Novel-novel oleh Felconlee94

Ariana’s POV The next few days passed in a blur of silence, signatures, and silk dresses. Since I’d signed the contract, Slade had barely spoken more than a few sentences to me. He moved through the mansion like a ghost always composed and always unreachable. The staff treated him like royalty, and me like a guest who wasn’t supposed to stay too long. It was easier that way. Or so I told myself. But every time I caught his reflection in the glass, every time I heard his voice from another room, something in me twisted as a constant reminder that I’d stepped into a life that wasn’t mine, one built on revenge, not love. On the fourth evening, his assistant, Evelyn, appeared at my door with a garment bag. “Mr. Knight asked me to deliver this,” she said. “You’ll need it for the gala tonight.” “Gala?” I repeated, blinking. “Yes. The annual Knight Foundation event. It’s his first public appearance in over a year and now, yours too.” My heart stuttered. “Does the whole ci

The next day felt unreal.Every moment from the night before replayed in my mind Slade’s calm and assured voice, his impossible offer and the velvet box that still sat unopened on my dresser.I should’ve said no.I should’ve walked away.But when the black car pulled up in front of my building at exactly noon, I didn’t.The driver stepped out and opened the door. “Miss Mendel,” he said with a polite nod.I hesitated for only a second before sliding in. The leather smelled like something expensive and dangerous exactly like the man I was on my way to see.The city blurred past the tinted windows. My reflection looked foreign especially my pale skin, red-rimmed eyes, and a determination that didn’t feel like mine.An hour later, the car pulled through wrought-iron gates taller than most buildings I’d lived in. The estate beyond was breathtaking with modern glass and stone rising from a sea of manicured gardens. It wasn’t just a home. It was a fortress.When the driver stopped, a woman

The silence between us was suffocating.He stood there like he belonged tall, composed, his tailored suit absorbing the morning light while I stood barefoot in an oversized T-shirt, holding the truth that could destroy what was left of my life.My throat was too dry to speak. “How did you… how did you even find me?”Slade’s eyes swept over me once not cruelly, but calculating, like he was memorizing a secret. “Finding people is easy when you have the right resources.”“That doesn’t answer my question,” I snapped.He stepped closer, slow, deliberate. “I remembered your name. I made a few calls. I had to be sure you were all right.”“All right?” I laughed, hollow and sharp. “I’m pregnant with a stranger’s child. Nothing about this is all right.”Something brief flickered in his eyes. “You weren’t supposed to be alone in this.”I shook my head, anger breaking through the fear. “We barely know each other. You don’t owe me anything.”“You’re right,” he said quietly. “But maybe I want to.”

The first thing I felt was pain. Not sharp or sudden but deep and dull, like my body was protesting the night before. The second thing was light. Blinding, merciless light seeping through the half-drawn curtains of a room that definitely wasn’t mine. I groaned, pressing a hand against my temple. My mouth was dry, my head spinning. The scent of something masculine,a crisp cologne mixed with faint smoke lingered in the air, wrapping around me like a memory I shouldn’t have. Then the sheets shifted beside me. My heart stopped. Slowly, carefully, I turned my head. He was there half-asleep, the morning sun cutting along the hard lines of his face. Broad shoulders. A strong jaw darkened by stubble. His hand rested lazily against the sheet, veins tracing up his forearm, elegant and powerful. For a long moment, I couldn’t breathe. The flashes from last night came in fragments,the taste of whiskey, his voice low against my ear,the way my body reacted to his touches and the way he loo

The rain hadn’t stopped since morning. It drummed softly against the tall windows of our penthouse, a sound I used to find soothing before but now it only made the silence heavier. Shawn had left early, as he always did. No goodbye kiss. No “see you tonight.” Just the faint scent of his cologne lingering in the hallway and the echo of the front door closing behind him. For three years, that silence had grown like a shadow between us. I used to believe that love could heal everything that what we had was strong enough to outlast the world’s disapproval. My family warned me that he was too cold, too calculating. But I saw what they didn’t. I saw the man who stayed up with me when I couldn’t sleep, who remembered every small thing that made me smile, who held my hand like it was something sacred. That man hasn’t been home for months. I stared at my reflection in the kitchen window,my loose hair, hollow eyes , robe still wrapped around me though it was almost noon. There was a t