Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 162

Chapter 162

VENUS

They burned her.

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The fire devoured what was left of Martha Sinclair until there was nothing but brittle fragments and smoke curling into the night sky. I stood still through it all, rigid, my fists clenched inside Aaron’s coat pockets as though the leather could hide how badly my hands shook.

Gianna flanked me on one side, her quiet, steady strength a balm I didn’t ask for but needed all the same. Sabine was on the other, silent but fiercely present, her gaze fixed on the flames like she could will them to erase every scar Martha left behind.

And Aaron-always Aaron-stood behind me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his chest at my back. Colton was here too, he might’ve disliked Martha but he was somewhat greatful to her for raising me, even though it was in her fucked up way. Connor lingered nearby, silent sentinel, his hand tightening and loosening on the glass jar he’d eventually fill with Martha’s ashes.

The blaze hissed and cracked, but there were no prayers, no hymns, no mourning words. The woman I had known as mother didn’t deserve them. Still, when the final ember guttered out and the silence pressed in, the ache inside my chest was undeniable.

She was gone.

Forever this time.

And somehow, even with everything she’d done, even with every betrayal branded into my skin, I felt hollow.

Aaron didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. His palm slid along my lower back, grounding me. My spine held steady because of him.

But the hollowness festered.

And that’s why I knew what I needed to do next.

“I’ll be the one to tell him.”

The words came out sharp, decisive, as we walked back toward the car.

Aaron’s head snapped toward me. “Like hell you will.”

Connor raised a brow but stayed wisely silent. Gianna’s arm brushed mine, a silent question, but Sabine was the first to speak.

“You don’t owe him a damn thing, Venus. Let him rot without knowing.”

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Chapter 162

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“I owe it to myself.” My voice cracked but I didn’t falter. “I have to face him. And I have to be the one to say it.”

Aaron’s jaw flexed, storm brewing hard in his eyes. “Not alone.”

“Yes, alone.” I stopped in my tracks, spinning to face him. “If you walk in that room with me, he’ll see you, not me. He’ll spit at you, taunt you, throw all his poison at the man he thinks owns me. But this isn’t your fight, Aaron. It’s mine. He doesn’t get to walk away believing I’m still that broken girl he drugged and caged.”

His nostrils flared. “Princess-”

“No.” I cut him off, fiercer this time. “I go in there. You wait outside the door. If I so much as breathe wrong, you come in. But this moment? It’s mine.”

The silence stretched, taut and electric.

Finally, he nodded once, curt, furious, but yielding. “Fine. But remember-he’s already dead. I’m just waiting for the walls to stop pretending.”

The promise in his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

The prison smelled of bleach and despair.

Guards escorted me down a narrow corridor, my boots echoing on concrete. I could feel Aaron’s presence behind me, just beyond the barred checkpoint where they stopped him. He didn’t like it. His glare burned through the guards like they were nothing but tissue paper, but he let me pass. Barely.

The room was small, gray, suffocating. A metal table bolted to the floor, two chairs, thick glass windows that didn’t let light through. Chains rattled before the door even opened.

And then he walked in.

Dain.

His shoulders hunched now, prison uniform hanging off his body. His hair had gone more salt than pepper, his face drawn tight, but his eyes-his eyes were the same. Hard. Mean. Mocking.

He smirked when he saw me. Not affection. Not recognition. Just derision.

“Well, well. Look who crawled in. Didn’t think they’d let the little princess waltz into daddy’s cage.”

His voice scraped against my skin, familiar in the worst way. I straightened my spine, locking my gaze to his.

“Hello, Dain.”

He chuckled darkly, leaning forward as the cuff’s clinked against the table. “You know, it’s all your fault I’m locked up in here.”

The laugh that escaped me was sharp, humorless. “No. You did this to yourself. Enough with your pathetic,

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Chapter 162

vindictive blame.”

He tilted his head, smirk deepening. “You’ve grown balls.”

I didn’t flinch. “I know I’m not your real daughter.”

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He didn’t even blink. Didn’t give me the satisfaction of shock. His lips curled into a scoff. “Like that’s a new discovery?”

My throat burned, but I refused to let him see it. “I didn’t come here for visits and small talk, Dain. I came to tell you Martha’s dead.”

That froze him.

His smirk fell, eyes narrowing as the words sank in. “Dead?” His voice cracked on it, harsh and raw. “Was it the cancer? Finally chewed her up?”

I held his stare. “No. She died in blood. Not by disease. By choice or what looked like it. But that choice came with cruelty. Someone made sure I saw it.”

The color drained from his face. For a split second, something real-fear, rage, grief, I couldn’t tell-flashed in his eyes. Then it curdled into something uglier.

“You.” His voice was venom. “You did this. You killed her. You ungrateful little whore.” His chains rattled as he lunged forward, fury exploding out of him. “After everything she gave you, you-”

The cuffs jerked him back, the table screeching against the floor as he tried to lunge for me. The guards outside shouted, but I didn’t move. I didn’t even blink.

I leaned forward, lips curling. “Go on. Try to hit me. Try to break through steel and chains. You look pathetic. You always were pathetic, weren’t you, Dain? Hiding behind Martha’s skirts, blaming me for your failures. You think I can’t see it? You lost everything long before I walked into this room.”

He snarled, spit flying. “You bitch-”

The door slammed open.

Aaron.

His fury filled the room before his body even crossed the threshold. He shoved past the guards like they didn’t exist, storm-dark eyes locking on Dain with enough heat to incinerate him.

“Enough.” His voice was lethal, steady, threaded with violence barely restrained.

He didn’t even look at me. His hand went to my back, ushering me up, out, before Dain could spew another word. I let him guide me, my chin high, my steps sharp, refusing to let Dain see anything but my spine as I turned my back on him.

At the threshold, I paused. Just long enough to look over my shoulder, meet his rabid eyes one last time.

“Martha might’ve been the shittiest mom but I loved her. I’m not happy she died.” I don’t know why I said it.

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“You deserve everything happening to you. Every chain. Every cold night. Every second of rot in that cell. I hope you choke on it, Dain. And I hope it lasts forever. Oh, And tell Billy I said Hi.”

His laughter followed us out, bitter and hollow. “You’re just like me, girl. Just like me.”

Aaron’s hand tightened against me, guiding me faster. But I still heard the sneer in Dain’s voice as the guards dragged him back.

And for the first time, it didn’t gut me.

It only steeled me.

When the heavy doors shut behind us, Aaron stopped me in the hallway. He didn’t speak at first. Just cupped my face, searching my eyes, his own still storming.

“You shouldn’t have gone in there alone.”

“But I did.” My voice trembled, but it held. “And I walked back out.”

His jaw flexed, but the smallest flicker of pride lit his gaze. “Yeah, you did.”

He pulled me in, pressed his lips to my temple, and whispered, “Good girl.”

And in that moment, with the echo of Dain’s chains fading behind us, I knew: the ghosts might never leave me. But neither would Aaron.

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20:39 Wed, Jan 14

Chapter 163