Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 375

Chapter 375 The Scary Part

CLARA

Finished

I stayed closer to Mark after that. Not because I wanted to, but because there was no other clean way inside Amy’s space anymore. Every door I had used before was narrowing. Every delay carried risk. Mark was the last path that didn’t require force.

We were at his house when it started to shift. Not during anything dramatic. Just dinner. Quiet. Familiar. That was when people talked too much.

“I don’t think Amy hates me,” he said suddenly, staring at his plate. “I think she just doesn’t trust herself around me.”

I didn’t rush to answer. I had learned that silence worked better with him now. He filled it.

“I keep replaying everything,” he continued. “Every time I pushed. Every time I thought I knew better. I was loud when I should’ve listened.”

“You’re still listening now,” I said. My tone stayed even. Supportive, but not forgiving on anyone’s behalf. “That counts.”

He looked at me, searching my face. “Does it?”

“Yes,” I said. “But it doesn’t erase what came before.”

He nodded slowly, accepting that. That was new. Mark used to argue when answers didn’t soothe him. Now he absorbed them. That made him easier to guide and harder to predict.

He talked more after that. About feeling like a bridge people walked across. About always being in the middle of power struggles he didn’t start but always paid for.

About Amy being stronger now, sharper, and how that both impressed him and scared him.

“I don’t want to be a weakness anymore,” he said. “Not for her. Not for anyone.”

I kept my voice calm. “Then stop letting people pull you into fights that aren’t yours.”

He laughed once, short and tired. “That’s easy to say when you’re not born into it.”

I didn’t correct him. I didn’t tell him how much of my life had been shaped by other people’s plans. This wasn’t about the truth. It was about alignment.

I could feel the shift as it happened. His shoulders eased. His guard lowered. Trust didn’t arrive all at once. It settled in layers.

That scared me more than it should have.

Later, when we were sitting in the living room, he told me something without realizing how valuable it

was.

“Amy locked things down at Carter Holdings,” he said. “She’s filtering everything herself now. Internal

M

Chapter 375 The Scary Part,

access, reports, even scheduling. I can’t get anything unless she wants me to.”

I kept my expression neutral. “That must be frustrating.”

Finished

“It is,” he admitted. “But I get why she’s doing it. Too many leaks. Too many people assume they’re entitled to her time.”

I nodded. Inside, I recalculated. Amy’s narrowing control meant she suspected pressure. Maybe not me directly. But the field was tightening.

“When did this start?” I asked.

“A few weeks ago,” he said. “Right after the Northern gathering.”

That tracked.

He leaned back and rubbed his face. “I thought things were improving. Now it feels like I’m being managed again. Like I’m a variable she doesn’t trust.”

“You are improving,” I said carefully. “But trust takes consistency. Not access.”

He studied me. “You sound like her.”

“I’ve watched her long enough,” I replied. “Patterns repeat.”

That was true. Just not in the way he assumed.

That night, Elias called.

I stepped into the study and closed the door. I didn’t rush to speak.

“You’re slowing down,” he said. No greeting.

“I’m adjusting,” I replied. “Mark isn’t a lever. He’s fragile.”

Silence. Then, “Fragile things break faster when pushed.”

“Or when rushed,” I said. “If he collapses, Amy shuts the door completely.”

“You’re protecting him,” Elias noted.

“I’m protecting access,” I corrected.

Another pause. Longer this time.

“Hesitation reads as loyalty drift,” he said quietly.

“I haven’t drifted,” I said. “I’m still delivering. Just not burning bridges unnecessarily.”

“You don’t decide what’s unnecessary,” he replied. “You decide how fast.”

I felt it then. The pressure I’d been ignoring. The narrowing tolerance. Elias wasn’t threatening me. He was measuring how replaceable I’d become.

214

9:36 pm

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Chapter 375 The Scary Part

Finished

After the call ended, I stayed there longer than needed. When I went back out, Mark looked up from the

couch.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. And it wasn’t entirely a lie.

He smiled, relieved. That was the problem. His trust was no longer conditional. It was settling in. Becoming something that could turn into damage if exposed.

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