[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my":3,"chapter-bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-176":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","[BL] Bound to My Enemy: The Billionaire Who Took My Girl",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1735610,2219,"Chapter 176: Back to Work","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-176",176,"\u003Cp>NOAH\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Friday morning arrived with a crisp, professional bite that felt worlds away from the sun-drenched, morphine-hazed luxury of the Wolfe villa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing outside the XUM Corporation headquarters, I took a deep breath of city exhaust and expensive espresso.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I was walking normally... mostly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was still a phantom ache in my lower back, a lingering reminder of the way Cassian had thoroughly dismantled me over the course of several nights, but the limp was gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smoothed down the front of my jacket, the charcoal wool feeling like a second skin. It was a custom-tailored piece Cassian had ordered for me while I was still bedbound, the measurements taken by a silent, terrifyingly efficient man who had appeared at the villa on Wednesday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The suit fit perfectly. It felt like money. It felt like his hands on me, even though he was nowhere near.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pushed that thought down immediately. The pampered villa era was over. I was an employee again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t help but replay the conversation from the night before, the one I’d worked up the courage to have while Cassian was finishing a glass of wine by the fireplace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Am I... still employed?\" I’d asked, my voice barely a whisper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassian had gone very still, his glass pausing halfway to his lips. He turned to me with a slow, deliberate movement that usually preceded a corporate execution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you asking what I think you’re asking?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression had shifted into something wounded, his eyes darkening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You slept with me to secure your job, Noah? Is that the transaction we’re engaged in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The panic had been instantaneous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What? No! That’s not—I didn’t—That’s not why I—!\" I had spiraled, my hands flying as I defended myself with aggressive, flustered sincerity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would never do that! That’s insulting to both of us! I kissed YOU first, remember? And that had nothing to do with HR or my benefits package, it was because—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d stopped, realizing I was about to say far too much about the state of my internal organs whenever he looked at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cassian’s \"wounded\" expression had cracked, a flicker of light hitting his eyes before he broke into a rare, genuine laugh. It was a deep, rich sound that made my stomach do a backflip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your job was never in question,\" he’d said, his voice dropping into that smooth, terrifyingly calm register. \"It never was.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re horrible,\" I’d muttered, my face on fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your reaction was worth it,\" he’d replied, completely unapologetic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remembering that now, I exhaled a long breath of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I still had a job.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And judging by the digital to-do list he’d sent to my phone at 6:00 AM, he intended to make me earn every cent of my paycheck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The list was brutal. Three reports, two scheduling conflicts involving the board of directors, a presentation review, and a mountain of emails... all due by the end of the day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought he’d go easy on me, I grumbled internally as I stepped into the lobby. After everything. After the ’taking care of me’ phase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apparently not. Because Cassian Wolfe doesn’t do ’easy.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was going to die. Not from a gunshot or a drug overdose, but from a \"paperwork death.\" Both seemed equally fatal in this building. Curse you, Wolfe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was halfway to the elevators when I was hit by a force of nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"NOAH!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I could react, I was swept up into a full-body bear hug. I felt my feet leave the marble floor as Mason squeezed the air out of my lungs. My face was pressed unceremoniously into his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mason—can’t—breathe—\" I muffled into his shirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He set me down, but kept his large hands on my shoulders, beaming with enough Friday energy to power the entire city grid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where have you been?! Are you okay?! What happened? Why weren’t you answering your texts? Did you eat? You look different! Is that a new suit?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m fine—I was sick—yes, it’s new—\" I tried to answer, but Mason was a conversational machine gun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sick? With what? You look glowing! Is that a tailored fit? Damn, Bennett, the executive floor is treating you right!\" He gave my shoulder a series of enthusiastic slaps that rattled my very bones. This man will be the death of me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We shuffled into the elevator, Mason still vibrating with questions. I leaned against the back wall, closing my eyes for a second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I like Mason, I really do, I don’t even remember how we became close but at 9:00 AM on a Friday, after the week I’d had, he was... a lot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"SEE YOU LATER, NOAH!\" Mason shouted as he stepped off at his floor, giving me one last thumbs-up before the doors slid shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence. Pure, blessed silence. I sagged against the wall, taking a moment to gather my sanity before the elevator reached the top floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors opened, and I stepped out, only to find my second ambush of the morning. Mrs. Kwon was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, a digital clipboard tucked under her arm. She looked skeptical, her eyes narrowing as they raked over me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bennett,\" she said, her voice clipped. \"Care to explain your absence?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt a bead of sweat prickle at my hairline. \"I, um... I had permission. From the CEO.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mrs. Kwon didn’t blink. She looked at me for a long, searching beat, her gaze lingering on the quality of my new suit and the hickeys I desperately tried to hide with the collar of my shirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew something was off. She couldn’t prove I’d spent the last few days in the boss’s bed, but she could clearly smell the shift in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine,\" she said, though she sounded far from convinced. \"Report to me as well going forward. Don’t let it happen again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, ma’am.\" I bowed my head and hurried past her toward my new workspace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My \"office\" was actually a glass-walled suite situated like a guardpost right outside Cassian’s main doors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was beautiful... dark wood, multiple monitors, and a clear view of everyone who approached the throne. My name was on a glass placard: Noah Bennett – Executive Liaison.\u003C\u002Fp>",1037,"2026-06-06T16:23:43.455Z",1,"novelbin.me","62b0781c8a156016706f0169dce7f6810fbc2c46445c36e6010ca21ecebe2d55","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-177","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-175",307,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-cover.jpg"]