All Chapters of BOUND BY DECEPTION : Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

A MOTHER'S PLEAThe dim light from the single bulb in the room flashes faintly, casting shadows across the pale wallpaper. Sophia sat on a small wooden stool beside her mother’s bed, her hands clasped tightly together. The once-vibrant Mrs. Carter, now pale and fragile, lay motionless under a thin blanket. Her poor breathing occupied the silence, an visible reminder of how illness had stripped her of strength and nourishment.Sophia's gaze hanging on her mother’s sunken cheeks and the dark circles below her closed eyes. Her heart ached with the burden of helplessness, a choking burden she could no longer bear alone.How did it come to this? Sophia thought bitterly, brushing a strand of hair from her face. A contract marriage. Selling my future to a man like Alexander Blackwood just to keep this house standing and pay for the medicine she needs to avert untimely death like her father.Her fingers hold strong around the edge of the stool, her knuckles turning white. She abhorred how des

THE WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT SCANDAL The large floor-to-ceiling windows of Alexander Blackwood’s office shaped the sprawling city skyline, a reflection of his supremacy. Yet, at this moment, he stood with his back to the room,one hand on the pocket,the other touching the frame of the window. His jaw tightens as he re-echoes the rejection message in his mind he has received earlier.“The offer was not accepted, it was a mistake.”The words echoed like a taunt, each one a disrespect to his power. Alexander didn’t do rejection—not in business, not in life, and certainly not in matters of control of everything.“She thinks she can refuse me?” He muttered to himself, his voice low but very sharp and dominating.His bold and brutal eyes, showing in the reflection of the glass, clouded with determination.Moments later, the office door to his office creaked open, interrupting his thoughts. Alexander barked, without turning to the person, “What is it?” “It's done,” a voice replied, clipped and p