Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 235

Chapter 36

VENUS

The clinic rose before us like a block of clean intentions-glass, steel, pale stone-all polished to reassure. Sunlight bounced off the façade and into my eyes as the convoy slowed. Security fanned out, earpieces buzzing faintly, the world rearranging itself around us.

George squeezed my hand as we stepped inside.

“I don’t like the smell,” he whispered.

“I know,” I said, smiling down at him. “Hospitals and clinics always smell like… rules.”

He let out a small, nervous laugh, tension easing just a fraction. Aaron walked on George’s other side, shoulder brushing mine in the narrow entryway. He didn’t look at me. Didn’t need to. I could feel the rigid heat of him there-alert, wound tight, ready to pounce.

The lobby hummed with quiet activity: soft voices, rubber soles against tile, a wall-mounted screen looping a video about coping skills. The words slid past me. I didn’t need them.

Check-in complete. Names confirmed, appointments verified. Security spread out again: two men drifted ahead, two fell behind, one lingered near the elevators. Aaron’s gaze moved with precision, scanning every reflection, every movement in the glass.

When we reached the therapy wing, George tugged gently at my hand. “You’re staying, right?”

“Yes,” I said lightly, letting my voice skim his ear rather than touch his thoughts. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Aaron’s eyes flicked to me, sharp and questioning. “You’re not going in with him?”

“I am,” I said evenly, brushing past him. “Just-bathroom first.”

He frowned. “We’re already-”

I cut him off, deliberately casual, almost indifferent. “It’s fine. Five minutes.”

The therapist knelt to George’s level, her voice calm and steady. “Want to show me your drawing?”

George’s face lit up, backpack slipping off his shoulder. His focus shifted. Aaron hesitated, muscles tensing, the instinct to follow flickering in his eyes. But George was already moving toward crayons and quiet.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, letting the words hang between us like smoke.

Aaron’s jaw flexed. “Don’t wander.”

“I won’t,” I replied, casual. A lie, but a controlled one.

I turned before he could argue and headed down the corridor marked RESTROOMS / IMAGING. The hall curved and narrowed, the lobby noise fading behind me. My steps were measured, unremarkable. Another woman going to wash her hands.

I passed the restrooms without slowing. At the end of the hall, a temporary barrier blocked a side wing-yellow

1/4

stac

on it.

I slipped past the tape.

The air shifted immediately, cooler and quieter. Walls thick with lead and shielding for imaging suites, a makeshift Faraday cage. Signals faltered. Phones hesitated. Cameras were sparse, clustered only near entrances.

I ducked into a small service alcove behind the cart, barely wide enough for two people. Dust and detergent lingered. My heart raced-not with fear, but urgency.

A shadow crossed the floor.

“Venus.”

I turned.

Colton stood there, jacket unzipped, eyes sharp and worried. He looked the same as always, my brother in all the ways that mattered-but his posture spoke of readiness, like he expected I might vanish the moment I appeared.

I crossed the distance in two steps, throwing my arms around him, pressing my face into his shoulder. He startled, then steadied me, hands braced against my back.

“I need to know,” I whispered. “Do you have it?”

He nodded, fishing a small, nondescript device from his jacket. A switch flicked, a faint hum barely audible. ” Signal disruptor. Short range. We’re dead to the grid in here.”

I sagged against him, relief washing through my limbs. “Thank you.”

“Phone?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head. “Left it at home. Powered down.”

He didn’t comment-approval flickering in his eyes instead.

“Aaron’s with George,” I added. “He won’t come looking.”

Colton’s mouth tightened. “That doesn’t make it easier.”

“No,” I agreed. “Just… possible.”

****Flashback*

The gravel crunched under my tires as I pulled away from Cabin 9.

Too loud. Everything too loud-the engine, my breath, the blood rushing in my ears. The road narrowed quickly, trees pressing in, secrets murmuring through the branches. I forced my breathing to slow, fingers tightening around the wheel until the leather creaked.

Focus. Drive. Get off the mountain.

The cold retreated as I drove, pulse steadying. Cabin 9 slipped behind a bend. Darkness swallowed it. Relief seeped in.

That was my mistake.

Headlights flared in the rearview mirror.

Polite distance. Intentional. Same speed. Same turns. I told myself it meant nothing.

The road widened. Trees thinned. Sky pressed down, heavy and starless. I exhaled.

Then the headlights flashed-once. Twice.

Heart stuttered. I slowed, easing onto the shoulder. Gravel hissed beneath the tires. My instincts screamed.

The car behind me stopped a few feet back. Engine cut.

Silence rushed in, thick and electric.

I didn’t turn.

A door opened. Footsteps crunched closer.

“Venus?”

My name, familiar, wrong.

I turned. “Colton?”

Concern etched his face. “What are you doing here? Where are you coming from?”

Andrea’s voice echoed in my mind: I’ll know if you tell anyone.

Careless expression. Neutral tone. “Long drive. Needed air.”

He studied me. Trees. Road. Face. Tapped twice on the roof of his car.

Once. Pause. Twice.

I shook my head.

He nodded toward his car. “Get in. Yours stays. Now.”

killed the engine, grabbed my keys, slid into the passenger seat. Doors locked. He flicked a switch. Low hum.

“You can talk. Signal disruptors. No listening. No tracking.”

I stared. “Since when do you-”

“Not important. Talk.”

I told him everything. Hospital interception. Cabin 9. Drugging Aaron. The bargain.

“She said if I told anyone,” I whispered, tears blurring the road, “she’d make Gerald look merciful.”

Colton swore, squeezed my hand. “You’re not alone.”

“I am,” I said. “I have to be. She’s watching.”

3/4

“We’ll make her feel watched back,” he said. “Quietly. You won’t be alone.”

“I can’t tell anyone. Promise me.”

His eyes held mine. “I promise. Not a word.”

Relief and terror braided tight.

“I need to go. She’ll notice if I don’t.”

He nodded. “We’ll meet tomorrow. Near the clinic.”

We hugged quickly, then I was back in my car, engine roaring as the mountain swallowed the road behind me.

****End of flashback****

Back in the present, Colton’s hands were still on my shoulders. “Did she contact you?”

“Yes, about Aaron. I don’t think she knows we met last night.’

“Good.”

“I think she has listening devices installed in Rosemary’s house. I don’t know how. Anything on her or Iris?”

“Andrea’s moving money through shell nonprofits tied to Cedar Ridge. I’ve been tailing her, but no sign of Iris.”

“We don’t have time-”

“I know. But trust me.”

“I do. Always.”

“Be careful,” he said. “For now, let her think she has you. Keep up the act.”

I nodded. He melted into shadow, gone.

I waited for the hum of normalcy, straightened my shoulders, smoothed my hair, and stepped back into the light.

The walk to the therapy room felt longer. Pulse counting seconds. Five, seven… too long.

Aaron stood by the door, arms crossed.

His eyes snapped to me.

“Where were you?”

日

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