The Billionaire's Forbidden Obsession

Chapter 8

Aurora woke up to the sound of birds chirping in the distance, but the room she was in was completely unfamiliar.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Instead of the old, cracked plaster of the Ashford family mansion, she was looking at smooth, dark wood panels. The bed she was lying in was massive, easily twice the size of her old one, wrapped in the softest black silk sheets she had ever felt.

For a second, she forgot where she was. Then, the memory of last night hit her like a tidal wave.

Adrian. The debt transfer. The driving through the dark. The cold, modern house in the middle of the woods.

Aurora sat up quickly, pulling the silk sheet to her chest. She looked around the massive bedroom. One entire wall was made of glass, showing the thick, green forest outside. The room was beautiful, but it felt like a luxurious prison.

"You're awake."

Aurora gasped, her head snapping toward the corner of the room.

Adrian was sitting in a low leather armchair near the window. He was already fully dressed in a tailored black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a laptop on his knees, but he wasn't looking at the screen. He was looking at her. His dark, intense eyes were fixed on her face, and he looked like he had been sitting there for hours, just watching her sleep.

"Adrian," she breathed, her heart instantly starting to beat faster. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Since five in the morning," he said flatly.

He closed his laptop and set it on the floor. He stood up and walked toward the bed, his movements slow and deliberate. He didn't look tired at all. In fact, he looked more alive and energized than she had ever seen him. The cold, distant brother-in-law was completely dead. In his place was a young, powerful man who had finally captured the one thing he wanted most in the world.

"You... you watched me sleep for hours?" Aurora asked, a shiver running down her spine. It was a strange feeling—part of her was terrified by his obsession, but another, deeper part of her felt incredibly safe.

"I did," Adrian said, stopping right at the edge of the bed. He leaned down, placing his hands on either side of her knees, trapping her beneath his gaze. "I’ve spent a year wishing I could wake up and see you next to me, Aurora. Do you think I’m going to waste a single second now that you're finally in my house?"

"Adrian, this is too much," she whispered, looking down at the silk sheets. "It's too fast. I feel like I can't breathe."

"You don't need to breathe," Adrian murmured, his voice deep and raspy. He reached out, his warm fingers gently capturing her chin, forcing her to look back up into his dark eyes. "You just need to look at me. You just need to realize that your old life is completely over."

He let go of her chin and stood up, walking over to a massive walk-in closet at the back of the room. He pushed the sliding glass doors open.

"Come here," he commanded gently.

Aurora hesitated, then wrapped the silk sheet around herself and stepped out of the bed. Her bare feet sank into the thick, warm carpet as she walked over to the closet. When she looked inside, her jaw dropped.

The closet was completely full of women's clothes. There were rows of beautiful silk dresses, expensive knit sweaters, designer shoes, and expensive jewelry, all organized perfectly by color.

"What is all this?" Aurora asked, her eyes wide. "Did you have a guest staying here?"

Adrian’s face went completely dark at her question. He stepped closer to her, his presence instantly wrapping around her like a blanket.

"No," he said, his voice dropping into a cold, hard tone. "I’ve never had a woman in this house, Aurora. And I never will have anyone but you. I had my personal shoppers buy all of this last night. It is all in your exact size."

"But... my clothes are still at the Ashford estate," she said, looking at the beautiful garments. "We need to go back and get my bags. My journals, my mother's photos—"

"I’ve already sent my security team to get your personal things," Adrian interrupted. He reached out, grabbing a soft, cream-colored silk dress from the rack and holding it out to her. "But your clothes? The dresses Damian bought you? The jewelry he gave you? I had my men throw all of it in the trash."

Aurora stared at him, completely shocked. "You threw my clothes away? Adrian, why would you do that?"

"Because I don't want you wearing anything that another man paid for," Adrian said, his eyes flashing with a sudden, wild possessiveness that made her blood run hot. He stepped even closer, his chest pressing against her shoulder. "I don't want you wearing his brand. From now on, everything you wear, everything you eat, everything you touch... it will come from me. I am going to provide for you, Aurora. Only me. Do you understand?"

The sheer, terrifying dominance of his words made her breath catch. He wasn't just hiding her from Damian. He was completely erasing her past. He wanted to wipe out every single trace of her marriage so that the only thing left in her mind was him.

"You're crazy," she whispered, her hands shaking as she took the silk dress from him.

"I told you I was," Adrian whispered back, a dark, handsome smile playing on his lips. "Now, put the dress on. We have to take a call."

"A call? From who?"

Adrian’s smile vanished, turning back into a cold, hard line. "Damian."

Ten minutes later, Aurora was dressed in the cream silk dress. It fit her perfectly, hugging her curves in a way that made her feel incredibly exposed, especially under Adrian's dark, heavy gaze.

They were downstairs in his sleek, modern kitchen. Adrian was leaning against the marble counter, holding a brand-new phone in his hand. He had turned her old phone off, and this new one only had his number programmed into it.

"He’s been calling my office line for the past hour," Adrian said, his voice entirely calm. "He landed in Chicago and realized your phone was off. He called the estate, and the butler told him that you left last night with your bags."

Aurora’s heart hammered against her ribs. "Is he angry?"

"He's furious," Adrian said with a cold, mocking laugh. "But he doesn't know you're with me yet. He thinks you ran back to your father's house. I’m going to call him now, and I want you to listen."

Adrian tapped the screen and put the call on speaker.

The phone didn't even ring twice before Damian’s voice boomed through the speakers, loud, angry, and completely out of control.

"Adrian!" Damian roared. "Do you know where Aurora is? The staff said she packed her bags and left last night. Did she go to her father's? I’ve been calling her, but her phone is dead. If she thinks she can just walk out on this marriage—"

"She isn't at her father's, Damian," Adrian said smoothly, his voice completely relaxed as he reached out and wrapped his arm around Aurora’s waist, pulling her flush against his side.

There was a sudden, violent silence on the other end of the line.

"What do you mean?" Damian asked, his voice dropping into a deadly, suspicious tone. "How do you know she isn't there?"

"Because she’s with me," Adrian said flatly.

"What?" Damian gasped, his voice cracking with pure shock. "What the hell are you talking about, Adrian? Why is my wife with you?"

"She isn't your wife anymore, Damian," Adrian said, his grip on Aurora’s waist tightening so much she could barely move. He looked down at her, his eyes full of a fierce, triumphant light as he spoke to his brother. "I bought your partner's shares of Hayes Shipping's debt yesterday. I control the loan now. The alliance is dead. And Aurora is never coming back to your house."

"You corporate rat!" Damian screamed, the sound of glass shattering echoing through the phone, as if he had thrown something across his hotel room. "She is my property! You can't just take her! I will sue you, Adrian! I will destroy Vanguard Capital! I will tell the family what you've done!"

"You won't do anything, Damian," Adrian said coldly, his voice cutting through his brother's rage like a knife. "Because if you try to fight me, I will release the financial records of your offshore accounts to the federal regulators. I have enough evidence of your corporate espionage to put you in prison for twenty years. If you want to keep your freedom, you will sign the divorce papers my lawyers are sending to your office today. You will leave Aurora alone, and you will never speak her name again."

"Adrian, she is your sister-in-law!" Damian yelled, his voice sounding desperate and defeated. "She is older than you! She sees you as a child!"

Adrian looked down at Aurora, his thumb slowly tracing her lower lip, which was trembling. A dark, possessive smirk touched his face.

"She doesn't see me as a child anymore, Damian," Adrian whispered into the phone. "Goodbye."

He tapped the screen, ending the call, and threw the phone onto the counter.

The kitchen went completely quiet. Aurora stared at him, her chest heaving as she processed everything that had just happened. Adrian had just threatened his own brother with prison, completely destroyed her marriage, and secured her father's safety, all in a matter of minutes. He was younger than her, but he had just completely dominated his older brother.

"It's done," Adrian whispered, stepping closer to her, his hands sliding up from her waist to her shoulders. He looked down at her with an intensity that made her knees feel weak. "You are free from him, Aurora. He can never touch you again."

"And what about you?" she whispered, her hands rising to rest against his chest. "Are you going to let me go now?"

Adrian let out a low, rough growl, his fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her face up to his.

"Never," Adrian said, his voice thick with a dark, heavy obsession. "I told you, Aurora. I bought your father's freedom, and now I am keeping yours. You are mine now. Fully mine. And I am never, ever letting you go."

He leaned down and kissed her, a hard, possessive kiss that claimed her entire soul, and for the first time in her life, Aurora didn't want to run away.