[{"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-291":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},1735725,2219,"Chapter 291: The Journey","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-291",291,"\u003Cp>CASSIAN\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The journey lasted two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a slow crawl across a world I had only ever seen from the tinted windows of my father’s cars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the world was loud and smelled of exhaust and old fabric.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We took a bus that dropped us at a station where the air was thick with the scent of cheap grease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then we found another bus. When the buses stopped running where we needed to go, we piled into a shared van with five other people who didn’t look at us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the van reached its limit, we walked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We had very little money. Julian managed what we had with a cold, hard focus. It was a specific kind of economy. Every cent had a purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no room for error. We weren’t using the family accounts or the cards that tracked my every move. We were using crumpled bills and heavy coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The motels were all the same. They were cheap in a way I had never imagined. They were the kind of rooms that didn’t ask for identification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t ask questions because the people renting them couldn’t afford a place that cared who they were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes there were two beds. Sometimes there was only one, and we shared the space, lying stiffly in the dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wallpaper always seemed to be peeling at the corners, revealing yellowed plaster underneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bathrooms were functional, usually featuring a thin bar of soap and a shower that took ten minutes to turn lukewarm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The windows never offered a view of anything beautiful. They looked over cracked parking lots, or brick walls, or just the empty dark of nothing in particular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julian was enthusiastic about every room we found. He would drop his small bag on the floor and look around like he had just checked into a palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This one has a television,\" he would say, flicking it on to a screen full of static. \"And look, the water is actually hot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, he walked into a room that smelled of stale tobacco and something sweet and rotting. He took a deep breath and nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This one smells like someone lived a full life here. I respect that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at the stain on the carpet and the crack in the ceiling. \"It smells like someone died here,\" I told him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julian didn’t even turn around. \"Same thing, different timeline, Cassian.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We ate in diners where the tables were sticky and the air was heavy with the smell of fried onions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julian ordered food like he had been doing it his entire life. He knew how to talk to the waitresses so they wouldn’t look too closely at us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I would look at the menu and feel lost. I was used to menus that came with a list of wines and a waiter who waited for me to make a choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, the options were listed in bold plastic letters. Julian would reach over and point to a plate of eggs and greasy potatoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That one,\" he would say. \"It’s the cheapest thing they have and it’s the most filling. Those are the only two metrics that matter out here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I ordered it. I ate it. And I discovered something I hadn’t expected. The food tasted good. It tasted better than the five-course meals at the estate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the specific taste of something that belonged to me. I had earned the money for it that morning by carrying heavy suitcases for an elderly man at the station.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had tipped me exactly enough for this meal. It was the first time in my life I had worked for my bread. It was a strange, sharp pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, we went into a grocery store. Julian moved through the aisles with a system. He wasn’t browsing; he was hunting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You take the left side,\" he whispered. \"I take the right. We meet at the exit. Walk at a normal pace. Don’t look at anyone in the eye. Just keep moving.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not going to steal anything,\" I said, feeling my face heat up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nobody is stealing anything,\" Julian replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, I saw a bar of chocolate disappear into the sleeve of his jacket. He did it with absolute ease. He didn’t look nervous. He didn’t even break his stride. When we got outside, I stopped him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was stealing, Julian.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was efficiency,\" he said. He broke the bar in half and handed me a piece.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I followed him because there was no other choice that made sense. I was a prince without a kingdom, and he was the only one who knew the map of the world I was now living in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If we get caught—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We won’t,\" Julian interrupted. \"I’ve been doing this since I was like six. Trust the system.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at him, really looked at him. \"You’ve been doing this since you were six???\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How do you think I survived before I ended up at your father’s estate?\" he asked. He didn’t sound like he wanted me to feel sorry for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t asking for anything. It was just a fact, like the color of his hair or the shoes on his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quiet settled between us. It was a heavy, painful quiet. I was learning things about him that made the picture of who he was grow larger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the larger it grew, the more it hurt to look at. I had known him for years, and I had known nothing at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the second day, the landscape began to change. The city buildings grew shorter and then disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We were in the spaces between cities now. The land was flat and gray under the winter sky. I watched the dead trees pass the window of the bus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you sure about this?\" I asked. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight. I truly wanted to know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julian looked out the window for a long time before he spoke. \"I have an uncle,\" he said. \"He’s a distant relative. My mother’s half-brother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ve been writing to him for two years,\" Julian continued. \"Ever since I realized I couldn’t stay in that house forever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What does he do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1039,"2026-06-06T16:23:43.455Z",1,"novelbin.me","1e333676f727ea6863f2ecc44521b30462777bd27c5e04c8aa29e5b900fd189f","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-292","bl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-chapter-290",307,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbl-bound-to-my-enemy-the-billionaire-who-took-my-cover.jpg"]