Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 223

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VENUS

Aaron returned just past sundown, the sky outside Rosemary’s windows streaked with dying orange and bruised purple. I’d been sitting on the edge of the sofa with Sabine still curled into my side and George leaning against Rosemary’s armchair, pretending not to be listening while listening to every sound from the driveway.

The moment I heard the front door swing open, something in my chest snapped awake.

He stepped inside, jaw set, eyes sharp-radiating that dangerous calm he always wore when he was barely holding himself back from breaking something. Or someone.

His gaze cut across the room until it landed on me.

I stood immediately.

He came to me just as fast.

“They found the vehicle,” he said without preamble. “The van. The one the kidnappers used.”

Everything inside me froze.

“Where?”

“Abandoned outside a supply stall on the interstate.” His voice was gravel. “Reported stolen two days ago. Scratched plates. Wiped down. But-” His jaw flexed. “They’re reviewing surveillance from the area.”

His eyes met mine again.

There was a flicker of something painful there.

“I wanted to bring you the second I heard,” he said. “But Connor made me wait until they secured the scene.”

I nodded, though my throat was too tight to speak.

A van.

Abandoned,

Which meant they’d switched vehicles.

Which meant Iris was somewhere else now.

Somewhere I didn’t know.

Somewhere I couldn’t reach.

“Venus.” Aaron’s hand came up, thumb brushing my cheekbone-not tender, not soft, but grounding. “Before anything else, I’m taking you back to the hospital. You overexerted yourself. You’re not stable.”

“Aaron-”

“No.” His voice cut through the room like a blade. “You collapsed earlier. You’re pale. You’re shaking. You’re going back. I won’t negotiate on this.”

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I opened my mouth to argue.

But Sabine stirred weakly against me, her big brown eyes glassy and exhausted.

George’s jaw tensed the way Aaron’s did.

Aaron looked at them, then at me.

“You need to be strong for them,” he said quietly. “I need you alive for them.”

Alive.

The word bruised me.

Alive because Iris wasn’t guaranteed to be.

I swallowed hard. “Fine.”

He exhaled-more relief than victory-and helped me gather Sabine’s little arms from around me before instructing Rosemary to keep them close and not let them out of her sight.

Sabine whimpered for me once, but Rosemary soothed her, kissing the top of her curls, whispering calming things in her ear. George didn’t speak at all.

I kissed both their foreheads before Aaron guided me outside.

The night air was cold enough to sting.

But I didn’t flinch.

I couldn’t.

Not when my daughter was somewhere out there still breathing, still existing, still waiting for me to come find

her.

***

****

They rushed me through the back entrance-Connor had apparently called ahead-and I was taken straight to a consultation room.

The doctor who had treated me earlier walked in with a clipped pace and an expression that hovered somewhere between annoyance and genuine worry.

“You left the hospital without discharge,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“I’m aware,” I muttered.

She sighed, rubbed her forehead, then checked my vitals, my bandages, my ribs, my IV mark.

“You’re exhausted, malnourished, and your blood pressure is unstable,” she said finally, “You need rest.”

“I don’t have time to rest.”

She looked at Aaron.

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He looked back at her with a silent command: Say it anyway.

She sighed again. “I know you won’t stay. So I’m giving you an official discharge-on the condition that you rest for the next few days. No running. No fights. No stress.”

A humorless breath escaped me. “Impossible.”

“Then do the bare minimum,” she said firmly. “Or you will collapse again.”

Aaron’s hand came down on my shoulder-not gently, but possessively. “She’ll rest.”

The doctor gave him a look that almost resembled sympathy. “Make sure she does.”

She signed the discharge papers, gave Aaron instructions, handed me medication, then left.

We stepped out into the hallway.

The hospital lights buzzed overhead.

My legs felt heavier.

My head felt like it was filled with static.

But I kept walking beside him, because stopping hurt more.

We made it halfway down the hall before the pressure hit me.

A sudden, sharp, urgent pulse low in my stomach.

I winced.

Aaron saw instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“I need the restroom.”

He frowned. “I’ll come with you.”

“It’s the restroom, Aaron. I’ll be out in a minute.”

His jaw flexed, that familiar you’re testing my patience twitch.

But after a moment he nodded. “Fine. One minute. If you’re not out, I’m coming in.”

“Not necessary.”

“Ninety seconds, Venus.”

I rolled my eyes. “I heard you.”

He still watched me walk away until the door closed behind me.

}

*

The fluorescent light flickered once overhead as I stepped inside.

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White tiles.

A row of sinks.

Three stalls.

Silent and empty.

I exhaled, moving toward the farthest stall.

I didn’t even get halfway.

Because the moment I turned-

Someone was standing behind me.

A woman.

Lean, elegant, red hair and emerald eyes sharp enough to cut.

Andrea Marlowe.

Gerald’s sister, Aaron’s ex-fling.

The woman who’s family vanished from the business world and map after her brother’s conviction.

My pulse slammed into my ribs so hard it made my vision blur.

She smiled faintly.

“Oh good,” she said softly. “You came on your own. I was wondering how I’d get you alone.”

My breath strangled in my throat.

I took one step back-

She stepped forward.

“Don’t scream,” she said pleasantly. “It’ll be an inconvenience for both of us.”

I couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t breathe.

Her hand lifted-a phone between her fingers.

She tapped the screen.

A video began to play.

Iris.

My baby.

Sitting on a bed, wrapped in a blanket. Her eyes puffy from crying. Her cheeks red. A stuffed toy lying beside her

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