All Chapters of Forbidden: His Father's Desire: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Sandra’s POVI wake up already thinking about Kelvin. I stay in bed for a few seconds longer staring at the ceiling while everything from last night replays. The café, the conversation, the way he looked at me like he wasn’t trying to hide anything anymore and that answer. *“Everyday”*I press my eyes shut, we didn’t even touch, kiss, or anything. We just talked, so why does it feel like something changed?Like I crossed a line I can’t walk back from? I sit up abruptly and reach for my phone before I can think too much about it. My messages are still there and his name is still there.I don’t open it, I shouldn’t instead I open something else.Search for age gap relationships, the words look ridiculous sitting in the search bar.I almost delete them then I hit enter anyway.Articles load instantly, stories, opinions, warnings, success stories, disasters and I keep scrolling, searching through strangers’ lives for proof that what I’m feeling is either completely insane or survivable.

Sandra’s POVKelvin calls three times before noon and I decline every single one.By the fourth call, my nerves are already destroyed.By the fifth, I stop looking at the screen completely and shove the phone deep into my bag like hiding it will stop him from existing inside my head.But It doesn’t, everywhere I look I keep hearing his voice. I need this to stop, the problem is I don’t actually want it to.That thought follows me through the entire afternoon like a shadow I can’t outrun.By the end of class, my sketch board looks terrible, half-finished lines, wrong measurements. A design I’ve restarted three times already.“You erased that corner four times.” I look up sharply. Lena stands beside my table with her arms crossed watching me.“You okay?” I ask carefully.“No.” Her answer comes immediately. “I’m actually getting really tired of this.”My stomach drops slightly. “Lena……”“No.” She grabs my wrist before I can start packing my things. “We’re talking right now.”Several stud

SANDRA'S POVThe moment Dad tells me Clayton Global is sponsoring the architecture charity event, my stomach drops because that means Kelvin will be there, and judging by the way Dad is already reaching for his car keys while saying, "You need to make connections if you're serious about this career," refusing isn't even an option.An hour later I'm standing inside a ballroom filled with architects, investors, developers, and people who probably decide the future of Los Angeles over expensive dinners, but none of them manage to hold my attention because the second I walk through the doors, my eyes start searching for one person.I hate that I notice him immediately. I hate it even more when he notices me.Kelvin stands near a group of investors, looking exactly the way he always does, calm, controlled, completely unbothered by the world around him but when his gaze finds mine across the room, something shifts so briefly most people would miss it, and suddenly I can't remember why I tho

KELVIN'S POVThe acquisition should be consuming every second of my attention.Eight months of negotiations, hundreds of millions of dollars, three companies waiting for final approval, and a boardroom full of executives expecting me to lead them through the most important deal Clayton Global has handled this year should be more than enough to occupy my thoughts, yet the moment I walk into the conference room, the first thing that crosses my mind isn't revenue projections or legal strategy but whether Pamela confronted Sandra after the charity event and how badly that conversation went.The realization irritates me immediately because this is exactly the kind of distraction I spent my entire life training myself to avoid.Control built everything I have. Control turned a struggling entrepreneur into the head of a global corporation. Control kept me functioning after Claire died.Now one twenty-year-old woman is slowly dismantling that control piece by piece."Mr. Clayton, if we move f

KELVIN'S POVI stare at Sandra's reply longer than I should.For weeks I've been telling myself this situation is impossible, irresponsible, and destined to end badly, yet the moment her message appears on my screen, every argument I've built against seeing her again immediately starts looking weaker.We exchange only a handful of texts.Nothing reckless, nothing incriminating. Nothing either of us couldn't explain away if somebody saw them.Yet under every carefully chosen word sits the same truth.We want to see each other again.The realization should concern me more than it does. Instead I find myself checking the time.Twice, then three times like a teenager preparing for a first date.The thought irritates me enough to make me close my eyes briefly because forty-three-year-old CEOs are supposed to have more self-control than this.The café is small and quiet, exactly what we need.Just two people sitting across from each other pretending they're here to talk and not because neit