Chapter: The Question MaraThe boys were arguing about the puzzle.Not aggressively, but the particular intellectual disagreement they had regularly, the one where Junior had decided on an approach, and Billy had identified a flaw in it, and they were now negotiating the gap between Junior's confidence and Billy's evidence."The corner pieces go first," Junior said."I know corner pieces go first." Billy's voice had the patient precision of someone explaining something to someone who already knew it. "I'm saying the edge on this side isn't a corner. It just looks like one.""It has two flat sides.""One flat side. The other side has a slight curve." He held it up. "Look."Junior looked. "That's a corner.""It isn't.""It functionally is.""Functional and actual aren't the same thing."I was sitting in the doorway between the suite and the terrace, coffee in hand, listening to them and letting myself have th
Last Updated: 2026-03-27
Chapter: InvestigationLukeReid's report landed on my desk on Thursday evening.Forty-three pages. I had asked for everything available, from movements and contacts to medical records (if accessible) to the consulting firm's timeline and anything related to the twins. Reid had been thorough in the way I paid him to be thorough.I poured a glass of water and started reading.The consulting firm first. I already knew the broad outline from Sarah's profile, but Reid had gone deeper. His report included client-acquisition timelines, the network she had leveraged, and the way she had built each relationship with the patient, with methodical attention to someone who understood that trust was an infrastructure rather than an emotion.She had used what the marriage gave her. The Whitfield connection, the Foundation knowledge, the three months of boardroom-adjacent positioning she had been building while I had thought we were sharing an apartment. She had been working.
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: The Vale Family MaraMy father opened the door himself.That was the first signal. In the house I had grown up in, doors were handled by staff. My father answering his own door meant the staff situation had changed considerably.He looked at me for a long moment. "Mara.""Father." I looked past him at the foyer. "May I come in?"He stepped back.The house had been carefully maintained, with everything in its correct position and nothing visibly worn, but the rooms off the main hall had their doors closed, as they were when the lighting was turned off to reduce costs. I clocked it in three seconds and said nothing.My mother appeared from the sitting room.She stopped when she saw me. Did the inventory – clothes, posture, the quality of how I occupied the space – and I watched her receive the results. I was not the version of her daughter she had been imagining for five years. The version she had imagined had presumably struggle
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Impromptu LunchLukeI wasn't supposed to see them on Wednesday.Friday was the meeting. I had confirmed it. It was in my schedule. Wednesday was the Harborview site visit, a three o'clock with the legal team, and dinner with the board.The Meridian lobby was not in the plan.I was cutting through the ground floor, as it was faster than the street entrance to the east parking structure, when I heard him."You're the tall man from the airport."I stopped.The bold boy was sitting in the lobby seating area, looking directly at me with the frank recognition of someone who filed faces and didn't forget them. His brother was beside him with a puzzle spread on the low table, pieces arranged with the systematic patience of someone who approached problems methodically.Mara was at the concierge desk, eight feet away, with her back to me, phone pressed to her ear, her free hand making the gesture she used when she was managing something
Last Updated: 2026-03-25
Chapter: The Meeting MaraI arrived at Sterling and Associates twelve minutes early and took the seat facing both doors.The boardroom was glass-walled, with a long table and fourteen chairs. I set my folder in front of me, my phone face down to the right, looked at the door, and waited. Marcus Chen had confirmed that no additional surveillance beyond the building's standard was required. Luke was coming alone. I had stipulated it, and he had agreed without argument, which told me he had decided this meeting required control rather than witnesses.Patricia Wren appeared in the doorway at nine-fifty-eight. "He's in the lobby.""Thank you, Patricia. I'll take it from here."She looked at me for a moment with the expression of a lawyer who had opinions about her client conducting meetings without representation. "I'll be in the next room.""I know."She left.Luke walked in at 10:01.He came through the door the way he came th
Last Updated: 2026-03-25
Chapter: ProfileLuke"Fourteen pages," Sarah said, setting the file on my desk. "Everything Reid could pull by this morning.""Sit down."She sat. In eleven years, she had learned that when I said, "Sit down," it meant I wanted another set of eyes on whatever I was reading. She folded her hands and waited.I opened the file.Anderson Consulting Ltd. was registered eight months after Mara left Z City. First client: a commercial development firm with documented connections to the Whitfield network, David Whitfield, specifically, who had been at the Foundation gala the night Mara had correctly identified the carrying cost issue in the 2021 restructuring and made an impression on a board member who apparently hadn't forgotten it.She had been building the client relationship during our marriage, had filed it away, and used it later."She has twenty-two active clients," I said."Twenty-three as of this week," Sarah said. "She picked
Last Updated: 2026-03-24
15 Days Babysitting For My Star Quarterback Bully
My smile dies the second the door swings open. Gasping, I stumble back as if burned by the deep scowl aimed at me.
“You!” I whisper, and at the same time, my arch-enemy’s scowl morphs into a sinister smile.
Tyler Brooks raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you’ve added stalking to your nerdy tendencies,” he finally says, his deep voice causing me to shiver.
I feel cold sweat break across my forehead, but I curl my fingers tighter around the strap of my purse. “I’m here to… for… um…”
Tyler snorts, seemingly taking pleasure in my embarrassment. “What are you doing here, Garcia?”
***
Lila Garcia thought her life couldn’t get any worse as the infamous nerd of Princeton High, constantly bullied by the jocks. But when Tyler Brooks’ parents leave town and they need someone to watch his younger siblings, Lila is roped into babysitting duty.
Tyler has always been a jerk to her since day one, but now Lila’s stuck in his world and seeing him as more than just an arrogant football star. In close quarters, Lila learns that Tyler has secrets, and that he isn’t the guy she pegged him to be.
As her feelings start to change, and the lines between love and hate blur, Lila must decide if this new version of Tyler is worth trusting, or if she’s just another target in his game.
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Chapter: Chapter ThirtyOne look at Tyler, and I know something is terribly wrong.Pain, terror, hopelessness… they’re all clearly visible on his face. He looks broken, and it breaks something in me too.I barely recognize the boy hanging onto me for dear life. His eyes are red, his breathing uneven, and there’s no barrier between us anymore. For the first time since I’ve known him, I see all of him.“Tyler?” I call softly.He swallows hard before pulling away from me. Then he says words I wasn’t expecting at all. “I can’t feel my arm.”I feel my stomach drop. “What do you mean you can’t feel it?”I’d kept a close eye on him throughout the game, even though it was the last place I wanted to be. All the while, he’d played like a maniac, but I could tell something was wrong. So, I lied to my friends about going to the bathroom and followed him here as soon as I saw him slip away from his teammates.He runs a hand through his hair while the other remains limp at his side. “My arm has stopped working,” he chuckl
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-NineTYLER’S POVBeing on the sidelines is not an option today.“Remind me again why you think this is a good idea,” Coach asks, looking across the field to the scouts eagerly waiting for the game to begin.Following his gaze, I roll my shoulder a couple of times, and it feels fine. Last I checked, too, it looked fine enough for me to do without the bothersome cast I’ve been wearing since the last incident today.“I’m good, Coach,” I say, flashing him a smile. “Besides, I’ve been playing during practice.”He makes a sound of protest at the back of his throat. “Yeah, well, that’s practice. And just because you were barely cleared for it doesn’t mean it was a green light to go all out.”“I won’t,” I say, even though we both know that’s a lie and I never do anything halfway. “Just put me in. I promise I can handle it,” I press. But he still looks skeptical, so I clap his shoulder and gently turn him in the direction of the team we’re playing today. “Do you really want to lose to St. Grace Aca
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-EightJake Holland is enjoying this. I can see it in the way his eyes glimmer with excitement as he watches my patience grow thinner and thinner by the minute.“Well?” I press when I can no longer stand his silence. “Are you going to talk or keep staring at me like a creep?”For some reason, he finds that funny because he giggles like a maniac. “Yeah, you are kind of ruining that boy’s future.”His words are the same generic nonsense I’ve heard from everyone else in school. So, I simply scoff and side-step him.“I’m serious,” Jake insists, blocking my path once more. “Scouts are watching him, coaches are on his back, and his dad?" He lets out a low whistle. “Judging by that look on your face, I’m assuming you’ve met him. But also knowing Tyler, he’s kept the truly horrific part about his dad’s relationship from you.” He leans even closer and whispers. “That man is ruthless when he doesn’t get what he wants.”My stomach churns. Just how much more horrible is Tyler’s father?Jake gestures va
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-SevenThe moment I step onto the field, every instinct in my body tells me to turn back.“Come on, Lila,” I whisper to myself as I stare at the boy standing near the sideline, with his helmet tucked under his arm. “You can do this.”The majority of the players are already jogging around the field in anticipation of practice, and the bleachers are half-filled with students equally as excited.I bite my lower lip, unsure of even having this conversation. But the more I watch Tyler, deep in conversation with Alex, the more determined I am to get it over with.Taking a deep breath, I walk straight toward him.Alex notices me first, and his eyes flicker between us before muttering something to Tyler and stepping away.Finally, Tyler turns in my direction, and his expression doesn’t change even when he sees me.Mustering enough courage, I stare him dead in the eyes. “We need to talk,” I say.He glances toward the field briefly, slight irritation on his face. “Make it quick,” he mumbles.“Don’t ta
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-SixBy the next morning, everyone knows.The picture has spread faster than wildfire, and so has the narrative people have attached to it. Whispers trail after me in the school hallways, are passed between phones, and are reshaped and sharpened until they barely resemble the truth.“She’s using the babysitting job to get to him.”“Of course, she is. Have you seen his house? I’d trap him too, if I had access.”I continue down the hallway, my grip tightening around my bag with every step that I take. Several eyes follow me, from curious to amused to downright cruel, but I do my best to ignore them.“Hey,” a girl mutters as I pass, not even bothering to lower her voice, “is that her?”“Yeah,” her friend whispers back. “The babysitter.”They whip out their phones to openly record me, and I tell myself that I shouldn’t let it get to me. After all, Tyler and I know the real truth behind that picture. But who am I kidding? It still stings.By the time I reach my locker, my chest feels tight. I
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-FiveThe universe is screwing with me.At least, that was my first thought when Mrs. Danvers told me after school that the Brooks extended their trip and they’d really appreciate it if I could continue. Suddenly, what Tyler whispered to me back at the diner yesterday made sense.Of course, I said yes because I don’t have the luxury of walking away from money the way people like Tyler can. And the Brooks are my highest-paying clients.Still, walking back into their house after everything that has happened between Tyler and me feels wrong.As soon as the door clicks shut behind me, a tiny voice screams my name.“Lila!” Sophie barrels into me before I can even set my bag down.I laugh despite everything and drop slightly to catch her. “Hey.”Lucas lingers a few steps behind, but there’s a small smile on his face as he waves shyly at me.My heart seems to expand as I realize how much I’ve missed them.“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Sophie says, pulling away just enough to look at me.“Me
Last Updated: 2026-03-26
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