Chapter: Chapter 286I woke up slowly, and every inch of my body felt like it was covered in wet cement, or like I was rising out of deep water with several pounds of steel tied to my limbs. My head was pounding, my mouth was dry, and everything hurt. For a second, I didn't know where I was. The room was dark except fo
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-22
Chapter: Chapter 285ETHAN I pulled up to the gate just as the rain began to slow down, and the windshield wipers stopped moving. In the passenger seat was a brown paper bag filled with Liv's favorite snacks like sour cream chips, gummy worms, and a pint of cookie dough ice cream we both knew she'd finish in one sittin
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-22
Chapter: Chapter 284And I was soon going to find out what it was. ——————————————— MARCUS The rain came down hard, just like I'd been waiting for. It battered against the windshield, thick enough to blur the estate across the street. The trees swayed like drunk people in the wind, and thunder echoed somewhere in the
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-21
Chapter: Chapter 283I woke up wrapped in Ethan's arms, with his breath feeling soft and warm against the back of my neck. For a a moment, everything was quiet and peaceful. It was Saturday, so there were no alarms or obligations. Just the two of us, and the soft rain outside. I shifted slightly in his embrace, and hi
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-21
Chapter: Chapter 282"No, it is," I snapped. "You got her pregnant, and then you disappeared. You let us believe we were Michael Reynard's sons. You let us mourn him like we actually belonged to him." "I was trying to protect you," he said. "Your mother made it clear she didn't want me involved. I respected her wishes.
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-21
Chapter: Chapter 281"That's... great, man,” I said as a forced a smile to my face. “Congratulations." There was a pause on the other end of the line, then he said, "You don't have to pretend. I know you don’t care. I just wanted to let you know." "I'm not pretending," I lied. Ethan didn't call me out on it. He just
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-21
Chapter: 45. The Old FlameADRIANI must have stood there for over an hour, just staring at the woman who’d once meant the world to me. And all I could think about was how I felt the last time I ever saw her. I hadn't seen her in over five years now, and yet the moment I saw her face, it was like I'd been thrown into the past, like everything around me blurred out of focus and all I could see and all I could feel was her. She was standing beside Governor Ruthford, wearing a soft smile and that same perfume I used to bury my face in when we’d just finished making love, with her head pressed against my chest while she told me how much she loved me. I remembered every single one of those nights, and I remembered how much she meant to me back then. I always told myself that I loved her, and that I would spend the rest of my life with her. But I never knew we could stand in front of each other like strangers. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t move or speak. I just stood there and tried to swallow down t
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-03
Chapter: 44. The GirlfriendSOFIA“What do you think of this one?” Ariana asked, stepping in front of me and pulling me out of reverie. I looked up at the white dress she was wearing, with a high slit and gold embroidery, but I couldn’t even see it properly as I was too distracted. The dress was beautiful, but all I could see was that stupid picture burned into the back of my mind, and that note. “It’s nice,” I muttered, forcing a smile to my face. I noticed how she twisted her nose, then she turned around and headed back to the changing room. I continued to stare at the the wall, thinking about who could have put it there. Normally, my first instinct would be Rafe. It certainly seemed like something he would do to scare me. But Rafe was all the way across the country with Adrian, which meant it had to be someone else. But who could it be?“What do you think about this one?” Ariana asked as she stepped out in a dress that was far too tight, with a neckline that was far too deep. “I don’t know,” I shrugged.
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-02
Chapter: 43. The Dinner PartyADRIANFrom the moment we drove onto the property, I knew I was going to have a headache by the end of the day Nothing about Don Vito's dinner party was casual, and it seemed like every guest had been handpicked for maximum effect. As we pulled up to the compound, with Rafe sitting tensely beside me and a motorcade of black sedans lined up behind us, I silently prayed I would be done with this shit before midnight. Inside, the place looked like someone had taken a royal palace and slapped it together with Hollywood. Every corner of the house was decorated in a modern but elegant style, and I doubted whether there was anyone here who had less than 20 million dollars in the bank. Don Vito greeted me at the door himself, and he looked nothing like the man I'd seen earlier. He had loosened up since, and I suspected he must have had a few glasses of wine already from how tipsy he looked. "Adrian," he said with a slight hiccup, clapping a hand on my shoulder like we were old friends. "Yo
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-31
Chapter: 42. The Ex-FiancéeSOFIAI stared at Ariana in disbelief for several seconds, my mind still struggling to process what she’d just said. The name was still floating around in my head, and I couldn’t quite explain how it made me feel. Queasy seemed like the right word, but I wasn’t entirely sure. "So you’re saying Adrian was engaged?" I asked, trying to sound casual, and not like the walls were closing in on me. "Yeah. But it was a long time ago,” Ariana said, her eyes shifting nervously as she looked hesitant. "Why didn't you mention her before?" I asked, hating how desperate I sounded. Ariana sighed, pushing her long hair back from her face as she sank further into the couch and said, "Because it's not a story I like telling. And because Adrian doesn't talk about it at all."I folded my arms and waited for her to continue, and when she saw that I wasn't letting this go, she gave in with a quiet sigh."Her name was Alessia Marino,” she said. “She came from a very powerful family which is tied to som
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-30
Chapter: 41. The ClashADRIAN"We should be landing in about fifteen minutes,” Rafe said, causing me to look up from my tablet. “The motorcade is ready, and your meeting with the governor is set for three o'clock, and afterward we're heading straight to the hotel.”“We’ll need to stop and get a bite to eat,” I said. “I’m starving.”“We’ll get you a burger or something,” he said. “Don’t forget, we need to keep a low profile the entire time we’re here. Even though we've got people keeping watch and the routes have already been checked, I still don’t like it when we’re on foreign grounds."I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, barely listening to the last part. My gaze was fixed on the clouds outside the window, and the golden sunlight over the Los Angeles skyline below us. I'd been down here more times than I could count, but it never stopped feeling like foreign territory. If New York was chess, then LA was poker. It was all too flashy, and so unpredictable. I was constantly reminded of the fact that t
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-29
Chapter: 40. The Girl’s NightSOFIAAriana pulled up in her little red Mini Cooper about two hours later, her sunglasses too big for her face and her smile visible through the window. I was already standing on the curb, waiting for her to show up with my bags already In tow. "You ready?" she said, reaching across the seat to unlock the door for me."Absolutely," I replied, smiling at her . My bag was heavier than usual, probably because it was the first time I'd be staying at the DeLuca estate for more than a few hours. Or maybe it was because because it felt like I was running from something, and I didn’t want to come back. As I slid into the passenger seat, I asked the question that had been sitting on my mind ever since we spoke on the phone. "So why did you have to be the one to drop Adrian off at the airport? Doesn't he have a whole fleet of drivers for that?"“Of course he does,” she said, rolling her eyes . “ But I always drop him off when he's traveling.""Every single time?" I asked. "Yep. It's our thi
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-28
Chapter: Epilogue *The drive to the beach took longer than any of them had anticipated. The weather was dry, with the heat rising to a dangerous level. Twice, they had to stop to fix a punctured tyre. "Are we there yet?" "Just a little further," he replied, wading through the traffic. "It won't be long now."They had left his uncle's house early that morning, with a picnic basket which they filled along the way. They had hoped to beat the traffic by leaving early, but even so they only managed to cover eighteen miles in an hour. By the time they finally reached the beach, it was a few minutes past noon. The sun was high up in the sky, and their shadows had disappeared underneath them. There was a small crowd gathered on the sand, which surprised him as it was a weekday. "Come," he said to her, offering his right hand while he took the basket in the other. "I know the perfect spot for us."He led her away from the crowd, keeping his hold on her tightly. He recognized the group as students from the
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: Chapter 83* Azra was a bright-eyed, polite, little eleven year old who couldn't meet anyone's eyes when she was brought to the house by Adnan. Afrah, who had been discharged three days prior, watched from her window as he drove into the house with the little girl sitting beside him. Looking at him, she still didn't know what exactly she felt. Of course she still despised what he'd done, but she didn't necessarily hate Adnan himself. Forgiving him was hard. It was probably the hardest thing she would ever learn to do. But it would be worth it if they would learn to live happily for the rest of their lives. Azra's mother had been much too happy to let her go. They had been struggling to provide for the little girl with her new husband, who was significantly less-wealthy than Adnan. Layla knew the girl would have a better future with her biological father. When she got the call from Adnan, a part of her wanted to hang up on him. But since it concerned his daughter, she'd listened to his plea a
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: Chapter 82*Carpets and curtains. She dreamt of them both, not as separate entities, but as one. Throughout her existence, Afrah had been surrounded by carpets and curtains, each lending its own unique addition to the story of her life. They were always silent, never considered but ever present. She recalled the carpets in her bedroom, how soft and flat it was. Twice a year, the carpets would be taken out so they could be washed and returned. The curtains were washed every month, and Afrah remembered sitting in the middle of her room one time when both carpets and curtains were removed, and she simply stared at the barrenness of her room. Strange how something as insignificant as carpets and curtains could change the entire appearance of her bedroom. She recalled the carpets in her father's room, the plush cream color stretching from wall to wall. His curtains were white, which she remembered complaining to her mother about once. "Why can't I have white curtains as well?" she'd asked. "Bec
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: Chapter 81*Afrah didn't know she was capable of doing it until she'd done it. Spontaneous action was never her area of expertise, knowing fully well that she was more of a reactive person than a proactive one. But the sight of Fahad falling to the floor jolted her to action. It was like a spark had awakened in her, grinding the gears in her brain. She began by lunging for the gun. Yusuf wasn't expecting her to move. Neither did he hear her move, since the carpet muffled her footsteps. He was still pointing the gun at Fahad's twitching corpse when Afrah's hands suddenly wrapped around the gun and yanked it out of his hands. He staggered back, bewildered by her action. And then she brought the gun to his chest, looking him dead in the eye. Time seemed to freeze in that moment. Neither he nor she dared to move. Between them was their hateful glare, separated by the barrel of the gun. His breathing was calm, while hers was irregular, coming in short bursts. In that moment, their roles were rev
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: Chapter 80*Every movement caused Afrah to jump; every second his eyes spent watching her made her skin crawl. She didn't sit. Instead she remained where she was standing, her arms folded in front of her. Yusuf meanwhile had leaned back into the seat, sighing comfortably. "What would you like to have?" he asked nonchalantly. "Some water, perhaps? I have some orange juice which still happens to be fresh. Or would you prefer a coke? I have some wine as well, but then knowing how close you and Adnan are, I'm sure he's taught you to stray away from fine wine. So, which would you prefer to have?""I would like to have my daughter back," Afrah replied. Yusuf studied her for a few seconds before he chuckled. "Of course," he said. "It's why you're here, is it not? As for me, I'd like a Bloody Mary."He stood up then, stretched with a slight groan before he left the room. Afrah remained where she was, awkwardly staring at the stained walls with nothing but a single wall clock hanging on them. She tho
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: Chapter 79*"I remember it like it was yesterday," Halima said. "And I know how cliché that sounds, but it really does feel like yesterday even though it was almost thirty years ago."Adnan tilted his head to the side, trying to detect a hint of deception in her words. "I was a little girl, so foolish and ignorant. I guess I've always been like that. But we can say that my ignorance and foolishness were somewhat exaggerated at that point in my life. Before I tell you how it happened however, I think you should understand the beginning of it all. I believe I was on my way to my uncle's house that day. I'm sure your father told you all about the village we grew up in.""Bakura," he replied indifferently. "Yes," Halima replied, twisting her hands. "It's a small settlement, and we grew up so close that everyone knew the name of everyone else. It was so small that it was impossible to leave home without everyone being able to give a detailed account of where you went. Your paternal grandfather and
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2023-03-06
Chapter: 4. My New NeighborELLIEThis had to be a dream, right? Somebody up there was fucking with me. Because how on earth could Beck be checking out the house next door? Hopefully there was another explanation for all this, because I wouldn't know how to react if he moved in next door. I should have run back inside and pretended I never saw him. But something about him made me just stand there, frozen like a deer in headlights and watching him as he smiled at something the realtor said. Even in a plain white t-shirt and some grey sweatpants, he looked so perfect. His hair was slightly wet, and I just wanted to run my fingers through it all day long. 'Jesus, Ellie, get a fucking grip.'What were the odds that right after I decided to make it my mission for him to take my virginity, he would suddenly move in next door? Definitely astronomical, and I got a feeling that the universe was doing this to taunt me. Dangling him right in front of me was a way of reminding me what was at stake, and I had to figure out
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-06-22
Chapter: 3. A Shocking TwistELLIEThe thing is, getting information on Beck Ryder shouldn't be the hardest thing on earth. He's the most popular guy on campus, and he's the star quarterback of a very famous college. Everything should be right at your disposal. But by the time I settle down at my laptop the next morning and started to dig through his socials, it took only five minutes to realize that I've never met a more private person in my life. Every single social media account of his was private, which didn't make any sense of me because I assumed that he was a social butterfly who would want everyone watching him. I check his IG, his Twitter, Facebook, and every other social media platform I could think of. I even checked Pinterest, but there was nothing I could work with. What in God's name was he hiding? I sank into my seat, realizing that this was going to be more difficult than I initially thought. It shouldn't be this hard though. He's the most popular guy on campus. And yet there's no trace of him
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-30
Chapter: 2. The Planning PhaseELLIENow, before you say anything, hear me out. I knew how crazy it sounds to even consider something like this. I mean who in their right mind would want to lose their virginity to the biggest asshole on campus? No matter how you look at it, it was bound to be a terrible situation. But here's the thing:BECK IS SO FUCKING HOT!I knew I hate him with every piece of hair that still remained on my head, but I can't turn a blind eye to the stories I'd heard. I couldn't deny the fact that everyone knew he was amazing on bed. I'd heard it enough times that I could pretty much paint a perfect picture of what he was capable of in the bedroom. Everyone knew the 'Beck glow', which every girl seemed to have after sleeping with him. Maybe that was the reason Salma was considered the hottest girl on campus, because she was always in an on-again-off-again relationship with him. Even though they weren't exclusive, she'd made it very obvious that Beck was hers, and no one could have him for longe
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-30
Chapter: 1. The Countdown BeginsELLIE "I'm so sorry, Miss Carter. But I'm afraid your cancer is back. And from the looks of it, I would say you only have about six months left." That's what all Dr Brandon said, like he was telling me the wifi was down or the vending machine was out of my favorite chips. He acted like this wasn't the end of my life as I knew it, and I just sat there in silence, blinking at him and wondering why the hell the walls weren't shaking, or an asteroid wasn't falling out of the sky to wipe us all off the face of the earth. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was going to die. I think I laughed. Not because it was funny, but because I didn't know what else to do. Dr Brandon looked at me like he'd seen this kind of reaction before, like people in shock were just part of the job. I wanted to scream until my throat felt raw and shattered beyond repair. I wanted to ask him to take it all back, since the months of chemo had apparently done fuck all to actually help me. I wanted
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-05-25
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