[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-bound-to-my-enemy":3,"chapter-bound-to-my-enemy-bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-28":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Bound to my Enemy",{"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},1599966,2067,"Chapter 28.","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-28",28,"\u003Cp>I was halfway to the chair when he moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elaine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stopped because my body did it before my brain could argue. I didn’t turn back right away. I needed a second to steady myself, to make sure my voice wouldn’t crack when I spoke again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What,\" I said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane didn’t answer immediately. I heard the soft scrape of wood, the unmistakable sound of a drawer opening. When I finally looked back, he was holding a stack of papers, thicker than anything I’d expected. He set them down on the desk between us, squared the edges with his palm, then slid them toward me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is the agreement,\" he said. \"Between our families. Between us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stared at the papers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not him. Not yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, I lowered myself into the chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The title alone made my stomach tighten. Legal language. Family names printed in bold. Too official.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This isn’t just... us,\" I said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" he replied. \"It never really was.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I flipped the first page. Then the second. Clauses about public appearances. Joint statements. Reputation management. Financial protections. Penalties if either side broke the terms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt like I was reading someone else’s life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How long,\" I asked quietly, eyes still on the page.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane leaned back. \"As long as necessary.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s not an answer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s the only one that exists.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallowed and kept reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This locks Ivy out completely?,\" I asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And you’re fine with that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn’t come here to hesitate .\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked up at him then. Really looked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is about Lucas, isn’t it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His jaw tightened. Just barely visible\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s not something you need to worry about.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which told me everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I closed the folder. My hands were steady, even though my chest felt too tight. \"If I sign this, there are conditions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His brow lifted slightly. \"I’m listening.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t answer to you in private,\" I said. \"No controlling where I go. No dictating my life. This marriage is public. Everything else is mine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He considered that. Not long. Too easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was quick.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re not just asking for freedom,\" he said. \"You’re asking for dignity. I don’t need to take that from you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That should’ve reassured me. It didn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I opened the folder again and picked up the pen. It felt heavier than it should have.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I signed on my name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each page. Each initial. No dramatic pause. No tears. Just the quiet understanding that I was stepping into something I couldn’t undo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I slid the papers back to him, my fingers were cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zane signed without hesitation, then gathered the documents and put them back in the drawer like they were nothing more than standard paperwork.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tomorrow night,\" he said. \"The gala.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll have a dress sent to you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" I said immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll handle it myself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze flicked over me, slow, assessing, the way it always did. \"Your usual choices won’t work.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My clothes or how I dress isn’t your concern.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They are if you’re standing beside me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood. Calm and controlled. \"You don’t get to dress me. This isn’t that kind of arrangement.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A beat passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wear whatever you want,\" he said. \"Just don’t embarrass either of us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I grabbed my bag. \"Worry about yourself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I walked out, my heart was racing, not from fear, but from the weight of what I’d just agreed to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The papers were signed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no backing out now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And for the first time since this started, I wasn’t sure which of us had just won.\u003C\u002Fp>",594,"2026-06-06T09:39:37.139Z",1,"novelbin.me","288b241e699854a0ca0af1f754e9967e440564e87de9a7cbfa17fe0ca779f350","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-29","bound-to-my-enemy-chapter-27",266,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fbound-to-my-enemy-cover.jpg"]