Chapter 130 Stomachache
Athena felt a familiar frustration rising in her chest as she watched Byron curled up on the bed, clutching his stomach. He had always been reckless when it came to his own health, and yet here he was, stubbornly pushing himself despite his obvious discomfort. Her mind raced with conflicting thoughts—anger at his arrogance, concern for his wellbeing, and a touch of helplessness.
He had insisted on eating far more than he should have, and now he was paying the price. Athena couldn’t help but shake her head slightly as she approached the bed. His actions only reinforced her growing resentment toward him. She had long since grown tired of the power games he played, of the way he tried to control everything around him, including her.
Byron looked up at her with a mixture of annoyance and vulnerability. His usual confident demeanor seemed cracked, replaced by a weariness that Athena hadn’t seen often. She felt a slight twinge of sympathy, but it quickly passed as her mind went back to his proposal.
He wanted her to stay. He wanted to use the energy company as a way to keep her tied to him, to keep her around long enough for him to secure whatever it was he needed from her. And all of this—everything he said, everything he did—was to ensure that she wouldn’t leave.
Yet, Athena couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being cornered. She couldn’t escape, no matter how hard she tried. His suggestion to make her president, to thrust her into the energy company, felt less like a career opportunity and more like a strategy to keep her by his side. She wasn’t sure if Byron even understood the weight of his manipulation, or if he just didn’t care.
“I told you I couldn’t do it well,” Athena muttered, her voice colder than she intended. Her gaze flicked to the bed, where Byron lay still, breathing heavily as if the pain in his stomach wasn’t the only thing weighing him down. “I don’t need this.”
Byron’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his voice was low but insistent. “I don’t care if you think you can’t. I think you can. You’re more than capable, and I want you to stay.”
Athena clenched her fists, fighting the overwhelming urge to scream. His words weren’t a request—they were a command. And no matter how much she wanted to refuse, she found herself frozen in place, trapped by the very situation he had created.
“Don’t you see?” she whispered under her breath. “You’re just trying to trap me here with your schemes.”
Byron didn’t respond immediately, but his eyes softened, a flicker of something almost vulnerable passing through them. For a brief moment, it seemed as if he wanted to explain himself, to justify his actions. But instead, he simply closed his eyes, sighing in discomfort.
“I never asked for any of this,” Athena added quietly, more to herself than to him. She turned her back to him, her mind swirling with a hundred thoughts. Every part of her wanted to resist—to break free of his grasp. But she knew she was running out of time. The longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave. The more intertwined their lives became, the less control she had over her own fate.
Byron’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Athena, I don’t want to force you into anything. But I don’t want you to leave, either.”
She closed her eyes briefly, her heart heavy with conflicting emotions. Did she still care for him? Did she still want to be here, even if only for a brief moment? Or was it time to break free completely, to escape the tangled mess they had created?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Byron shifted on the bed, his hand clutching his stomach again. Athena paused for a moment, watching him, but then she turned away, grabbing her robe from the chair. She needed time to think. To figure out how to untangle the mess she was in.
“I’ll get you some water,” she said quietly, her voice betraying none of the conflict inside her.
As she left the room, Athena couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter what she chose, her fate was already sealed.