better than what I’d put her through. But even as the guilt twisted inside me, a part of me—the selfish, human part—was just grateful she was still here. I slipped out of bed and moved through the apartme
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The gap between us
Emma Watson I always thought that when the storm passed, I’d feel relief. Like I could finally breathe again. But the truth was, when the chaos faded, all I was left with was the sound of my own heartbeat—and the quiet reckoning of everything we’d survived. Ray stood in front of me, his hand in mine, his eyes searching. He wasn’t the same man I met in that elevator all those months ago. And I wasn’t the same woman who’d stepped into his world like it was some kind of fantasy. We were raw now. Wounded. Real. And maybe that was exactly what we needed. “I want to talk,” I said softly, still holding his hand. “Really talk.” He nodded, tension rolling off his shoulders like he’d been waiting for this moment too. “Okay.” We settled on the couch, legs turned toward each other. For a while, I didn’t say anything. I just watched him. He looked tired—worn down in a way that had nothing to do with sleep and everything to do with carrying the weight of too many regrets. “I read your
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The ghost of the past
Ray Kingston I could tell the moment I stepped into the apartment—something was off. The kind of stillness that didn’t come from peace, but absence. Emma wasn’t home. No shoes by the door. No coffee mug half-finished on the counter. No quiet humming from the bathroom while she got ready. Just silence. I dropped my keys onto the table, checked my phone, and saw nothing. No text. No missed calls. My gut stirred. She never left without saying something—not anymore. I crossed the living room and spotted her phone charger still plugged into the wall. Her favorite jacket was missing. So were her sneakers. Casual—but hot, I’d said. She hadn’t rolled her eyes at that. At least not to my face. I tried calling. Straight to voicemail. That’s when the knot formed in my chest. Not panic. Not yet. But that low, gnawing tension that starts in the gut and crawls its way up until it coils behind your ribs like a storm waiting to break. I called Lucas. “She’s not here,” he s
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage A fragile peace
Emma Watson The first morning light spilled through the hospital blinds, brushing the edge of the bed where Ray sat, half-asleep in the visitor's chair. His hand was loosely curled around mine, his head resting against the crook of his arm on the edge of my mattress. For the first time in days, there was a stillness I didn’t dare disturb. Everything that had happened — Moreau, Benita, the penthouse shootout — felt like a surreal blur. But the ache in my shoulder, the lingering tremor in my limbs, reminded me it had been very real. I shifted slightly, wincing at the pull of the bandage. Ray stirred. His eyes fluttered open, that sharp blue gaze immediately locking on mine. “Hey,” he said softly, voice rough with sleep. “Hey,” I whispered back. He sat up straighter, rubbing the back of his neck. His hair was tousled and his shirt wrinkled, but I’d never seen him look more human. “How are you feeling?” “Sore,” I admitted. “Tired. But... alive.” He gave a faint smile, brus
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The cost of control
Ray Maverick The hospital corridor was too quiet. Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting a sterile glow over the pale walls. Nurses moved briskly past me, heads down, their rubber soles squeaking against the floor. I sat in a cold plastic chair outside Lucas’s room, my elbows resting on my knees, my fingers steepled under my chin. I’d made more deals in silence than in boardrooms. I’d survived ambushes in places far darker than this one. But nothing rattled me quite like the sound of nothing at all—especially when someone I cared about was behind a closed door fighting to stay alive. Emma hadn’t left his side for hours. I knew because I hadn’t left the hallway either. I kept hearing the gunshot. The moment I pulled the trigger on Moreau. The moment I chose an end. I told myself it was justice. That it was necessary. But justice doesn’t feel like this. It doesn’t feel like blood drying under your fingernails and the ghost of an old friend’s voice whispering t
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The healing hour
Emma Watson I didn’t sleep. Even after everything settled—the doctors’ assurances, Lucas’s steady breathing, Ray’s quiet confession—I couldn’t close my eyes. Every time I tried, I saw flashes. Blood on marble floors. Gunpowder in the air. Benita’s voice twisting around my thoughts like smoke. You're just another fool in Ray’s web. I stood barefoot on the balcony, the cool breeze brushing against my skin, the city lights flickering in the distance. Below, the world moved on—cars crawled through intersections, streetlights blinked through cycles, and lives continued, blissfully unaware of the storm we’d just survived. Behind me, Ray slept, finally. One arm draped over the empty side of the bed like he knew I’d be back. I wasn’t sure when I had fallen this deep, or if I ever had a choice in the first place. Ray Maverick wasn’t just a man—he was a gravity I couldn’t fight. But loving him came with scars. I pressed my hand over my heart, as if I could still feel the way it
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22My arranged marriage The breaking stage
The warehouse stank of rust and rot, like old blood and broken promises. I stood in the shadows near the boarded-up entrance, the cold steel of my gun a steady weight in my hand. The night air outside was humid, thick with tension, and too damn quiet for my liking. We were close—too close—to the end. But endings weren’t peaceful in my world. They were loud, messy, and filled with smoke and regrets. Lucas had gone silent on comms five minutes ago. He was supposed to be tailing one of Moreau’s last known lieutenants—a wormy bastard named Claudio who’d turned snitch after realizing Moreau wasn’t the kind of man who took care of his own. I hated snitches. But I hated unfinished business more. And Claudio had information I needed. I crept deeper into the warehouse, my boots whispering over the cracked concrete. Light filtered through a broken window, casting bars of pale moonlight across the floor. My instincts were screaming at me that something was off. Too quiet. No backup
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2025-04-22
บทล่าสุด
My arranged marriage Home at last
Emma WatsonThe late afternoon sun poured through the tall windows of the Manhattan penthouse, casting golden beams across the sleek marble floors. The scent of fresh lilies drifted through the open space, mingling with the faint aroma of roasted coffee from the kitchen. For the first time in months, the silence didn’t feel heavy or dangerous. It felt... peaceful.I stood barefoot by the glass wall, gazing out at the city I once hated for everything it took from me. Now, somehow, it had given me everything too.Behind me, Ray’s footsteps echoed softly across the wood. I didn’t turn. I didn’t have to. I knew his presence by heart now—the rhythm of his breathing, the tension in his muscles when he was deep in thought, the way his energy wrapped around mine like a second skin.He came to stand beside me, his hand finding mine. Warm. Solid. Real.“This view used to make me feel invincible,” he said quietly.I looked up at him, his profile bathed in the soft light. “And now?”He glanced do
My arranged marriage Forever
Ray The night air bit against my skin as I stood on the rooftop of the Kingstone building, the skyline of Manhattan stretching before me in all its glittering, indifferent glory. The city didn’t know what it had cost me to get here—or maybe it didn’t care. Either way, the end was coming. And I was ready. Behind me, the wind whipped at my coat, and the faint sound of footsteps echoed from the stairwell. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. “Are you sure about this?” Lucas’s voice was low, hoarse from the healing wound in his side. I glanced back at him. “It ends tonight. One way or another.” He nodded grimly and joined me at the edge. “We have snipers stationed on the west building, just like you planned. Emma’s team is holding the perimeter.” My throat tightened at her name. We’d said our goodbyes earlier, just in case. She’d kissed me like it might be the last time. Maybe it would be. “They’ll be here,” I said. “Benitez doesn’t miss a chance to gloat.” Luc
My arranged marriage The forever
Emma I used to think love was the end goal. Like if I could just find the right person, all the broken parts would fall into place and I’d finally feel whole. But love wasn’t the end. It was the beginning. Because when Ray and I stopped running from who we were—and started building toward who we wanted to become—something bigger took root. Something wilder. Braver. Truer. Not a happy ending. A brave one. And that made all the difference. We spent the first few weeks after the wedding wrapped in a kind of quiet bliss. The world slowed down. Emails went unanswered. The Fellowship ran without us for a little while. Priya handled most of the chaos, sending short updates with emojis and bullet points. I skimmed them between morning walks and late-night dips in the ocean. Ray was softer, more still. I could see it in the way he looked at me—like the war inside him had finally gone quiet. I’d never felt more like myself. And in that stillness, something surpri
My arranged marriage More than a name
Ray When I was a kid, I thought power meant control. Silence in a boardroom. Eyes following your every move. A last name that carried weight, made people sit straighter. Turns out, none of that matters when you’re standing in a village where no one knows who you are—just that you show up when you say you will. That’s real power. Not dominance. But trust. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t chasing power to bury my father's shadow. I was chasing purpose—with Emma beside me. We moved slower now, not because we had to, but because we could. Mornings began with thick coffee and open laptops, balancing spreadsheets with outreach emails. The fellowship was growing faster than we planned. Our quiet office above the bookstore had tripled in size, and we were already looking for a new space. We weren’t just funding journalism. We were creating platforms. Safety nets. A family of storytellers, rebels, and truth-seekers. People I would’ve never noticed if I’d stay
My arranged marriage The shape of forever
The Shape of Forever Emma The breeze was warm, laced with the scent of frangipani and sea salt as I stepped out onto the balcony. Below, the ocean stretched into a horizon so clear and infinite, it felt like time itself paused to breathe. Bali wasn’t what I expected. It was better. No crowds. No headlines. No past. Just us—and the rhythm of waves that didn’t care about who we used to be. Ray was in the kitchen, humming something soft as he sliced fruit. Shirtless, barefoot, sun-kissed. If I didn’t already love him, I would’ve fallen for him right then and there. But I’d already fallen—completely, recklessly, irrevocably. And here, in this quiet corner of the world, it finally felt safe to land. We spent our mornings wrapped in each other, too lazy to set alarms. Sometimes we talked. Sometimes we didn’t need to. His fingertips would trace patterns on my skin while the sun climbed higher, and I’d close my eyes, memorizing the silence between our heartbeats. In the af
My arranged marriage The legacy we choose
Ray The wind cut through my coat as I stepped out of the cabin one last time, the cold air snapping me to attention. Snow crunched beneath my boots, and far below, the world stretched out in a sea of silver and blue—mountains frozen in time, quiet valleys that didn’t care about headlines, betrayals, or billion-dollar collapses. Up here, the world couldn’t touch us. But it also couldn’t stay frozen forever. Behind me, Emma zipped up her duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the chill, her hair tied back in a loose braid. She looked at me like she always did—like I wasn’t the broken son of a corrupt empire, but something more. Something worth saving. And maybe—for the first time in my life—I believed her. The train we caught into Lucerne was empty except for an older couple reading a newspaper and a teenage boy scrolling on a cracked phone. Emma sat beside me, her head leaning on my shoulder, one hand looped around my arm. I watched the
My arranged marriage The after shock
Emma The sun rose behind a shroud of pale clouds as we crossed the Swiss border. Ray sat beside me in the back of the SUV, his eyes fixed on the snow-dusted mountains ahead. Lucas dozed in the front passenger seat, snoring softly, a jacket draped over his face like a makeshift shield from reality. I watched Ray in the quiet. The shadows under his eyes hadn’t faded, even after everything we’d done. Even after the truth had finally come out. The Chronicle had published it all. Langston Enterprises. The bribes. The offshore accounts. The ports. The human cost. The devastation left in his father’s wake. It was global news now. Presidents were giving statements. CEOs were distancing themselves. Stocks were crashing. Investigations were launching across four continents. And yet, somehow, the air between us still held that tension. That edge. Because justice came with a price. And we were the ones who’d lit the match. The safe house was tucked into the mountains above Interla
My arranged marriage The weight of his name
Ray It wasn’t just the name—it was everything that came with it. Langston. In boardrooms, it carried weight. On Wall Street, it opened doors. But in my blood, it felt like a curse I’d spent my entire life trying to outrun. And now, it was time to turn around and face it. I stared at the screen, Emma asleep beside me on the couch, her legs curled underneath a blanket, her head resting on my thigh. The glow of the laptop cast long shadows across her peaceful face. God, she deserved peace. Deserved a life untouched by this war. But she’d chosen to fight anyway. With me. For me. I couldn’t let that be for nothing. I scrolled through the documents we’d compiled—encrypted logs, money transfers, real estate deals, fake nonprofit filings, covert port activity. All of it pointed back to one name: Langston Enterprises. All of it pointed back to my father. Everything we needed to dismantle his empire was right here. The question was—who could we trust with it? Lucas had reached
My arranged marriage Beneath the ashes
Emma The morning after the bloodshed, the safe house felt eerily quiet—like the walls themselves were holding their breath. I stood by the window, watching the pale gray mist roll over the hills. The trees swayed in a rhythm that felt too calm, too detached from what had happened less than twenty-four hours ago. Inside me, a different storm brewed. One that didn’t care for peace or clarity. Ray was still asleep. His breathing steady beside me in the bed we had barely touched since arriving. We’d held each other in silence last night, the kind of silence that didn’t beg for words but craved understanding. But even in his arms, I hadn’t truly rested. My mind hadn’t stopped since I’d pulled the trigger. I’d never killed before. I wasn’t even sure I believed in the right to. But when that man raised his weapon toward Lucas, something primal in me had taken over. I hadn’t hesitated. I hadn’t flinched. I’d acted. And I didn’t regret it. That’s what scared me the most. I steppe
