Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 188

Chapter 188

VENUS

Light. Too much of it.

Z,(58)

It stabbed through my eyelids, slicing into the dark I’d been clinging to. My body felt heavy, foreign, like it belonged to someone else, every nerve humming as though I’d been rewired in my sleep.

For a long, terrifying second, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. The world was muffled, distant beeping machines, hushed voices and the soft squeak of rubber soles on linoleum.

Then it all rushed back in a violent surge.

My eyes snapped open. White ceiling. A harsh fluorescent glow buzzing overhead. The sharp sting of antiseptic burned my nose, too clean, too sterile, too wrong. I sucked in a breath and the sound tore from my throat, jagged, desperate.

Hands were on me instantly.

“Venus. Hey, easy, easy,” a voice soothed, low and firm. Colton. His broad frame hovered near the bed, shadow cutting into the light. His eyes that were usually sharp with sarcasm were dark with worry.

On the other side, Rosemary sat forward, her fingers brushing over mine. “You’re okay,” she whispered, her voice soft but fraying at the edges. “You’re safe.”

Safe.

The word rattled through me, hollow.

Gianna leaned closer too, her wide brown eyes glossy, her lips pressed tight as though holding back tears. Her hand trembled as it touched my arm. “You scared the hell out of us.”

I blinked at them, throat raw, the words scraping out of me before I could stop them.

“My babies.”

The room froze. My heart thudded wildly in my chest, erratic, frantic. My arms instinctively moved toward my stomach, trembling fingers pressing against the hospital gown as if I could feel through flesh and fabric, as if I could make sure for myself.

“My babies-where-are they-” My voice cracked, breaking on the plea. Panic clawed its way up my chest, choking me. “Tell me, please-”

Rosemary’s head whipped toward the door. “Nurse!” she called, her voice sharp, urgent.

The door clicked open and a woman in scrubs slipped in, calm but brisk. She carried herself like someone used to emergencies, but her gaze softened the second it landed on me.

“Mrs. Sinclair,” she said gently, moving to my side. “Your vitals are stable, but you mustn’t strain yourself. As

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for your babies-” She paused just long enough for me to stop breathing. “They’re fine. Heartbeats steady. No sign of trauma. You’ve been through a lot, but they’re safe.”

Safe.

The word cracked something inside me. My eyes flooded, hot tears spilling down the sides of my face, my chest convulsing with relief so sharp it hurt. My hands shook as they hovered over my stomach. “They’re okay,” I whispered, again and again, as though repeating it could anchor me to reality.

Rosemary exhaled, her shoulders sagging. Gianna pressed a trembling hand to her lips, tears streaking her checks. Even Colton, who never cracked, let his eyes close for a beat, his jaw tight as though he’d been carved from stone.

But the relief didn’t last.

Fog crept in at the edges of my mind, memories clawing their way back like broken glass. The warehouse. The ropes. Gerald’s smirk. Aaron’s fists slamming into blood. Gunshots. All three of them, thunder splitting the air.

And then darkness.

My breath hitched, my heart lurching violently against the monitor’s steady beep. My gaze snapped to them, wild, desperate.

“Where’s Aaron?”

The question tore out of me, frantic, almost feral. I pushed against the mattress, trying to sit up, pain lancing through my body, but I didn’t care. My voice rose, breaking. “Where is he? Tell me!”

Gianna’s face crumpled, her hand reaching for me. “Venus-”

Rosemary leaned in, her voice steady but firm, too calm, too careful. “Sweetheart, breathe. You need to calm down, or-”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” I snapped, my voice cracking under the weight of terror. My eyes darted between them, searching their faces, clawing for answers. “Is he here? Is he okay? Please, I need to see him. Take me to him-”

My body shook, every muscle trembling with the desperate need to move, to find him, to see with my own eyes that he was alive.

“Venus” Rosemary’s voice cut sharp, authority threading through it. She gripped my hand tight enough to anchor me. “If you don’t calm down, we won’t take you anywhere. Do you understand me?”

But I didn’t. Couldn’t. My heart was tearing itself apart.

“What happened to him?” I choked out, sobs cracking my chest open. “Tell me what happened!”

“What happened to him?” I begged, my words dissolving into hiccupped sobs. “Please, Rosemary, don’t lie to me. Don’t tell me to calm down, just tell me.”

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Chapter 188

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Rosemary’s gaze locked on mine, unflinching, though I saw it there-the storm behind her eyes. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and for a second, I almost thought she wouldn’t answer.

Then she did.

“The bullets Gerald fired…” She paused, her voice faltering before she forced it steady, quiet, solemn. “They hit Aaron. He’s in critical condition.”

The world tilted.

No.

No, no, no. That wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real.

My breath strangled in my throat, coming out as a broken wheeze. “No,” I whispered, shaking my head so hard my vision blurred. “No-you’re wrong. You’re wrong, Rosemary. He’s-he’s strong, he’s-he’s Aaron.” My hands clawed at the sheets, twisting them tight. “He promised me. He can’t-he wouldn’t-he’s not leaving me.”

“Venus…” Gianna’s whisper cracked, her tears spilling freely now.

But I wasn’t listening. Couldn’t. The air was gone, ripped from my lungs, the room shrinking in on itself. “I have to see him,” I said, louder this time, frantic, the words tumbling out too fast, too broken. “Take me to him. Please. I need to see him now. Please!”

Rosemary reached for me again, but I shoved her hand away, chest heaving with ragged sobs. My body was shaking so violently I could barely keep myself upright.

“Venus, stop-

95

“No! Don’t you understand?” My voice broke on the scream, my throat raw, eyes burning. “I have to see him! He needs me! He can’t fight this alone, he needs me!”

The monitor beside me shrieked as my heart rate spiked, the beeps stumbling over themselves, frantic and chaotic. Panic clawed at me, choking me, tearing through my chest until I thought it would split wide open.

Rosemary tried to hold me down, her own voice rising now, urgent. “Venus, calm down-you’re hurting yourself, you’re hurting the babies-”

“I don’t care!” The words ripped from me, jagged and savage. “I can’t lose him! Don’t you dare keep me from him, don’t you dare!”

“Colton-” Rosemary’s voice snapped, sharp.

He’d been standing silent in the corner, jaw tight, shoulders tense like a spring coiled too far. At her call, he nodded once, grim. His hand went to the door.

A nurse entered seconds later, syringe glinting in her hand.

“No!” I cried, thrashing, my sobs breaking into gasps. “Don’t put me to sleep. I have to see him, please” My hands tried to shove them away, but I was weak, too weak, my body betraying me.

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Chapter 188

The needle slid into my arm.

:

“Please,” I mumbled, my words slurring now, my eyelids too heavy. “Please don’t… I have to… Aaron…”

My voice trailed off, swallowed by the thick, creeping haze that pulled me under.

58

The last thing I heard before the black took me was Rosemary’s whisper, quiet and breaking, as though she’d said it for herself as much as for me:

“He’ll fight. He always fights.”

And then there was nothing.

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20:50 Wed, Jan 14