BOUGHT BY THE BILLIONAIRE

HE DIDN'T SLEEP

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*Chapter 10: HE DIDN’T SLEEP*

Morning came slow and pale through the hospital blinds.

Chioma woke up with her neck bent at a painful angle. She’d fallen asleep sitting up, head nodding forward every few minutes. The plastic chair was the worst pillow in the world.

But the pain in her neck wasn’t what made her freeze.

Daniel was asleep.

The same Daniel Okoye who fired his driver for being 30 seconds late. The same man who ran 6am conference calls from his private jet. The man who said “sleep is for people who don’t have empires to build”.

He was asleep on that tiny hospital chair. Legs too long for it, so they stretched out in the aisle. Head tilted back, tie completely undone and hanging loose. His perfect hair was messy like he’d run his hands through it 100 times.

Without the cold mask, he looked... human. Young. Tired.

Chioma shouldn’t have stared. But she did. For a full minute. The harsh line of his jaw was soft now. The permanent frown between his brows was gone. Even his lips, usually pressed thin in disapproval, looked relaxed.

Her chest felt tight. Warm. Wrong.

_Contract marriage, Chioma. Don’t forget._

But her body moved anyway. She stood up slowly, legs numb, and walked to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me, can I... take a blanket?”

The nurse handed her a thin hospital blanket without questions.

Back at Daniel, Chioma’s hands shook. Touching him broke the contract. Touching him broke every rule she made for herself.

She draped the blanket over his chest anyway. It was barely big enough. Her fingers brushed his suit jacket for half a second.

Daniel’s eyes opened instantly. Sharp. Black. Awake.

No groggy, no confusion. Like he’d been faking sleep. Like he never slept at all.

Their faces were close. Too close. Chioma could see the gold flecks in his dark eyes. Could feel his breath on her face.

For 3 seconds, the whole hospital disappeared. Just his eyes on hers.

Then Daniel sat up straight so fast the blanket fell to the floor.

“What time is it?” His voice was rough from sleep, but his eyes were CEO-cold again.

“6:05am,” Chioma whispered, bending to pick up the blanket. Her face burned. “Sorry. You looked cold. I didn’t mean—”

“I don’t need your pity, Mrs. Okoye,” he cut her off, standing up and adjusting his cufflinks. Back to billionaire mode in 2 seconds.

“It wasn’t pity,” she said before her brain could stop her mouth. “It was thank you. For not leaving.”

Daniel’s jaw ticked. He walked to the window, hands in his pockets. “I stayed for the contract. Don’t read meaning into it.”

But Chioma saw it. The way his right hand trembled slightly before he shoved it in his pocket.

The man who never slept... had slept. And he hated that she was the witness.

The ICU door hissed open. A nurse stepped out. “Miss Chioma? Your sister is awake. She’s asking for you.”

Chioma gasped and ran. But she felt Daniel’s eyes burning into her back the entire way.

Contract marriage. Right.

Then why did her heart feel like it was beating for him?

*End of Chapter 10*

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