"LOVE IN A LONG SUSPENSE

Chapter Title: A Stolen Kiss, A Shattered Calm

The next morning, Ethan stirred awake to the faint sound of water running in the bathroom. He turned his head toward the bed—Haera was gone. For a brief, terrifying moment, his chest tightened.

But the soft sound of the shower soothed the storm inside him.

She was still there.

His eyes shifted to the bedside table. The medication the doctor had prescribed sat unopened, untouched, like a silent rebellion. The doctor's warning echoed in his mind, sharp and urgent.

Without hesitation, Ethan reached for his phone and dialed the kitchen.

"Prepare breakfast," he ordered flatly. "Light but filling. Make sure it's ready before she finishes getting dressed."

That morning, he didn't return to his own room. Instead, he freshened up in one of the guest rooms—an unspoken choice. Whether it was to give her space or to give himself distance from the things he didn't want to feel, he didn't know.

When he came downstairs, the food was already waiting. He signaled one of the servants to carry the tray and silently followed him up to the room. Inside, Haera was lying on the bed, changed and dry, her gaze distant—quiet but simmering with resistance.

She didn't even look at him.

The servant placed the tray and the medicine carefully on the bedside table before bowing and exiting. The door clicked shut behind him.

Ethan stepped closer, calm but firm. "You need to eat."

"I'm full," Haera replied without turning her head, pushing the bowl of soup gently aside.

"I said finish it," he snapped, rising from the couch and walking toward her. His voice wasn't loud, but the edge in it was unmistakable.

He picked up the bowl and held it out to her again.

"I told you—I'm full. You can't force me to eat," she said, locking eyes with him in defiance.

And then Ethan did something that made her breath catch.

Without a word, he reached into his jacket, pulled out his gun, and placed it on the table beside her with terrifying calm.

The room turned to ice.

Haera's lips parted slightly, eyes darting from the weapon to his face. For a moment, she hesitated. Her pride held her still—but her survival instincts won.

Wordlessly, she picked up her spoon and began to eat, one slow bite at a time.

But before she could take a second, Ethan gently took the spoon from her hand and fed her himself—one spoonful after another, never saying a word, never breaking eye contact.

He made sure she finished every bite.

When she was done, she pushed the tray away and stared at him bitterly.

"If you want me dead so badly, why make me eat?" she asked coldly. "Why care?"

He didn't flinch. "Because I don't want a corpse in my house. If I ever decide to kill you, it'll be in that abandoned building where we first met."

His words hit like a blade wrapped in silk.

Then he picked up the pills and held them out.

Haera's jaw tightened. "I swear I'm not taking that," she said, her voice steady. "Even if you kill me."

Ethan let out a long breath and stared at her. She wasn't just stubborn—she was immovable. Untamed. A storm in human form.

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Realizing he wasn't getting through to her, Ethan grabbed the glass of water from the table, dropped the pills into his own mouth, and took a long sip.

Before Haera could question him, he stepped forward, pulled her up by the waist, and crashed his lips against hers.

She gasped.

It wasn't a kiss—it was a battle.

It was fire meeting fire.

It was medicine disguised in madness.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. She shoved at his chest, tried to push him away, but he caught her wrists midair and pinned them above her head with a single hand.

His lips pressed deeper, warmer, almost tender—until something shifted.

His body stopped obeying.

This wasn't about the medicine anymore.

This was him—kissing her.

Really kissing her.

Ethan's breath hitched. Something inside him stirred, awakened by her taste, by the wild energy she carried in her defiance. He hadn't planned for it to feel like this. He hadn't meant for it to mean anything.

But it did.

Haera, burning with rage and disbelief, bit down on his lip.

Hard.

Ethan pulled away, startled—not by the pain, but by the realization of what he had just done.

She stared at him with trembling fury, her chest heaving.

"How dare you," she spat. "Don't you know that was my first kiss?" Her voice cracked. "And—and you took it! Ahhh! I hate you!"

The words tore through the air like broken glass.

Ethan stood frozen.

Speechless.

He had no defense—because deep down, he wasn't sure if he was still in control.

Without saying a single word, he turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him with quiet finality.

"Coward!" Haera shouted after him. "You arrogant jerk! You think you can just kiss me and walk away? You think you can break me?!"

But her voice trembled, and tears threatened her vision.

Because it hadn't just been a kiss.

It had felt real.

And that terrified her more than anything.

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Ethan stormed into his study and locked the door behind him. He paced the floor like a man possessed, running a hand through his hair.

What the hell was that?

He slammed his fist against the desk.

"I was just trying to give her the medicine," he muttered. "That's it. That's all it was."

But his heart was racing for a different reason.

He could still feel her lips on his.

Still hear the tremble in her voice.

Still see the flash of hurt in her eyes.

"No," he said firmly. "It doesn't mean anything. I don't feel anything for her."

But even he couldn't believe that lie.

There was something about her—something wild, something magnetic, something that made him forget who he was supposed to be.

He couldn't face her again. Not now.

Not while the taste of her lingered on his lips.

Grabbing his coat, Ethan stormed out of the house, needing space, needing silence—needing to forget.

But some moments… don't let you forget.

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💬 Call to Action:

Did your heart skip a beat during that kiss? 😳 Do you think Ethan is falling… or just fighting what's already there? What will Haera do now that her first kiss has been stolen?

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📝 Author's Note from Queen Mystery:

Whew… this chapter was intense. I wanted the tension between Ethan and Haera to explode—and it did. From the breakfast standoff to the stolen kiss, every line was fire and ice. Their chemistry is undeniable, but so is their pain. And it's only going to get deeper from here. 👀

Thank you for staying on this journey with me. Your reactions and comments fuel my writing!

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