Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 250

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VENUS

The words landed gently.

Almost tenderly.

“George, Sabine, and Mom are somewhere safe. They’re fine. They had to leave for the whole thing to work.”

For a second, my brain refused to translate them into meaning. They hovered between us, suspended, as if waiting for permission to become real.

“Safe?” I echoed, stupidly.

Aaron nodded once. Slow and certain.

“So you knew,” I said. My voice cracked halfway through the sentence. “All this time-you knew?”

He didn’t flinch from it. “I suspected. Then I knew.” A beat. “I’m sorry.”

Something inside me broke open.

“No-no, I’m sorry.

“The words tumbled out of me in a rush, sharp and panicked, like if I didn’t say them now they would choke me later. “I’m sorry for everything I said to you. I’m sorry for how I treated you. I’m sorry for drugging you-God, I’m so ashamed of myself. I never meant any of it. I never—”

My breath hitched hard. Tears blurred everything.

“I know,” he said immediately, stepping closer. His hands came up to my arms, warm and grounding. “I know you didn’t. You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

I shook my head, violently. “Yes, I do. I hurt you. I hurt us. I stood there and said those things about you and—”

“You are so strong, baby,” he said, his voice firm but soft, like he needed me to hear it. “So, so strong.’

I let out a broken laugh that turned into a sob. “No. I’m not. I’m a coward. I-I hurt you and I couldn’t even save my daughter.”

His hands tightened just slightly on my arms.

“I don’t ever want to hear you say that about yourself again,” he said, quietly but with an edge that stopped me cold. “Ever. You did what you had to do. You protected Iris the only way you could with the information you had. Now, you should let me take care of the rest.”

He swallowed, his thumb brushing gently along my arm.

“And I’m sorry,” he added. “For everything I said back there. I didn’t mean any of it. It hurt me to see you hurting, and I didn’t know where to put that pain. Please forgive me?”

My chest felt too tight to breathe.

“You shouldn’t apologize to me,” I whispered. “You’re… you’re perfect.”

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He huffed out a quiet breath, almost a laugh, and leaned in, pressing a slow, careful kiss to my lips. Not desperate this time. Not consuming. Just there.

“You’re perfect,” he murmured against my mouth.

His hand stayed on my arm, rubbing slow circles, grounding me in the present, in him.

“What are we going to do about Iris?” I asked, my voice small now, terrified of the answer.

“We are getting her back” he said. “There’s a plan in motion. Colton-”

The phone rang.

Loud. Jarring. Wrong.

We both froze.

My gaze snapped to the far side of the room, to where my phone lay cracked on the floor, its screen lighting up insistently. My heart leapt straight into my throat.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no—’

“)

Aaron’s hand slid reassuringly along my arm. “Hey. It’s okay. There are signal blockers here. She’s not hearing anything.”

The ringing didn’t stop.

Against every instinct screaming at me to run, I bent down and picked it up.

Andrea.

I answered.

“You did a fine job, Venus Sinclair,” she purred. “-oh, sorry. Astor.” A soft, delighted chuckle. “Old habits.”

“I—I did what you asked,” I said, my voice shaking despite myself. “Give me back my child.”

“Oh hush,” she said lightly. “Don’t be in such a hurry. You still haven’t gotten the divorce yet.”

“But-”

“I want to be there live,” she cut in smoothly. “Immediately after both of you sign the papers, you’ll have your precious daughter back not a moment before.”

My stomach dropped. “Why are you doing this? What do you gain from this?”

She laughed-bright, unhinged and pleased with herself.

“This?” she said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. I have so much in store for you and your precious husband. So much.”

My grip tightened around the phone.

“Fix a date quickly,” Andrea added. “If you’re so desperate to have her back.”

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The line went dead.

I stared at the screen, numb.

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When I looked up, Aaron had heard everything. His jaw was clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack.

“Hang on a little longer for me, Venus,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Soon, she’ll be singing a very different tune.”

I clung to him like he was the only solid thing left in the world.

“Fix a date.”

“For what?” I asked quietly, though I already knew.

He looked down at me, steady and unflinching.

“The divorce,” he said.

My heart dropped out of my body. “What?” I pulled back just enough to look at him, devastation written all over my face. “What are you saying?”

“We play along,” he said gently. “We let her think everything is going exactly the way she planned. We can’t let her suspect anything, If she does, then all this was for nothing.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, even though it felt like agreeing to my own execution.

“I have to go now,” he said.

My heart dropped.

My face must have given me away, because his expression softened immediately.

“This one last time,” he said, cupping my face. “The next time we see each other-”

He pressed his forehead to mine.

“-Iris will be back with us. I promise.”

I closed my eyes, holding onto that promise like it was the only thing keeping me upright.

And for the first time since this nightmare began, I could see the end in sight.

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