Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134

AARON

One week ago

The hospital at night was the kind of quiet that made you hear your own pulse.

Most people hated it. I didn’t.

The absence of noise gave me room to think. And lately, that was the only time I had to actually line my thoughts up instead of letting them claw at each other in my head.

61

I was in Venus’s room, leaning against the wall near the window. The lights were low, the steady beeping of the monitor filling the space between her breaths. She was asleep, head turned slightly toward me, one hand curled near her face like she was bracing against something even in her dreams.

That hand had been gripping mine before she drifted off.

I told her I’d stay until she woke. I meant it.

The knock came soft, but I didn’t miss it.

I turned my head just enough to see who stepped inside.

Colton Ashford.

He moved like someone who wasn’t sure if he belonged here but his eyes were locked on Venus like he’d been staring at her for years without being able to touch.

I stayed exactly where I was until he got close enough to the bed. His mouth opened, but I didn’t give him the chance to speak.

I caught his eye, then jerked my chin toward the door.

“Outside.”

He hesitated for half a second, like he might ignore me. Then he glanced back at her, and something in him softened enough to follow my lead.

We stepped into the hallway, the door shutting behind us with a muffled click.

I didn’t waste time. “She’s still recovering,” I said, voice low but sharp enough to cut through any polite pleasantries he might’ve been planning. “Her therapist says she needs stability. That means no emotional shock, no new truths that pull the ground out from under her. You walk in there and dump everything on her now? You’ll undo weeks of progress.”

Colton’s jaw worked. “She deserves to know the truth, Aaron.”

“She deserves to heal first.” My tone didn’t waver. “Right now, the truth is a wrecking ball. And she’s still

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Chapter 134

standing in the rubble from the last one.”

:))

His eyes flicked toward the closed door like he could see her through it. “You think I’m the wrecking ball?”

61

“I think the information is,” I said. “That she’s not who she thinks she is. That Martha and Dain aren’t her real parents. That you’re her brother. Those aren’t small revelations, they’re earthquakes. And if you set one off now, she’s going to break in ways that don’t heal clean.”

Colton’s mouth tightened like he had a dozen arguments lined up, but one by one, he swallowed them.

“How long?” he finally asked.

“Give it a month.” I didn’t blink. “Let her get stronger. Let her feel safe in her own skin again. Then… you can tell her everything.”

He blew out a slow breath, frustration still hot in his eyes. But under it, there was understanding. The kind you don’t like but can’t ignore.

“Fine,” he said. “A month.”

I gave a short nod, then opened the door enough for him to glance in at her sleeping form. He didn’t step inside. Just stood there for a beat, memorizing her like he’d been handed stolen minutes.

Then he left without another word.

When I came back into the room, I went straight to her side. Her breathing hadn’t changed. She didn’t stir when I brushed my thumb over the back of her hand, the way I always did before I sat back down.

She didn’t know any of it yet.

But I was going to make damn sure that when she did, she was strong enough to stand under the weight.

She’s here. Finally.

And I’ll be damned if I let anyone in this room, past or present, take a piece of her before she’s ready to give it.

From the moment we stepped into the penthouse, she looked like a deer set loose in a field-free, but still twitching at every rustle of the grass. She doesn’t see it, but I do. Every tight pull of her jaw. Every dart of her eyes. Every moment her hands want to retreat into her lap but don’t because she’s stubborn enough to keep them still.

She thinks I’m just standing here with my hand at her back, steadying her. No, princess. I’m anchoring you. I’m making sure the tide in this room doesn’t sweep you under before you’ve found your footing.

Gianna takes her first, and I let her because Gianna’s safe. Connor too. But I’m already clocking the rest of them. Sabine’s watchful, Rosemary’s gentle… Alana’s the one that undoes her. I watch Venus melt in that little girl’s arms, and I know this right here is why I’ve been keeping certain people out of her orbit.

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Chapter 134

Because the moment she cares, the moment she attaches, the thought of losing them will break her. And right now, she’s still healing.

61

I watch her sink into the couch, Alana’s hand in hers, the faintest trace of tears drying on her cheeks. She’s starting to settle. Which means this room needs to stay light, unthreatening. No stray names, no connections to the past she doesn’t know she has.

Which is why my gaze catches Sabine when her lips part-just enough to almost say something she shouldn’t. My voice cuts across the room before she can get it out.

“Tea first,” I say, moving toward the kitchen, making it sound like nothing but a casual interruption. My eyes meet hers-sharp, warning—and she swallows whatever she was about to say.

Because no one in this room will take that choice from her. Not Colton. Not Sabine. Not anyone.

She’s mine to protect.

田

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20:30 Wed, Jan 14