Chapter 116: Was The Engagement Real?
"I was engaged once," he said, keeping his voice steady. "It was just a business deal, nothing more. A way for our families to team up. I never liked it and didn’t want it at all. I called it off months ago. She’s completely out of the picture now."
He didn’t go into all the details, the nasty politics, the blackmail, the threats that had pushed him into it in the first place. That could wait. For now, the main point was clear: the engagement was done, and he wanted nothing to do with that woman anymore.
Aylin looked into his eyes, trying to find any hint of a lie, and found none.
"Really?" she whispered.
"Really." He kissed the tip of her nose. "You’re the only one I want. The only one I’ve ever wanted like this. So please, baby, get some sleep. You’re exhausted."
She let out a shaky breath, feeling a little of the weight in her chest lift. She curled up closer to him, resting her cheek against his heartbeat.
"Okay," she murmured.
He wrapped his arms around her, one hand gently rubbing circles on her back.
"Mine," he whispered into her hair.
"Yours," she replied sleepily.
Minutes went by in relaxed, cozy togetherness. They were sprawled out on the silk sheets, Aylin’s head resting on Zayden’s chest while his fingers playfully traced patterns on her back. Her long, wavy golden-brown hair spread over his skin like flowing sunlight, and his bright blue eyes looked at her with a softness he rarely showed anyone else.
Then, her stomach let out a loud, unmistakable growl.
Zayden chuckled softly, amused. "Oh, I totally forgot, I didn’t get you anything to eat." He kissed the top of her head. "And I haven’t eaten either. You must be really hungry."
Aylin smiled a little, her cheeks still slightly flushed from everything that had just happened. "The last thing I ate was on the plane," she admitted quietly. She waved her hand around the room, at them. "So yeah... I’m pretty hungry."
He reached for his phone on the nightstand without letting her go. Keeping one arm around her, he made the call.
"Leo," he said when the call connected, sounding calm and in control. "Can you ask the chef to whip up something light but filling, pasta, grilled chicken, some fruit, and bread? Enough for two. Bring it to the bedroom entrance. Quietly. No questions."
He hung up and put the phone aside, pulling Aylin a little closer. "Food’s on the way. Should be here in ten minutes."
She nodded, snuggling against him, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. "The entrance to the bedroom... You mean the door from the mansion side?"
Zayden smiled. "Yep. The main door to this room goes straight into the mansion wing. But the way we came in---" He gestured to the smooth wall panel they had entered through from his office, "that’s the secret one."
Aylin lifted her head, her golden-brown eyes widening as she looked at the wall. There were no visible seams, no handle, nothing. "Wait... so we came through there? And now the food’s coming from... the other side?"
He laughed again, this time a little quieter. "Exactly. This bedroom is like a buffer zone. One door goes to the mansion, where everyone thinks everything’s totally fine. The other door is hidden and leads right to my office. From there, it’s just a few steps down a secret passage to the basement. That’s where my real empire is guards, weapons, and an operations room. Twenty staff members take care of things upstairs. No one from the basement ever comes up here, and no one in the mansion knows what’s going on below."
Aylin blinked, taking all this in. "So your parents...?"
"Don’t have a clue," he said softly. "They think I’m just a super private businessman who travels a lot. Only Leo, my right-hand man, and Kade, my assistant, know about the passage. My twin sister and younger brother don’t even know the whole story. It’s just safer that way."
She sat up a bit, holding the sheet to her chest, suddenly feeling really exposed in this hidden world. "And the button?"
Zayden reached over, guiding her hand to a small, almost invisible spot on the wall panel next to the bed. "Press here. The panel slides open. That’s all, no key, no code, just touch. It works the same way from the office side."
Aylin’s fingers hovered for a moment before she pressed gently. Nothing happened because it was locked from the inside, but she could picture it now: seamless, silent, a deadly secret.
"So it’s really hidden, I didn’t notice," she whispered, part amazed, part in disbelief. "I looked for it earlier and saw... nothing."
He smiled, a genuine smile that softened his sharp features. "That’s the whole idea, hacker girl. No one sees what I don’t want them to."
A soft knock came from the other door, the mansion side.
Zayden got out of bed, threw on some black sweatpants, and crossed the room. He opened the door just wide enough to take the big silver tray from whoever was on the other side, no words were exchanged, and the door closed right away.
The room filled with the smell of fresh pasta, grilled chicken, fruit, and warm bread.
He brought the tray back to the bed, set it on the low table beside them, then climbed back in next to her, pulling her into his lap so they could share it easily.
"Eat," he said, offering a forkful of pasta towards her lips.
She took a bite, her eyes fluttering closed at the first taste of real food in hours. "This is... so good. But I’ve missed your cooking, ah, that taste I can’t forget."
Zayden chuckled softly and said, "Tomorrow morning, I’ll make breakfast for you, my queen." He bowed to her while she sat on the bed.
She smiled shyly and replied, "Okay, my king."
He added, "I didn’t know my hacker girl was this shy." She smiled again.
They ate slowly, he fed her bites between his own, stealing soft kisses that tasted like olive oil and basil. There was no rush, no thoughts of conflict, just the two of them in this secret little bubble of peace.
