Chapter 139 Suspiciously Devotional
The Galaxy Chain headquarters was in a state of panic the next day.
Phones rang off hooks, assistants scrambled, and board members paced. For the first time, Peach Harrison, the woman who lived by exact precision, had vanished.
She hadn't just turned off her phone, she had severed her pulse from the world.
Inside the Grayson estate, the air was thick, silent, and smelling of expensive roast coffee.
Luke sat on the deep velvet sofa, a dark, victorious king on his throne.
He didn’t look like the man who had been begging for attention twenty-four hours ago. He looked like the man who had finally broken a wild thing.
“I don't know how to cook,” she whispered, “But I prepared this for us.”
Luke flashed his charming smile, extending his hand towards his woman but not helping her.
“That alone is a privilege for me, Peach,”
She wasn't wearing a suit. She was draped in one of his oversized white shirts, her underwear, her legs bare, her hair messy and soft.
She carried a tray of coffee, her movements slow and submissive carried by a faint, devotional smile.
“I hope you will like it-” Before she could complete, he held her wrist, kissing them affectionately.
“If you have fed me burnt toast, I would still call it delicious.” He praised, tugging her hair behind her ear, evoking a blush on her cheeks.
She set the tray down and knelt on the floor between his knees, resting her chin on his thigh. Luke’s mouth gaped, not expecting a devotion to such an extent.
“Peach, you don’t-”
“I want to.” She mumbled, staring at him with no intention of losing him, especially not by her own hands.
She looked up at him, her eyes soft and completely devoid of the boardroom's hardness, or her own heart’s. She stared with all her affection.
But, Luke knew her better than anyone, better than herself.
“You are acting strange.”
He tilted her face up, his gaze searching hers with an intensity that made her skin crawl.
“Strange?” She tried to smile, but it faltered under his suspicious stare, “I am being a wife, Luke. Isn't that what you wanted?”
“You don’t cling to what you own, Peach,” he spoke tenderly, yet venom dropped from his resonance, tensing the woman who broke the stare.
“You only cling to what you are afraid of losing. You are terrified right now.”
Leaning forward, his dangerous eyes inspected the timid woman, “Why? What did you do?”
“I just... I don't want my work to come between us again.”
“Liar.” Luke’s hand moved to her jaw, his grip tightening just enough to command her absolute focus.
“I know your ugly side. I know your secrets. Something happened at that dinner with William. You’re hiding something in those pretty eyes.”
“I am not hiding anything,” she stammered, her heart hammering, throat drying, refusing to accept it.
“You better pray you aren’t.”
Before he could unshackle her tongue, her phone vibrated on the tray. The screen lit up: OFFICE - URGENT.
“Not going to answer?” Luke asked with a smirk, his eyebrows arching in challenge.
“I have canceled everything,” She said cautiously, her grip tightening on him, “The board, the merger... even Papa. I told them I was busy-”
"Busy doing what?" he asked sternly.
Peach leaned into his palm, a small, beautiful smile touching her lips, burying her face there, finding her shelter in his presence.
"Busy being Mrs. Grayson."
Luke leaned forward, his shadow enveloping her once again.
He didn't need to threaten anymore. He had her exactly where he wanted her, under him, where the rest of the world couldn't reach her.
“Good,” he whispered, “Because you don’t want to turn out like your father, do you?”
Peach flinched. The mention of her father was the ultimate poison.
“The kind of man who lets his family rot while he chases a title?” Luke continued, his voice dripping with faux-sympathy.
“The kind of man who makes his daughter beg for a crumb of his time? I saw you in university, Peach. I saw you cry for a man who didn't care if you breathed as long as the stocks were up.”
“Don’t,” she whimpered, her eyes filling with hot, stinging tears, “Don’t say it like that.”
“I am just making sure you don’t follow in his footsteps.” He leaned down, his lips brushing hers, a terrifying blend of a kiss and a threat.
“Are you going to abandon me like he abandoned you… again?”
“No!” The word was a sob. She grabbed his forearms, shaking her head in denial, “Never. I’ll never be like him.”
He ordered, “Say it.”
“I won’t be like my father. I will not abandon my family. I won’t leave them to suffer and in solitude.”
“Good girl.”
Luke relaxed, his hand moving from her jaw to stroke her hair with a chilling affection. Peach let out a relieved breath and rested her head back on his knees, closing her eyes.
“Are you happy with me now?”
“Very much,”
“I can do anything for you, Luke,” she whispered, a small, broken smile touching her lips, “I don't care about anything else.”
Luke looked down at her, a dark smirk played on his lips, “I know you will. And I am going to take every advantage of that.”
“Do it,” she giggled, a sound that was half-delirium, half-devotional, “As long as you are mine, I don't care.”
“My, my,” Luke murmured, his eyes darkening with a fresh wave of possessiveness, “Aren’t you selfish? Just like always.”
Humming, they remained like this for the time being before Luke pulled away and dressed in his immaculate beige color three-piece suit.
“Where are you going, Luke?” She asked innocently,
“I have some errands.” He glanced at the clock, “I will be back in exactly an hour.” And to her, pinching her cheeks, to discard all her worries.
“And we can go and watch a movie, okay?”
She narrowed her eyes but then poked his chest, relaxing immediately, “Okay. I will book the tickets.”
“Okay, I will see you soon.” Kissing the top of her head, he left to confront the man who became the solid reason behind their distances.
The executive floor of the Galaxy Chain headquarters was in a state of controlled chaos.
Mr. Harrison stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, his back to the door, his reflection vibrating with a cold, suppressed fury.
"She isn't answering?" he barked as his assistant scurried in.
"No, sir. Her personal phone is off. The house staff says she left strict instructions not to be disturbed."
"Disturbed? We are in the middle of a fifteen-billion-dollar merger!" Mr. Harrison slammed his fist against the glass, losing his posture.
“I should have known he is weakening her!” He growled when the situation he was afraid of arrived.
"I told her that marriage was a transaction, not a vacation. She’s falling for his trap. She is letting that boy distract her from her bloodline." His infuriated resonance was cut through when another man joined him teasingly.
"I'm afraid it's more than a distraction, Mr. Harrison."