Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 370

Chapter 370 Unsettling Feelings

AMY

I didn’t realize how tense I was until we got home and the doors closed behind us.

The gathering had been civil on the surface. Polite words. Neutral smiles. Nothing openly hostile.

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And yet my body hadn’t relaxed once while I was there. Sitting in the same space as Clara again had done something to me that I hadn’t expected. I thought time and distance had dulled the reaction. It hadn’t.

Daniel noticed the moment we were alone. He didn’t ask right away. He never rushed me anymore. That was new, and I appreciated it more than I said out loud.

I took off my shoes and sat on the edge of the couch, pressing my feet flat against the floor like I needed the contact to steady myself.

“I didn’t like it,” I said finally.

Daniel sat across from me instead of beside me. Not distant. Just giving me space. “You held it together.”

“I wasn’t falling apart,” I said. Then I stopped and corrected myself. “Not outwardly.”

He nodded. “Tell me.”

I took a breath. “Being in the same place as her for that long was harder than I thought it would be. I could feel her watching me. Measuring.

I don’t know if she was nervous or confident, but it didn’t matter. My body remembered everything before my mind caught up.”

Daniel’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t interrupt.

“She almost killed me,” I continued. “And she did kill something else. She was the reason I lost the baby. I don’t think people understand what it’s like to sit across from someone who did that and smile like nothing ever happened,”

“You don’t owe her anything,” Daniel said quietly.

“I know.” I looked up at him. “That’s the problem. Everyone thinks forgiveness is the end goal. Like it’s proof of strength. But forgiveness isn’t something I can just decide to feel.”

Silence settled between us, heavy but not uncomfortable.

“I saw Mark with her,” I added. “I saw how comfortable he was standing next to her. How easy it looked. And it unsettled me more than I expected.”

“Because of him,” Daniel asked, “or because of her?”

“Both,” I admitted. “Mark being there reminded me how much damage was done without him ever fully understanding the cost. And Clara…” I shook my head. “She knows how to play remorse. She’s always known.”

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10:50 am

Chapter 370 Unsettling Feelings

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Daniel leaned back slightly. “You think it’s an act.”

“I think parts of it are real,” I said carefully. “But not the parts that matter.”

He studied my face. “And yet you approved the meeting. You let them stay in your orbit.”

I nodded. “Because pretending peace gives me more information than open hostility. I don’t trust her. I don’t forgive her. But I can pretend I do for a while.”

Daniel’s eyes darkened. “You shouldn’t have to do that.”

“I don’t have to,” I said. “I’m choosing to. There’s a difference.”

He didn’t argue. That mattered.

“I can play along,” I went on. “Smile. Accept apologies. Act civil. It doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten anything. It means I’m watching.”

Daniel exhaled slowly. “And Mark?”

“I think he wants forgiveness,” I said. “Genuinely. I also think he doesn’t fully understand what he was part of. That makes him dangerous without meaning to be.”

Daniel was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “I’ll support whatever boundary you set. Public or private.”

“I know,” I replied. “That’s why I’m telling you first. Transparency matters now. No surprises.”

He shifted closer. Not touching yet. Just close enough that I felt his presence.

“I hate that she still affects you,” he said.

“So do I,” I answered. “But pretending she doesn’t would be a lie.”

I leaned back against the couch. Fatigue crept in now that the tension had somewhere to go.

“For the next few weeks,” I said, “I’ll act like things are improving. I’ll let her think she’s getting closer. If she’s hiding something, proximity will show it.”

Daniel didn’t like it. I could see that. But he respected it.

“Just don’t carry it alone,” he said.

“I won’t.”

A soft chime cut through the room.

My phone vibrated on the table beside me.

I frowned and reached for it, expecting an internal report or a delayed approval request. What I saw instead made my stomach tighten.

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10:50 am

Chapter 370 Unsettling Feelings

It was a corporate alert. Not a rumor. Not a projection.

A confirmed transaction.

I stared at the screen, reading it twice to be sure.

Ten percent stake acquisition.

Southern–linked holding company.

Carter Holdings.

My pulse picked up. “Daniel.”

He looked at me instantly. “What is it?”

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“The Southern Alpha just acquired ten percent of Carter Holdings,” I said. My voice was steady, but only because I forced it to be. “It cleared less than an hour ago.”

Daniel stood. “That’s not possible. Any movement that large would’ve crossed my desk.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said. “But it didn’t.”

He took the phone from my hand and scanned the details. His expression hardened, not with anger, but with focus.

“This wasn’t a hostile takeover,” he said slowly. “It was quiet. Clean.”

“And deliberate,” I added.

My mind raced ahead, already connecting lines.

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