Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 98

OCEANS.

For a moment. I did not move from the doo way

If I moved too quickly, I would drag Jace out of that chair by his collar If I spoke ton soon. I would say something that would turn the room into a war zone, and Kisarel was too damin weak for the violence already collecting under my skin

So I slowly stepped inside and closed the door behind me

Someone had sent roses. I didn’t care who.

Jace’s hand staved wrapped around hers. His thumb was moving over her skin in slow strokes I wanted to rip his arm off but I didn’t

I fucking couldn’t

So I stood there with my hands in my pockets, forcing air into my lungs with my jaw locked so tight I could feel it in my teeth, and I pretended that the sight of another man touching her did not make me want to commit violence

“What happened?” I asked.

Jace answered before she could even part her lips.

“She got dizzy. She collapsed.”

My gaze slid to him.

He sat straighter, still holding her hand like he wanted me to notice. “Elgin brought her in. The doctor said she needed rest.”

I looked back at Kisarel. “I never knew it was severe enough to affect her speech.”

The room went tight.

Jace’s jaw hardened. “Excuse me?”

“You answered fast enough for two people,” I said. “I assumed she was unable to speak for herself”

Kisarel’s fingers shifted under his, but Jace held on.

Jace’s hand tightened around hers. “She’s weak. I’m her fiancé. I can speak for her whenever I want.”

Something hot moved behind my ribs.

Fiancé.

The title sat sounded like an insult everyone expected me to respect,

I let my gaze rest on him for one second too long. “That depends on whether she asked you to ”

“Oceans.” Kisarel said quietly.

My eyes returned to her at once.

She sounded tired. Not weak, exactly, but dramed in a way that made me want to strip the room down to the studs and rebuild it somewhere safer. The IV taped to her hand bothered me. The blanket bothered me. The famt bruise near the crook of her arm bothered me enough that I had to look away from it

rri, May 22

JM

Chapter 98

I turned to Elgin

He had been standing near the corner with his arms folded and his face carefully neutral. He looked like bed altcarty be swallowing his temper long before I arrived.

“What really happened?” I asked.

Jace answered again. “She collapsed I already told you”

*1 heard you the first time” My gaze stayed on Elgin “People don’t end up in a hospital bed with this much tension because they got a little dizzy.”

Jace’s mouth tightened, but I kept my eyes on Elgin

Elgin pushed away from the wall with a slow breath. “She felt dizzy while we were out. It got bad while she slept, so I brought her here

“Out where?”

Elgin’s gaze flicked briefly to Kisarel before returning to me. “Visiting one of her friends. Luna Park. Night market. That’s where she must have been injected.”

My attention moved to Kisarel, but she looked down at the blanket.

My blood was boiling in my veins.

“Which friend?” I asked.

Jace scoffed softly. “Do you know all your employees‘ friends, Mr. Stark?”

“What friend. Elgin?” I kept my attention on Elgin.

“A woman. Nessa. A new acquaintance.”

What the fuck?

“How do I not know… Fuck.” I stopped myself before I sold our secret further. Kiss would never forgive me if I ever let anyone know about us.

But… Fuck it.

I asked anyway.

“What friend is this,” my voice was ice, “that I know nothing about?”

Jace gave a short, humorless laugh. “Don’t you think you’re taking this too far. Mr. Stark?” A frown suddenly replaced his smile. “You ask way too many questions for a boss who just came uninvited to see his employee. Should I be worried.”

The fucker held my gaze like it was a challenge.

“Watch your mouth,” I said quietly.

Jace smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll show you exactly how I handle people who forget who the fuck they’re talking to.” I smirk. “You wein to have forgotten too soon.”

Kisarel stiffened on the bed, sensing the shift. Stop it both of you.” She attempted to sit up, and face and I reached for her at

the same time.

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C

16:44 Fri, May 22 M.

Chapter 98

Fuck.

I pulled back immediately and shoved my hands back in my pockets.

The fucker helped her sit, feeling like a messiah.

“I’m fine, Mr. Stark, she said professionally. “Thank you for coming. But it’s not necessary”

Those words were aimed at my ego and my heart. And they did what she intended. Because it fucking hurt.

I nodded once. “Glad you’re recovering.”

I wanted to say more, but I was at a loss for words, and the silence was awkward. But not for too long, as Jace’s phone rang. dissolving the silence.

He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted into a slight frown before he rearranged it.

“I need to take this, baby,” he said, standing. He kissed her lips once more. “I’ll be right back. Don’t stress yourself.”

She nodded faintly.

He walked out of the room.

བད རྗོད པའོ 1:|:ཁོརིང

I watched him disappear through the door, and something troubling settled in my stomach.

The caller ID…

I saw it before he angled the phone away.

Fred.

Why the fuck was Fred calling Jace?

***

NARRATOR’S POV

Jace stepped out of Kisarel’s hospital room with Fred’s name burning on his phone screen.

He waited until the door clicked shut behind him before answering. His hand was still warm from holding Kisarel’s. The warmth annoyed him because it softened something in him, and softness was dangerous now. At least, not when dealing with a man like Fred.

“What?” he said under his breath, walking farther down the hallway.

Fred’s voice was sharp and impatient through the speaker. “You took too long to answer.”

“I’m at the hospital.”

There was a pause. “Whose?”

Jace looked back toward Kisarel’s door. Through the narrow glass panel, he could see the edge of her bed and the white blanket over her legs.

He turned away before the sight could do more damage.

“Kisarel’s,” he said.

Fred cursed softly. “What happened?”

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16:44 Fri, May 22 M.

Chapter 98

“She fainted. Elgin brought her in.”

“Is she conscious?”

“Yes,”

“Can she talk?”

Jace’s mouth tightened. “What kind of question is that?”

“The kind of man asks when the only person who can ruin fourteen years of work suddenly ends up in a hospital bed less

than two months before the wedding.” Fred’s tone hardened. “Is she stable?”

“Yes.”

“And the wedding is not at risk?” He pushed.

えさん

Jace’s mouth tightened. “She fainted, Fred. She didn’t lose a limb.”

“Then keep her calm and dependent. Keep her close and her grateful, and make sure nothing delays that ceremony.”

Jace’s fingers curled around the phone.

“I don’t need a lecture. You think I don’t know that?”

“You need a reminder.” Fred’s voice dropped into that of the cold monster he was. “She signed the papers already. The clause activates the moment the marriage is legally completed. Barely six weeks from now.” Fred paused. “Do not develop a conscience now, because, if you do, then it makes me wonder what happens to the next plan after the wedding.”

Jace looked down the hallway again. “Shit.” He cursed, running his fingers through his hair.

“We both know that after the wedding,” Fred said, “she becomes a liability.”

Jace’s jaw tightened. “Don’t say it like that.”

“How would you prefer I say it? That she goes on a long vacation? That she conveniently disappears? Grow up, Jace. You wanted money. This is how you get it.”

Jace rubbed a hand over his face. “I never said I wanted her dead.”

“And I never asked for your opinion.”

A faint movement came from behind him, disrupting his next line of argument.

Jace turned, and immediately the phone almost slipped from Jace’s hand when he saw someone standing a few feet away. still as a blade, with eyes fixed on Jace’s face.

Ocean Stark.

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