Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 208

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VENUS

The call came just as I was stacking the empty mugs on the tray.

Aaron’s phone buzzed on the desk beside him, the shrill sound cutting through the stillness of the room. He glanced at the screen, frowning. “It’s Jane.”

He put her on speaker. “Go ahead.”

Her voice came through tight, urgent. “Check the news-now.”

Aaron opened his laptop, and I moved closer beside him. The moment the page loaded, I saw it: his name flashing across headlines. But this time, the tone was different.

Evidence clears Aaron Sinclair of scandal allegations.

Leaked footage reveals tampering in Paris case.

Hotel security breach connected to unknown parties.

—

My breath caught. Every headline said the same thing – the story was suddenly turning around.

Aaron scrolled, scanning the reports. The articles cited unverified sources claiming the original footage had been doctored, that a third party had broken into his hotel room hours before the alleged incident. Screenshots from the CCTV Jane had shown us were already circulating online.

I turned toward the phone. “Jane, did you-?”

“No,” she cut in, her voice firm. “I didn’t leak this. I’ve been holding the footage until we could verify everything. I don’t know how it got out.”

Aaron leaned back, running a hand through his hair. “If it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t us-then who did this?”

Jane hesitated. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Someone wanted this seen, but the timing is too… convenient. It’s like they knew exactly when to flip the narrative.”

Connor stepped in just then, having heard part of the conversation. “Jane, you’re saying the same person who had access to that footage might have released it?”

“Possibly. But that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Why frame him only to clear him later? What’s the point of playing both sides?”

Aaron’s jaw tightened. “Call Connor directly. I need him on this.”

Connor raised an eyebrow. “I’m standing right here.”

Aaron blinked, momentarily dazed, then shook his head. “Right. Sorry. Just-check if you sent it to anyone, any backups, cloud files-anything that could have leaked.”

“I will,” Jane said. “But Aaron, you should know-this story’s already viral. It’s everywhere.”

The line went dead.

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Connor exhaled. “It wasn’t me either. I didn’t even have those footages.

Aaron’s eyes narrowed. “So whoever did this has access to both the footage and impeccable timing.”

The room felt smaller suddenly, like the air had thickened around us.

I folded my arms, the weight of it pressing down on me. “They framed you, ruined your name, and now they’re vindicating you? It’s not charity. They’re setting something up.”

Aaron nodded slowly. “A game.”

The word hung there, cold and heavy.

Then, from upstairs, came the scream.

It was sharp – high and terrified – slicing through the air so violently that my heart stopped. I didn’t think. I just ran.

Aaron was right behind me, his chair scraping against the floor as he bolted for the stairs.

The scream came again. A child’s. Iris.

By the time we reached the hallway, George was shouting, “Mom! Dad!”

I threw open the door to the children’s room. The lights were off; the moonlight spilling through the broken window painted everything in blue and silver.

Iris sat on George’s bed, clutching her forehead. Blood streaked down the side of her face, a bright red line cutting across her temple. George was standing in front of her protectively, his small arms wrapped around his sister. Sabine Jr was beside them, crying so hard her words came out in gasps.

I ran to them, my knees hitting the floor. “Iris! Baby, what happened?”

George pointed toward the shattered window, voice trembling. “Someone threw something! It-it hit her!”

Aaron’s footsteps stopped just behind me. “What?” His voice was ice.

I looked toward the window. There was a hole in the glass, jagged and fresh. The curtains fluttered with the cold wind rushing in.

My heart hammered in my chest. I pressed a hand against Iris’s cheek – she was shaking, but conscious. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re okay.”

Aaron scanned the floor, his expression darkening. “Where is it? What did they throw?”

Iris pointed weakly toward the far corner. “There. By the dresser.”

Aaron strode over, crouched, and picked up a small, heavy object – a stone. A thin piece of paper was wrapped around it, tied with a rubber band. Connor checked outside the window.

Aaron froze, staring down at it, his jaw working wordlessly.

“What is it?” I asked.

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He didn’t answer.

I pressed the edge of my sleeve against Iris’s cut, applying gentle pressure. “Aaron?”

Still nothing.

I turned to the door and called for the maid. She came running, wide-eyed, and I handed Iris over to her trembling arms. “Take them to the guest room. Stay with them. Don’t leave their side.”

As the children were led out, I rose slowly and crossed the room to where Aaron stood. His shoulders were rigid, his hand still gripping the stone.

“Aaron, talk to me. What’s on the paper?”

He hesitated for a long moment, then finally lifted his gaze to meet mine.

His eyes were unreadable.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet – almost too quiet. “It says… ‘And so it begins.””

The words hit me like a physical blow.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The wind howled through the broken glass, scattering tiny shards across the floor. Somewhere in the house, a door creaked from the draft.

I stared at the paper, the ink still fresh enough to glisten under the lamplight.

It wasn’t random. It wasn’t a prank.

It was a message.

Aaron’s hand clenched around the note until the paper crumpled. “They’re watching us,” he said, his tone low and controlled, but I could hear the rage beneath it. “Whoever did this-they want us to know it’s not over.”

A chill crawled up my spine. “Then it never was about Paris. That was just the opening move.”

He nodded once. “And now it’s here.”

We stood there in the dark, the broken window open to the night. The city lights flickered faintly in the distance, but all I could hear was the quiet thrum of fear in my own chest.

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