Novel-novel oleh HO PE

Alexander's POVThe hotel suite was too big and too empty.I just finished eating a buffet in my lodge, but it still seems like nothing. I knew it was a huge enjoyment, but deep down I knew something is definitely wrong I needed to work for. I sat on the edge of the king side bed in nothing but sweatpants, my phone in one hand, while y my tablet in the other, watching the numbers fall like blood from an open wound.Kane Global –14.7 % after-hoursShort interest: 38 % and climbingEvery refresh felt like another punch to the ribs. I knew I had done this. I knew my dad had called in everything he can, but still nothing beats the board, executive and my real stats since I took over Kane Global.My short tenure was the worst of all, and I know it. The only person that could also be of little help for me, I had thrown him in the mud too, and let him know my true dirty colour's.Oh Fuck me!I wanted to throw the tablet through the window.Instead I just sat there, chest tight, jaw clenc

ENID’S POV I tugged on a loose white cotton top and soft grey linen pants, the fabric cool against my skin after another sleepless night, then slid my feet into the hotel’s fluffy palm-tree slippers so my legs wouldn’t ache more than they already did.My laptop under my arm, my room key clenched in my fist, because I was done rotting in that suite. I needed light, I needed air, I needed anything that didn’t carry his scent or his silence.I grabbed the handle, yanked the door open, and stepped into the hallway.Bang.The door next to mine slammed shut so hard the walls shook. A second later the lock clicked like a gunshot. Whoever it was had just come in, furious, moving fast, and the sound of that slam scraped every nerve I had left raw.I knew that anger. I knew the way it poured out of a body without caring who heard.It seems exactly like.... someone I know.My stomach twisted, in disgust.I froze in the corridor, one slipper half off my heel, breath stuck somewhere between my l

ENID’S POVTHE NEXT MORNINGI woke up to sunlight stabbing through the curtains, hitting my guts same way the low, miserable sound of someone crying on the other side of the wall, hits last night.It wasn't loud, neither was it dramatic. Just soft a broken sniffles that kept going and going, like a tap someone forgot to turn off. It had started around midnight and never really stopped. I lay there in the dark for hours, eyes open, listening to every shaky breath, every choked sob that slipped through the plaster like it was tissue paper. By four o’clock I gave up on sleep completely. By six the crying finally faded into exhausted silence. By seven it started again.I rolled out of bed feeling like I had been hit by a truck, jaw tight, temples throbbing. Whoever the poor bastard was in 1512, he was having the worst night of his life, and thanks to these ridiculously thin walls I had front-row seats.I dragged a hand over my face and muttered a curse. Because this man needs thera

ALEXANDER’S POVI drove too fast, the tyres screaming around corners, the city nothing but streaks of light and noise. My hands shook on the wheel, eyes burning, chest so tight I could barely pull in air. All I could think about was Raymond. His arms, his voice. The way he always knew how to make the world feel less heavy.I needed him tonight more than I had ever needed anyone.When I finally skidded to a stop outside his Notting Hill townhouse, the security guy at the entrance recognised my car instantly and buzzed me straight through. I left the engine running, grabbed the two biggest suitcases from the back seat and practically ran up the steps.The door opened before I could knock.Raymond stood there in a loose silk shirt and sweatpants, hair still damp from a shower, those famous green eyes widening the second he saw my face “Alex? Baby, what happened?”I dropped the bags in his marble hallway and crashed into him, arms locking around his neck, face buried against his shoulder

ENID’S POVThe strap of my duffel bag cut into my shoulder, the other suitcase rolling behind me with a soft rattle as I walked down the long driveway, every step taking me further from the only place that had being a huge threat to my life. The night air was cold, biting at my cheeks, but I welcomed it, because It kept me sharp.Behind me I heard the roar of an engine. Headlights swept across the gravel and Alex’s black BMW screeched to a stop right beside me, close enough that I felt the heat coming off the hood. The window slid down and there he was, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the door, smirking like the devil himself.“Need a ride, farm boy?” he called, voice dripping with fake sweetness.I kept walking, eyes forward, jaw tight.He laughed, loud and ugly “Of course I can’t let your dirty ass ruin my leather seats, what was I thinking?”Still I said nothing, not a word. I just stared straight ahead and kept moving.Alex rewed the engine again, rolling slowly besid

ENID’S POVThe heavy front door slammed shut behind us with a bang that shook my bones, David’s angry voice still roaring through the wood “Only come back here if you want your bags thrown after you!”Then silence, cold, sharp, final.Alex’s knees gave out right there on the front steps. He dropped hard, like someone had cut every string holding him up, his expensive coat pooling around him on the wet stone. Both our suitcases and bags were scattered across the driveway, clothes spilling out like guts, David must have ordered the staff to hurl everything out the moment he decided we were done.I stared at the mess for a second, my breath fogging in the evening air. Never in a million years did I think David Kane could be this ruthless. I know he wasn't the silent one, but it was too fast.Alex was already sobbing, his shoulders shaking, hands covering his face, sounding like a lost child “So what the fuck am I supposed to do now?” he cried, voice cracking “Why is everything falling ap

ETHAN’S POV The sheets were warm and tangled around my legs, my body heavy and loose in the way only really good sex leaves you. Kai was still inside me for a minute, breathing hard against my neck, pressing soft kisses to my shoulder like he was scared to let go even for a second. When he finally pulled out I made a small, broken sound I couldn’t hold back, already missing the weight of him. He kissed my forehead, then my nose, then my lips, slow and gentle, like he was saying thank you with every touch. “Shower with me?” he murmured, voice husky and low, his fingers brushing my sweaty hair off my face. I wanted to. God, I wanted to follow him anywhere. But my limbs felt like liquid and my eyelids kept trying to close on their own. “Too tired,” I mumbled, burrowing deeper into the pillow that smelled like him. “Just gonna sleep for five minutes.” He laughed softly, the sound rumbling against my cheek. “Five minutes, huh? You’re already half gone.” I managed a sleepy smil

ETHAN’S POV The silence after breakfast had been thick, heavy, the kind that presses on your ribs together and makes it hard to breathe. We washed dishes side by side without speaking, shoulders brushing, water running, and I hated it because it felt like the calm before another storm.Now we were in the bedroom and the air was different, charged, humming.Kai sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but low black shorts and a soft grey T-shirt that clung to every line of his chest. He looked exhausted and beautiful and dangerous all at once.“What are you thinking about?” he asked, voice low, eyes locked on me like he could see straight through my skull.I was leaning against the desk, arms folded, trying to look anywhere but at him. “I’m fine,” I muttered, not fine at all.He raised one brow. “Are you giving me attitude, baby?”My stomach flipped at the pet name. “Who said I’m doing that?”He chuckled, dark and slow, the sound curling around my spine. “We were fine five minutes ago

KAI’S POV I woke up before the sun, the way I always do when my body is healing. Thanks to the little medication Ethan had given him.Pain was a dull pulse under the fresh bandage, but it was nothing compared to the warmth curled against my left side. Ethan was still dead asleep, lips parted, one arm flung across my chest like he was afraid I’d vanish if he let go. I lay there for a long time just watching him breathe, counting the tiny freckles across his nose, memorizing the way his lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. Eventually hunger won. I eased out from under him, slow and careful, tucked the blanket around his shoulders when he made a small unhappy sound. He settled again, hugging my pillow instead, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from climbing right back in. The kitchen was quiet, pale morning light sliding through the windows. I moved on autopilot: eggs, thick-cut bacon, fresh chives from the little pot on the windowsill, the good butter. Pancakes to

KAI’S POVThe apartment was dark except for the thin silver of moonlight slipping through the half-open blinds. We hadn’t bothered with lamps. We hadn’t bothered with anything except getting to the bed.I was flat on my back, my shirt off, fresh bandage tight around my ribs, the pain dulled to a steady throb by the pills Ethan had forced on me after chunking the little food he had managed to make. Ethan was curled against my good side, head on my chest, one leg thrown over mine, while his fingers tracing slow, mindless circles over my heart like he needed to keep checking it was still beating.His hair smelled like the rooftop wind and the faint coconut of his shampoo. I kept my nose buried in it, breathing him in like medicine.For a long time we just lay there, hearts slowing together, the silence soft and huge and perfect.Then Ethan’s voice floated up, sleepy and a little hoarse from crying.“You have a really nice apartment, Kia.”I huffed a quiet laugh, the movement tugging my

ETHAN’S POV We left the rooftop tangled together, my arm around his waist, his weight leaning heavy into me like he was scared his legs might give up any second. The stairwell smelled of dust and old paint, but all I could focus on was the way he breathed, shallow, careful, every exhale trembling against my neck. The cab ride to his apartment was a long silence, and it was quicker than I expected.He didn’t speak the entire walk to his building. Neither did I. Words felt too small for what was happening between us. The lobby was quiet, the marble floors reflecting the golden evening light. I tried to guide him slower, but Kai moved like a man possessed, dragging his body forward even though every step looked like it cost him. His face was chalk-white, his both lips pressed into a thin line, sweat beading along his hairline even though the air was cool. We reached the elevator. He practically fell against the wall the second the doors slid shut, backpack still clutched in one

ETHAN’S POVThe lecture hall smelled like dry-erase markers and too many bodies packed together. The professor’s voice floated somewhere above me, a dull drone about supply curves and elasticity, words that used to make sense once upon a time, but now they're just noise.I hadn’t slept properly in four nights, and now my eyes burned, my head felt stuffed with wet cotton, and every time I blinked I saw the same thing: Kai walking away from me in that parking lot, his shoulders stiff, and never looking back. I kept replaying the last thirty seconds on loop. His voice cracking when he said I love you. The way his hand shook when he pressed my phone into my palm, even after giving me a wrong phone number. The exact second the taillights disappeared and took my entire world with them. The professor wrote something on the board, and I stared at the letters until they blurred. I hadn’t taken a single note, because my notebook was open to the same blank page it had been for the l