S.S Tulip의 작품

Emily Assured that what happened remains between us, I slid out of the bed carefully, every movement deliberate. My legs felt heavy and my mind buzzed with the combination of adrenaline, exhaustion, and the residual heat from Adrian. I had to move. Now. One wrong step, one accidental glance at a mirror, and my composure would shatter entirely. I got dressed as quickly as I could. Suddenly conscious of myself as Adrian's eyes followed my every moment. His eyes remained on me as I crept toward the door, letting it click softly behind me as I left the room. I didn’t glance back. I didn’t want to. I only wanted a neutral space—somewhere I could gather myself without fear of him or of being seen. I walked as fast as I could down the long corridor, my eyes scanning for any movement. All the rooms had the same doors, no wonder I went into the wrong room. I tried to remember which room the the maid had taken my luggage to. I couldn't I could only guess. The only main room on this

Emily The sunlight hit my eyes first. Then, slowly, the reality of the night before came into focus. I was naked. Not under a blanket, not half-covered. Naked. On my side of the bed. With Adrian Carter’s arm draped across me. I froze for a moment, holding my breath, expecting panic or shame to hit. It didn’t. Not exactly. Not like I thought it would. Instead, a surprising calm spread through me, like the kind you feel after surviving a storm. I hadn’t regretted it. Not a single bit. My mind had finally caught up to my body, the alcohol having worn off enough for clarity. I could remember everything—his hands, his voice, the way he moved over me—and even now, thinking about it made my pulse flutter and my stomach ache with a kind of familiar longing. But calm came next, along with worry. Consequences. Not because I was ashamed—though I wasn’t proud, either—but because we lived in a world where everything had repercussions. The Browns, the Carters, Nathan… the mess w

Emily Adrian Carter’s words stayed with me long after I left the sitting room. They clung to my skin, to my thoughts, slipping under the careful numbness I’d perfected over the years. I tried to shake them off as I returned to the party, but it was like trying to forget a hand that had already closed around my wrist. I didn’t want Nathan. I didn’t want this marriage. And somehow, Adrian knew. I reached for a glass of champagne. Then another. No one noticed. No one ever really did. The alcohol warmed me quickly, loosening the tight coil in my chest. Conversations blurred into background noise—laughter, clinking glasses, polite congratulations. I smiled when required, nodded when spoken to, but my thoughts kept drifting back to dark eyes and a voice that didn’t ask permission. By the time the party began to thin out, I felt… light. Not drunk enough to lose myself, but enough that the edges softened. Enough that my body felt louder than my conscience. When I finally e

Emily I finished college on a Tuesday. On Thursday, I became someone’s fiancée. No one asked how I felt about either. The email confirming my graduation sat unopened on my phone while my stepmother stood across the kitchen island, smoothing imaginary creases from her blouse, already talking about dates and guest lists and what the Carter family would expect from us. “They want something small,” she said. “Family only. At their home.” Of course it would be at their home. The Carters didn’t come to people. People went to them. I stared into my bowl of cereal, watching the flakes soften and sink. Milk always turned first, like it had given up. I felt a strange kinship with it. “You should at least look excited,” my stepmother added lightly, from where she leaned against the counter. “You’ve just finished college and you’re getting married. Some girls would kill for that.” I didn’t look up. Some girls weren’t me. “Emily,” my father said gently. “Did you hear your