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CHAPTER 135
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2025-03-12 04:25:48
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Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 136
Audrey’s POVThe moment I ended the call, guilt clawed at my insides. I had just agreed to meet someone behind Lucas’s back. Someone I barely trusted. But I had no choice—whoever had threatened Aiden wasn’t bluffing. I had to move carefully. I threw on a hoodie, pulled the strings tight, and checked the hallway. The house was quiet, too quiet. Eerie, suffocating. As if the walls themselves were watching me. I grabbed my car keys, but just as I reached the front door, a voice stopped me cold.“Going somewhere?”I turned sharply. James stood at the top of the staircase, arms crossed, amusement flickering in his eyes. Too much amusement.“I need some air,” I said evenly.James tilted his head. “Air, huh?” He took a slow step down. Then another. The hairs on my arms rose. Something about his energy was different. More calculating. More dangerous. I tightened my grip on the keys. “Yeah. I won’t be long.” James hummed, stopping at the bottom step. He studied me, as if peeling back my skin,
Last Updated : 2025-03-12Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 137
Audrey’s POVLucas’s stare pinned me to the floor, his jaw tight, eyes burning with accusation. James leaned back against the armchair, completely at ease. Too at ease. Like he’d planned this moment. Like he’d been waiting for it. The air in the room was suffocating. The walls felt too close, the silence too loud.Lucas took a step forward. A predator scenting blood. “Answer me, Audrey. Where were you?” I could lie. I could twist the truth. But James had already planted a seed of doubt. If I hesitated now, it would grow into something dangerous. “I went to meet someone.” My voice was steady, but inside,I was unraveling.Lucas’s expression didn’t change. “Who?” James made a low sound, almost a chuckle. “Now that’s the real question, isn’t it?” I ignored him. He wanted a show. I wouldn’t give him one.“Cole Kingston,” I admitted. “He had information about Aiden.”Lucas’s expression darkened, his body going still in a way that made my stomach churn. I had seen him like this before—right b
Last Updated : 2025-03-12Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 138
Audrey’s POVThe sound of the door closing behind Lucas hit like a gunshot. I stood there, frozen, staring at the empty space where he had been. The tension in the air still clung to my skin, wrapping around my throat like a noose. He walked away. I should have gone after him. I should have screamed, begged—anything—but my legs refused to move.Then, from the hallway, I heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. I jolted, my heart hammering.Lucas. I ran, my feet barely touching the floor as I turned the corner. He was there, his back to me, his hands braced against the wall. The remains of a whiskey glass lay in jagged pieces at his feet. The expensive bottle sat abandoned on the table beside him. His shoulders rose and fell with each uneven breath. I swallowed hard. “Lucas—”“Don’t.” His voice was low, raw. A warning. I hesitated. “Please, just—.” He spun around. His expression was lethal. His dark eyes burned into me, filled with something beyond anger. Beyond betrayal.“You
Last Updated : 2025-03-13Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 139
Audrey’s POVMichael’s words hung in the air like a death sentence.“A trade.”Lucas. For Aiden. My heart slammed against my ribs. No. No, this can’t be happening. Lucas’s jaw locked, his body taut with barely restrained fury. “You think I’d hand myself over to you?”Michael leaned back, too relaxed, too smug. “I think you’d do anything for your son.” I grabbed Lucas’s arm. “Don’t.”His muscles were like stone beneath my grip, but he didn’t look at me. His eyes were locked onto his father, radiating pure hatred. “You’re lying,” he said coldly. “You don’t have him.”Michael chuckled. “Oh, I do. And if you don’t believe me…”He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a phone, and tapped the screen. A video started playing. The blood drained from my face. Aiden. He was sitting on a chair in a dimly lit room, his hands bound, his little face pale. Tears streaked his cheeks.“Mommy?” His voice was small, terrified. A sob wrenched from my throat. I lunged for the phone, but Michael pulled
Last Updated : 2025-03-15Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 140
A silence beat.And then James exploded into laughter. "You're crazy."Lucas didn't flinch. "Perhaps.”"Lucas, no. He won't believe it.”My body tensed. "How?"James winced. "I already regret this."Lucas's eyes were on me. "We fake a breakup."I stopped.He squeezed, his voice grating. "You go back to him. Make him trust you. Find out what he's doing."I struggled free. "No.”“ Audrey— “"You just said that you can't lose me. And then you want me to stroll right into his trap again?"Lucas breathed out, his hand running through his hair. "I wouldn't hurt you."I glared at James. "Tell him this is crazy."James exhaled. "It is crazy." He then smiled. "But it could work.”Lucas chuckled. "Exactly."I waved my hands.I swallowed hard. "What if I lose you?"Lucas framed my face. "That won't happen."I wanted to believe him.But I knew, deep down—this was a dangerous game.And we were going to risk everything.The BreakupThe next day, the plan was set.Lucas and I had to make it happen.
Last Updated : 2025-03-16Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 141
Audrey's POVThe chaos receded into the distance. The screaming sirens, the flashing lights, the yelling officers—all of them receded in importance before the one thing that counted. Lucas. His hold on me was possessive, his heat holding me fast as if he was too scared to release me. His heart thrummed against my cheek, confirmation that he was here, alive, intact.I lifted my head, our gazes meeting. His stormy blue eyes held something raw, something beyond relief. It was love. Raw. Unabated. The world could have ended around us, and I would not have noticed. I traced my fingers over his jaw, the rough line of it."We did it," I breathed. Lucas released a breath, his forehead against mine. I smiled, despite everything. "Right back at you."His arms clutched harder, his lips meeting mine. "Never again, Audrey." His voice was like he was making a promise over a sworn oath."Promise?" He did not answer anything. He only kissed me. It wasn't gentle. I wasn't careful. "I love you," he bre
Last Updated : 2025-03-17Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 142
AUDREY’S POV"Now what?" Lucas growled, his voice short.Michael took a breath. "The evidence Kendall had? Had already leaked when she was arrested." Chills ran down my spine. "What?" Lucas's face set in a line. "How much of it?"Michael's head jerked. "Enough to hurt. The media are running the story now. And now that Isabella is in the spotlight, news travels fast." My body coiled into sheer rage. My stomach turned queasily. "What does that have to do with anything then?""It has this to say," Michael said, "the world will, tomorrow morning at the latest, take for granted that Audrey Willows is a criminal." The world is going to believe Audrey Willows is a criminal. Lucas cursed under his breath. "We need to get ahead of this." Michael nodded. Both of us. I looked at Lucas. His expression was empty, but his hold on my hand did not loosen. He was not letting me go. I will not let them shatter you.”The way he'd spoken, the tone of his voice so hypnotic—made me have to believe him.Mi
Last Updated : 2025-03-18Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 143
Audrey's POV"We have an even greater problem.” I followed Lucas behind Michael into the penthouse living room, where television was already arranged. A news anchor was reporting, and the words gave me shivers down my spine."Lucas Kent's secret lover, Audrey Willows, is accused of corporate corruption. Top-secret documents suggest she embezzled millions working for Kent Enterprises. The shocking news has us all wondering—did billionaire CEO Lucas know about his mistress's corruption? And did he attempt to cover it up?" I sat back on my heels. They weren't after me alone.They were after Lucas as well. Lucas cursed, running his hand through his hair. "They're trying to turn this into a scandal of such magnitude as to ruin me."Michael agreed. "And succeeded. Stock is plummeting, board members are up in arms, and investors are pulling out. If this continues, the damage might be too vast to repair." My stomach knotted. "All because of me." Lucas's eyes leaped to mine. "No, this is due t
Last Updated : 2025-03-18
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Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 161
Meanwhile, doors swing outward into a corridor of burning neon lights that seethe with maddened intensity.Lucas's bodyguard had captured a group of men attempting to break into the boardroom. They had masks over their faces, but there was one man with a red tie in his hand—a detail which I'd seen in Michael's reports the last two years.I felt sick. "Lucas, is that you?" I stuttered into the receiver, speaking the words out loud.I received only mumbling answers over the phone. My tears began recalling Lucas's vow to stay with me, and I vowed to myself only that I would fulfill the vow to the very core of my soul. Soft knocking on the door of the safe room persisted. My throat had been grabbed and I pushed my ear into the door, pushed the door. "Who is that?" I shrieked, trembling.Low murmuring, soft breathing, "Audrey, I'm here. Open it."I was shocked and didn't want to open it for her. The voice was soothing, yet it wasn't anyone special—I didn't know who it was. My phone beeped
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 160
Audrey's POVI sat on the railing of our penthouse balcony as the city awakened askew under the wan, uncertain dawn. The sharp morning air did little to placate the storm raging within. Lucas had been so firm last night, so firm that he would shield us. Even now, I could not shake the disquieting fear that Michael's promises were far from over with us. I gripped my phone hard, reliving that anonymous text:"The truth is still hidden. Prepare for what comes next."It resonated within my mind like a curse. I could not help but wonder if it signaled another turn, another betrayal lurking just around the bend.Inside, Lucas walked into the room. His footsteps were measured, every sound sharp in the quiet stillness."They inform us that someone was seen outside the hotel last night—someone with a black hoodie. And now we receive new warnings from the estate."I shivered down my spine. "Do you think Michael's men have come back?"Lucas shifted his head slowly. "I don't know, but we must pre
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 159
Audrey's POVI sat quietly in our penthouse as the aftershocks of the boardroom battle slowly faded from my mind. The adrenaline high was gone, but my heart thudded angrily against the walls of my chest. The phrases Lucas uttered during the meeting still lingered in my mind, every sentence a mix of pain and protest. I could not shake the threat of Michael as well as the uncertain future that lay in wait for me.I gazed out the window at city lights burning below like false promises. The silence was heavy with my own hope and fear. I didn't know if our love, hard-won, could even shield us from the forces of darkness on the horizon.Lucas entered the room quietly. He sat with me on the old creaky sofa, his hand extended for mine. I felt his heat, comfortable and strong, and all was right in the world for that moment. But that moment was like glass.Audrey, he started, his voice barely above a whisper, "I couldn't help but wonder what Michael had said. I think he's got other ideas for us
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 158
Audrey's POVThe sun was up in the sky, but its light was miles away from me. My heartpounding as I remained there in the quiet of our bedroom, still warm from last night on my body. Lucas slept beside me, his even breathing a reminder of how much I longed for peace. But as I looked at him, doubt consumed me. I stood up quietly, not to disturb him, and moved towards the window. The ocean sparkled below me, endless and merciless. I looked around warily—someone was there. Within seconds, my world was turned right-side up. Lucas stood before me to take another step, his eyes taut with urgency. "Audrey, we must leave—now!" he commanded, his voice firm and gentle simultaneously.Guards let out low commands of warning as security cameras tracked our every step. I could sense a tempest building—a tempest that would tear all we'd built apart.In the car outside, Lucas's grip on my hand was tight, knuckles white. "Something has happened," he breathed rapidly. "The board… they're having an eme
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 157
Audrey's POVThe soft roll of the ocean was ringing in my head as I sat with Lucas on scorched sand. Blazing kisses and blazing vows had set the night ablaze, but now there was some unhappiness within me that churned a storm within, thudding my heart with an arrhythmic beat.Lucas had his arm across my shoulders and looked up at the moon that hovered above a sea that withdrew from it."Sometimes I think we can really leave it all behind," I told myself more than anything else. A tug in the heart—a mixture of hope and fear—warned me the peace was only temporary.I barely got the next word out before my cell phone rang in my hand. I answered it in hope. On the screen, a new message from an unknown number:"You can hide in love, but secrets always come to the surface."My gut roiled over, and I looked up as Lucas's eyes began filling with fear. "What did it say?" he snarled, his voice harsh but uncertain.I wrapped my hand around the paper into a fist, breathing nearly silently. "It says
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 156
Audrey’s POVSea salt surrounded me as I walked along the beach of the private island, my feet sunk in the warm golden sand. Blue waves caressed softly, like the kiss of a lover. Everything was so calm, so like a dream—a false guarantee of the next storm. Lucas? Not even close to being calm. He was a couple of feet off, looking at me with that infuriatingly smug grin, his top half-shirt open, the golden sheen of the setting sun on his chiseled chest. He had something concealed behind his back."What are you hiding?”"So impatient. Aren't surprises supposed to be fun?I folded my arms. "Not if you're the one who does the surprising." Lucas flashed a smile and moved in on me, gradual and deliberate, the type of pace that got my heart skipping a beat faster. "You hurt me, Audrey. Suppose I told you it was a gift? Something that I specifically picked out just for you?"My gaze flew down to his hands, but he quickly moved to fold them behind his back again. "Lucas," I cautioned."Oh, you c
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 155
Audrey's POVLucas didn't move. Because he knew. I stepped forward carefully. "Yes, I do." I took another step forward. "What do you want, Isabella?" She laughed. I breathed in. She was furious, out-of-rhythm. One misstep, and this would end in blood.Lucas stepped forward with me. "Isabella, listen— She shoved the gun into Lucas. Her face twisted in rage. "Say it." He looked at her. "I never loved you." A scream was torn from her body. "You liar." And she turned on me. I had no chance to defend myself before she fired. Bang. Lucas caught me before I hit the ground. "Audrey!" His voice frantic, his hands on my wound.Isabella smiled. "See? Now we're even." And then, before anyone could stand up and take her— She put the gun to her head. Lucas strained. "No—" Bang. Her body crumpled to the ground. Silence. The world ended. I felt the thudding of my own heartbeat, racing. Lucas was trembling, with me in his arms. Then there were voices. Guards rushing in. Somebody called for an ambula
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 154
Audrey's POVIt was to be a calm night.But calm was something we still needed to learn.Lucas had me wrapped around him, hugging me, as we lay on the bed, his arm wrapped around my waist to stop me from squirming. His body heat was not intended to soothe me, but the grip in my chest would not ease up. Something was amiss.I was in bed, staring up at the ceiling with my mind elsewhere. I couldn't sleep with her face in front of me, her own face contorted in anger. We might have been physically out of the room or not, but we weren't finished with her section yet.And desperate people, if there was one thing that I had learned so far, weren't to be underestimated. Lucas rolled onto his side next to me, his gentle kiss following the line of my shoulder."I cannot sleep. My mind will not rest."His eyes grew softer. "Tell me." I hesitated. "What if she comes back? What if she has something much worse planned?"Lucas drew in a breath, pushing back my hair with his fingers. "She won't hurt
Faking Love, Making War: The CEO’s Dirty Secrets CHAPTER 153
Audrey's POV I trembled in fear as Lucas's words hit me. "Isabella." I knew she would never let us be. That woman was never bad, but now? Now, she had crossed a line that I wasn't sure she could ever turn back from. I grasped the sheets, struggling for breath. "She was scheming with him? The hoodie guy?" Lucas brushed his hand through his hair, his teeth clenched. "Security cameras filmed her entering the hotel with me. They were careful, but not careful enough." Anger and fear fought for dominance within me. Isabella had already done as much as she was capable of ruining me—to accuse me, shame me, try to destroy me. Now she's involved with my son. That was unacceptable. Lucas's eyes grew darker as if he could see directly into my mind. Not you, not Aiden.” His fists tensed in my arms. "You won't have to.". Lucas Kent was done playing games. I shut the TV down quietly. Aiden had padded into the doorway, in pajamas, and scrubbed at his eyes. "Mommy?" I scooped him up and hel
