Contract Marriage With My Billionaire Boss (Venus and Aaron) novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

AARON

55 vouchers

The jet wheels left the tarmac and disappeared into the clouds, and I stood there long after it had vanished from view.

The necklace still lingered in my hand, her warmth pressed into the velvet box, the scent of her skin faint on my fingers. I closed the lid slowly. Deliberately. A quiet finality. Something in me didn’t want to let go of the moment. It wasn’t just the departure. It was the space it left behind.

I heard Connor before I saw him. His shoes against the asphalt were too casual for the kind of man who held a C-suite position in a multibillion-dollar empire and owned his own firm, but then again, he never played by the rules we built. That’s what made us dangerous together. And sometimes, insufferably honest.

“You’re in love with her,” he said, his voice too flat to be a question.

I didn’t even turn. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He let out a low whistle, stepping beside me. “Not even a beat of hesitation, huh?”

“Because I’m not.” I said it evenly, factually. Like stating the weather. Like telling someone the market closed five points down. No emotion, just the truth. Or what I convinced myself was the truth. “I don’t do love. We’ve been through this.”

Connor crossed his arms, brows drawn. “Yeah, but the last time we went through this,’ you weren’t looking at anyone like they hung your fucking gravity in place.” He frowned, watching me like he was reading lines between my words. “She’s not Andrea, you know. And you’re not Richard.”

That made me pause.

I finally turned my head, meeting his gaze. Calm. Controlled. Like always. “You’re being dramatic.”

“No,” he said. “You’re being blind.”

I didn’t answer.

Because arguing with Connor was like trying to fight water-you always ended up drowning in the weight of your own words.

My phone buzzed. I looked down.

Mom.

I picked up immediately.

“Is she gone?” Her voice came through soft but expectant, like she already knew the answer but needed to hear it.

“Yes. They just took off.”

There was a pause on the other end. The kind that said more than it should’ve. Then, “Oh, she’s a really nice girl, Aaron.”

“She is. So you’ve told me the last few months.”

Another pause. Then a sigh. “Don’t let the past ruin what you haven’t even let yourself want yet.”

I didn’t answer.

Didn’t have to. She knew me well enough to fill in the silence.

15:15 Sat, Jan 3 G

Chapter 88

We said goodbye. I tucked the phone away. The weight in my chest didn’t budge.

Connor was still watching me.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged. “You’re unraveling.”

I scoffed, turning toward the car. “Hardly.”

“Sure. Let’s talk about something else then.” He slid into the passenger seat like he belonged there. “The stalker.”

My jaw tightened.

“Still no ID?”

“Nothing concrete,” he said. “The security team I assigned picked up movement again last night. Same build. Same pattern. They stayed far, kept hidden. Same alley near her building.”

“And?”

“They didn’t engage. Just watched. But the pattern’s consistent now. Deliberate, Strategic.”

My hands curled into fists.

“Eyes on the girls?” I asked.

小

Connor nodded. “Always. I made sure of it before they took off. I don’t take chances with them.”

I nodded once, jaw clenched. The threat had been lingering too long now. Faceless, nameless, persistent. At first, we thought it was random. Now? It felt calculated. Someone circling but not ready to strike.

“I want updates every hour,” I said.

“You’ll get them.”

The silence stretched again.

Then Connor tilted his head. “You gonna tell her?”

“Tell her what?”

“That she’s being hunted. That someone’s watching?”

My answer came too quick. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not sure it’s about her. Not fully. I think it’s linked to me. And I’m not dragging her into that until I have something solid.”

“She deserves to know,” he said quietly.

“She doesn’t need more on her plate.”

“Right,” he muttered. “Because God forbid she worry about the man who’s wrapped himself around her like a second skin.”

Again, I didn’t respond. What was I supposed to say? That the thought of her losing sleep over me made my chest tighten? That I liked the way she smiled when she wasn’t worrying? That I liked how she softened around me and how I couldn’t

SAT

15:15 Sat, Jan 3 G

Chapter 88

bring myself to watch that softness dim?

017

#55 vouchers

Connor watched me for a beat, then shifted in his seat, legs stretched out like we were just two guys killing time. But his eyes stayed sharp.

“So, the contract.”

My eyes flicked toward him. “What about it?”

“You’ve got two years left,” he said. “Less, actually. After everything… you still plan on ending it?”

“Yes.”

He raised a brow. “Just like that.”

I kept my voice even. “By then, the inheritance is solid. The board will have no grounds to contest. And she’ll have what she wanted too.”

“Which is?”

“Her mother’s treatment. Stability. A clean break.”

Connor exhaled through his nose. Shook his head slowly. “God, you’re cold sometimes.”

“No,” I said. “I’m honest.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?”

I didn’t answer.

He leaned back against the seat, eyes on the sky. “You think she’s gonna be okay with that? When the contract ends and you just let her walk?”

“She’ll understand.”

Connor’s laugh was quiet. Not amused. “She might understand. But it’s going to break her anyway.”

I looked out the window.

“She knew what this was from the beginning,” I said quietly.

“Yeah,” he replied. “But I don’t think you did.”

The car was silent after that. But the silence wasn’t empty. It was full of what ifs, maybes, and truths I wasn’t ready to face.

Not yet.

Comment

AD

Send gift

No Ads

SAT

3

O

Hovread

15:15 Sat, Jan 3 G**