Chapter 353
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Chapter 353:
They moved to the king-sized bed. Gaston pulled her flush against his chest and wrapped his arms and legs around her like a human cage, burying his face in her neck. He slept.
The next morning, bright sunlight cut through the gap in the heavy curtains.
Jocelyn woke to the feeling of Gaston’s lips pressing soft kisses down her spine. She rolled over, stretching her sore muscles. Gaston was propped on one elbow, watching her with eyes that were terrifyingly soft.
“Good morning, Mrs. Collins,” Gaston murmured.
Jocelyn smiled and reached up to touch his jaw.
Before she could speak, her phone on the nightstand began to vibrate insistently. She reached for it. The caller ID showed the General Manager of the Wolfe Hotel.
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She answered.
“Ms. Wolfe,” the manager’s voice was frantic and hushed. “I am so sorry to disturb you. There has been an incident involving Mr. Douglas. He caused a scene at the Four Seasons yesterday, and security footage has been leaked to a gossip blog. It is not flattering for him p>
The warm haze of the morning vanished from Jocelyn’s expression.
“The press has been calling nonstop,” the manager continued, sounding genuinely frightened. “And a financial news alert just broke. It appears the Collins Group has initiated a hostile takeover of Douglas Tech p>
An hour later, Jocelyn walked into the glass-walled office of her suite at the Wolfe Boutique Hotel. The city hummed below, oblivious to the corporate war that had just been declared. She had left Gaston sleeping soundly at the St. Regis, needing the familiar armor of her own territory to process the morning’s events.
She wore a razor-sharp white Tom Ford power suit. A vibrant silk Hermès scarf was tied elegantly around her neck — a beautiful and necessary shield concealing the marks Gaston had left on her skin.
Her executive assistant had already pulled up the news on the large screen mounted on the wall. The headlines were brutal.
COLLINS GROUP LAUNCHES HOSTILE TAKEOVER BID FOR DOUGLAS TECH.
DOUGLAS TECH STOCK PLUMMETS 40% IN PRE-MARKET TRADING.
LEAKED VIDEO SHOWS DISGRACED CEO KIERAN DOUGLAS IN HYSTERICAL ALTERCATION AT FOUR SEASONS.
Jocelyn stared at the screen, her expression unreadable. This was Gaston’s answer to Kieran’s pathetic attempt at humiliation — not a fistfight in a hallway, but a public execution on the stock exchange. He wasn’t simply removing a rival. He was vaporizing an entire legacy. This was the true power of the man she had married: a force capable of reshaping industries with a single command issued from a hotel bedroom.
A strange, cold calm settled in her chest. There was no triumph. No glee. It was simply the end — the final, messy chapter of her past being clinically erased by the overwhelming power of her present.
“Mr. Douglas’s father has been calling every five minutes,” her assistant said, her voice tight. “He is begging to speak with you p>
Jocelyn didn’t turn from the screen. “Block his number,” she said, her voice like ice. “Block all numbers associated with the Douglas family and their board. We have no comment p>