Chapter: CHAPTER 121 - WHERE BROKEN HEARTS HEALNatalie's POV Lucien looked down at me, his hands still resting on my shoulders."Natalie?"The moment I met his eyes, everything I'd been holding inside me finally broke.I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face against his chest. The tears came before I could stop them, spilling down my cheeks as the weight of everything I'd endured settled over me.I cried for the fear, the lies, the nights I'd spent wondering whether I would ever escape the nightmare that had become my life. I cried for the person I'd been before all of this happened, and I cried because, despite everything, I was still standing and Lucien held me tighter."It's okay, Natalie," he whispered, stroking my hair. "I've got you. You're safe now."I shook my head against his chest, unable to find the words I needed. "It's over," he murmured. "You don't have to fight anymore."For so long, I'd forced myself to be strong. I'd swallowed my fear, hidden my pain, and kept moving because stopping had never felt lik
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 120 - WHEN SECRETS BLEEDNatalie's POV The woman standing before him didn't flinch. She looked at him with an expression I couldn't quite decipher, but there was no fear in her eyes. No hesitation. Only the quiet fury of someone who had waited far too long for this moment.Several guests turned toward the noise. Others exchanged confused looks, their attention shifting between the older man and the woman who had somehow managed to unsettle him with a single word.Elena. Lucien's mother.The woman Mr. Moretti had made Lucien believe was gone forever.I looked toward Lucien. He was staring at her, his face drained of color. His lips parted, but no sound came out. He looked as though the ground beneath him had disappeared without warning."Mother?" he whispered.Elena turned toward him… the hard expression on her face softened as she turned to him "Lucien."He took one step forward, but Mr. Moretti moved abruptly, placing himself between them."What are you doing here?" he demanded.Elena let out a short, humor
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 119 - REINCARNATIONSNatalie's POVThe room went silent. Every conversation stopped as the guests turned toward Mr. Moretti, their curiosity evident in the expectant faces surrounding the platform. Even the musicians had lowered their instruments, leaving the hall unusually quiet.Mr. Moretti took a final sip of wine before setting his glass on a nearby table. He adjusted his grip on his walking stick and made his way toward the front.Aiden's fingers remained intertwined with mine…I glanced at him, but his attention was fixed on the older man. There was something unsettling about the faint smile on his face, as though he already knew how the evening would unfold.I turned back toward the platform expecting the announcement to get started immediately “Today is a very important day for me,” Mr. Moretti began. “Over the years, I've worked hard to build this family and establish everything we have. I've made sacrifices, faced challenges, and learned some difficult lessons along the way.” Several guests nodd
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 118 - GET TOGETHERNatalie's POV“Natalie?”Lucien's voice barely reached me above the music, but I heard it. I wanted to answer him. There were a thousand things I wanted to tell him, and not one of them could be settled by standing across a crowded room staring at each other.I took a step in his direction but Aiden moved before I could take another.His arm slid around my waist, pulling me firmly against his side. His fingers settled against my hip as though he needed to remind everyone in the room exactly where I belonged, I stiffened trying to think of anything I could say if I got closer to him..“What are you doing?” I whispered.“Standing with my wife.”“I can see that. You don't have to hold me like I'm about to run away.”His smile remained fixed for the benefit of the watching guests “Then stop looking as though you're about to.”I looked up at him, irritation prickling beneath my skin. Across the room, Lucien was still watching us. His expression had changed, His gaze dropped briefly to Aide
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 117 - PAINFUL REUNIONNatalie's POVI was standing in front of the mirror when Aiden walked into my room without knocking.I turned at the sound of the door, expecting him to tell me the car was ready. Instead, he stopped just inside and looked me over with an expression of exaggerated curiosity.“What's the occasion?”I stared at him, for several seconds, I genuinely wondered whether he had hit his head somewhere between his bedroom and mine.“Excuse me?”He glanced at my dress, then back at my face. “You look as though you're expecting someone important.”“Aiden.”“Yes, darling?”“Don't start.”“Start what?”I set down the lipstick I had been holding and faced him fully.“It's the day of the charity event. The event you've spent the last several days reminding me about. The event with all your precious rules. And now you're standing in my room asking me what the occasion is?”Then his lips twitched and he replied… “Oh, that.”I narrowed my eyes. “Are you trying to annoy me?”“Not intentionally.”“You're
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 116 - PUPPET SHOWNatalie's POVLater that afternoon, I found Aiden, I had made a decision. I wasn't going to argue with him today.Not because his apology had erased what he'd said, and certainly not because I had suddenly decided he deserved my trust. I simply couldn't afford to waste another day fighting over things that changed nothing.The charity event was approaching, and I needed to be prepared. Aiden stood near the windows in his study, examining something on his desk. I knocked lightly against the open door.He looked up with a smile spread across his face then he called out “Natalie.”“Are you ready for the event?”His expression shifted. “That's an interesting question.”“It's a straightforward one.”“Is it?” He put down the paper in his hand and turned to me fully “This morning, you were ready to tear my head off. Today, you're asking about our plans as though nothing happened.”“I don't remember saying nothing happened.”“Then what changed?”I stepped further into the room. “Must there al
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 25 - CLARASYLVANAThere were books on the desk. The history project, half a page of it, a highlighter with the lid off. I got the whole pile into bed with me and laid it out around me like a card trick, which is what you do when you've got a plan and no intention of following it.Henry the Eighth, then. Dates. Six of them, all of them needing a rhyme. I read the same paragraph four times and took nothing off the page except the shape of it.Julian was two floors up on a landing he wasn't supposed to be on, in a bed too small for two, doing sums the same way I was. Cashmier might be in the his room by now. Hopefully I fell asleep on top of the notes and I didn't bother to stack them up, didn't cap the pen. Left the lamp on. The highlighter pen still laying on the bed…The next day I woke with a page stuck to my cheek, my mouth tasting of dust and the lamp still burning. I carefully peeled the page off my face. Stacked the books up anyhow, because there's no tidying properly at seven in the mo
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 24 - THE GUEST ROOMSYLVANAThe text came through while Cashmier was still patting his pockets for his keys. [Come home.]Two words. Julian types like that when he wants it to sound as if he isn't bothered.I read it twice then I put the phone face down on the windowsill beside the two mugs, and said, "Take me back."Cashmier didn't stand up. That was the whole answer, really — he stayed on the bed with his back to the wall and his keys in his fist, looking at me like I'd cancelled something."It's almost 12.""And? Hurry up, get off the bed""It's nineteen minutes home.""You've timed it.""I've driven a lot of times so I know" he said, which wasn't the same admission, and he knew it, so he stood up.---While he got his coat, I did my hair in the little mirror over the sink — down, up, down, up in the end, because it had been through a car and a wall and a bed, and up was the only version of it that told the truth without saying anything. Boots on. Wrists checked. Faint pink, nothing you'd notice unles
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 23 - THE LISTSYLVANAMy mother sent me to help him, which is the most dangerous sentence in this entire account of things."He's bought a flat," she said, with her back to me and her hands in the sink. "26 years old. On his own. He's bought a flat.""Off-plan," Cashmier said, from the table. "Completion was last month.""Off-plan," she repeated, as if it were something you could catch off a bus seat. Then she turned round and dried her hands before looking at me. "Go with him. Go on. He'll be sat in an empty room with a kettle and no idea where to put a plate.""Mother, I don't know anything about flats.""You know about cushions."She already decided my fate in nine seconds, and had absolutely no idea what she had just done.Cashmier didn't say a word about it, which was the first thing that should have told me in was in big trouble…---His car was already packed outside the house, he packed up his hair in a messy bun before stepping out— He held the door for me and I got in. He walked round
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 22 - THE ALIBISYLVANAI sat down breathing heavily, which was the first mistake of the afternoon, because sitting down on a drawing-room rug where three brothers have just had you is not the same as sitting down anywhere else on earth. Sitting down is a decision. All three of them knew it, and none of them said it, and Darius reached over and set the ashtray down on the floor between us like a man settling in for the night."I've got an hour," I said."You've got two," Cashmier said. "And you've spent twenty minutes of it on your back, so you've got an hour and a half, and the dress is a waste of it."Damien laughed without opening his eyes. He was flat on the rug with his hands behind his head and his boots back on, looking at the ceiling of his father's drawing room like he was at the beach in Spain."You want to do something about your neck," Darius said."I know about my neck.""Not that one. The other side. It's gone purple.""Marvellous."Cashmier looked at it, then he looked at me, and then
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-22
Chapter: CHAPTER 21 - THE ARRANGEMENTSYLVANA For about ninety seconds after the front door opened, the drawing room was a war zone.Damien got his jeans on in one movement and a shirt in another. Darius found his belt on the floor by the window and put it on wrong and then right. Cashmier, who had been flat on his back under me on the rug and was therefore the furthest behind, went from naked to dressed in a way that suggested he'd done this before in houses that weren't his, and I got the pale blue dress back over my head and got it pulled down and shook my hair out and did up the zip with my hands shaking so badly that I had to do it twice."You've got a mark," Darius said"I know about the mark.""Not that one. Your neck. Other side."And then Julian's voice came up the hall, unhurried, "Sylvana? Anyone in?""Sofa," Cashmier hissed, and pointed at the television in the corner of the drawing room, and Darius found the remote and turned it on and dropped onto the sofa, and Damien dropped down beside him, and by the tim
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-21
Chapter: CHAPTER 20 - 4SOMESYLVANA "All three brothers in one morning," Darius said again, and grinned at me with his whole face. "And he's the worst of all three of us." It took me a second to catch the sentence properly. "What does that mean." He didn't answer. He just got up off the bed, pulled his jeans back on, and went and opened the door to a small ensuite I hadn't noticed, then he put the light back on. "It means have a bath," he said. "You've got half an hour before anyone starts looking for you, and you smell like two of us." --- I hurried off the bed and lunged towards the bathroom…The bath tub was already filled with steaming water the minute I stepped in…maybe he already made arrangements…I lay in it long enough for the heat to get into my shoulders and for my brain to start working again. Two of them. Before nine in the morning. I thought about what the word was for this. There wasn't one. Stepbrothers is a word that covers a lot and explains nothing. And somewhere in the middle of that
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-21
TOXIC : MY MAFIA PROFESSOR
Toxic, possessive, and forbidden — this is a mafia romance about obsession, deception, and a love triangle no one saw coming.
This story centers around three main characters: Professor Adrian, his student Theo, and Adrian’s nephew Blake.
Professor Adrian heads the Crimson Pact, hidden behind his luxury jewelry front, Deveraux Atelier. He came to the university undercover with one mission: find the man who scammed him with fake gold and stole millions.
Adrian only knows the scammer’s name. He’s never seen his face. The man is hiding at the school under a fake name, and Adrian doesn’t know who he is.
On his first day, Adrian saves Theo from being bullied by Blake — his own nephew. He doesn’t realize the boy he just rescued is the same one he’ll become obsessed with.
To smoke the scammer out, Adrian posts a job offer at Deveraux Atelier. When Theo applies and gets hired, Adrian suspects him. Without proof, he makes Theo’s life miserable to force the truth out of him. But the more he pushes, the more he wants Theo instead of answers.
At the same time, Blake, who once tormented Theo, starts falling for him too. Uncle and nephew turn into rivals, both dangerous, both wanting Theo, while hiding the blood between them.
Caught between a mafia professor hunting a stranger, and a bully who wants to claim him, Theo is trapped in the middle of a toxic war he never asked for.
As lies unravel and the real scammer’s identity nears, all three men must decide what they’re willing to destroy to keep the one they want.
Baca
Chapter: CHAPTER 76 - NO FAMILYTHEO"What did you say?"Adrian's repeated but the anger behind his voice made the entire corridor fall silent.The employee who had been gossiping about us suddenly looked as though he wished the floor would swallow him. His eyes moved between Adrian and me, and his mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to speak."B-Boss, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."Adrian took another step toward him. "Then how did you mean it?"The man swallowed hard and then opened his mouth "I was only joking. I didn't mean to offend you or Theo. I swear I wasn't trying to cause any trouble.""You were discussing my personal life in the middle of my workplace, insulting someone who has done nothing to you, and suggesting he manipulated me for a promotion." Adrian's expression hardened. "And now you're telling me it was a joke?"The employee's face paled then he immediately started apologizing "I'm sorry, sir. I shouldn't have said it."Adrian immediately cuts the man off before he c
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 75 - SUSPICIOUS FRIENDSTHEO I stared at him, waiting for him to take the words back, but his expression remained serious. He wasn't joking, and he wasn't saying it simply to frighten me.He genuinely believed Lya might have done something to me. "But why?" I asked quietly. "Why would she do that?"Adrian's fingers tightened around mine before he continued "That's what we're going to find out.""She's my friend, Adrian.""Are you sure about that?"His question stung more than I expected…I looked away, struggling to understand how someone who had been so friendly toward me could possibly want to hurt me. Lya had approached me when I was looked down on around school. She had talked to me, laughed with me, and invited me out. She had even bought me a cake because she knew I liked chocolate. Or at least, I had assumed she knew."People don't just do things like that without a reason," I muttered."People do all kinds of things for reasons you may never understand." Adrian's firmly said. "You can't control what
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-29
Chapter: CHAPTER 74 - THE TRUTH IN THE CAKETHEO"Whatever he ate earlier appears to have been spiked with something that caused the drowsiness," the doctor explained again Adrian's expression changed."Spiked?" he repeated, his voice dangerously quiet. "Are you telling me someone deliberately put something in his food?""I can't confirm that without further testing. However, his symptoms are consistent with the effects of a substance that can cause drowsiness. We need to take him to a medical facility for proper examination and observation."Adrian looked down at me…I wanted to tell him I could hear everything, but my tongue felt too heavy in my mouth. I could barely keep my eyes open, and the doctor's words seemed to drift in and out of my consciousness."Will he be all right?" Adrian asked."His pulse is stable, which is encouraging, but we shouldn't take any chances. He needs to be monitored until the effects wear off."Adrian nodded, though the tension in his face didn't ease. "Do whatever you need to do."The doctor cont
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-24
Chapter: CHAPTER 73 - FRENEMIESTHEO"Stay away from him!" Adrian's voice thundered through the classroom then the men surrounding me froze.I tried to lift my head, but everything remained blurry. I could barely make out their figures, and the room continued to spin around me. My body felt heavy, as though something was holding me down and refusing to let me move then Adrian appeared in front of me.I had never seen him look like that before…His expression was cold, his jaw clenched, and his eyes burned with a fury that made even the masked men hesitate. "Who sent you?" he demanded.None of them answered then one of the men released my arm and stepped backward.Adrian moved closer, placing himself between me and the strangers. "I asked you a question."The tallest man glanced at the others…that brief exchange was enough to tell me they were planning something."Professor..." I whispered.Adrian's head turned immediately. "Theo?"I tried to reach for him, but my arm barely moved.He looked at my face, and whatever h
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-24
Chapter: CHAPTER 72 - BITTER - SWEET CAKETHEOI left Adrian’s office with his warning still running through my mind…he had been unusually serious about Lya. According to him, the information his investigator had uncovered raised more questions than answers. Her family background was unclear, and there was no reliable information explaining where she had come from.I understood why Adrian was concerned, but I couldn't bring myself to believe Lya was necessarily dangerous.She had been friendly to me since we met. She listened when I spoke, made me laugh when I was stressed, and never seemed bothered when I wasn't in the mood to talk but still, Adrian's warning lingered.I had promised myself that I would ask Lya about her family on Friday. Until then, I would be careful about what I told her.I was halfway down the corridor when I spotted her standing outside my classroom…she was leaning against the wall with her phone in her hand. The moment she noticed me, she straightened and slipped the phone into her bag…"Theo!"I slowed
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-23
Chapter: CHAPTER 71 - QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERSTHEOI turned to look at Lya.She was watching me with a small smile, as though she'd asked an ordinary question and expected an equally ordinary answer.But I couldn't stop thinking about how often she'd brought up my personal life lately.First, she'd asked about my job, the company I worked for, and my boss. Now she wanted to know where I lived.I didn't think I was being unreasonable by finding it strange.“Why are you suddenly so curious about where I live?” I asked.Her smile faltered slightly. “What do you mean?”“You've asked me several questions about my personal life recently. First, you wanted to know about my work, and now you're asking about my house. I'm just wondering why.”Lya studied me for a moment before leaning back in her chair. “I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable.”I waited for her to explain herself, but she didn't. Instead, she gave me a small, almost apologetic smile.“If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. You don't have to.”I wasn't sure what to m
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-22
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 84 - DOS PODEMOS JUGARPOV de NatalieÉl me amaba.Las palabras flotaron en el aire entre nosotros como algo que había dejado caer y esperaba que yo lo recogiera y lo cargara por él. Y cuanto más tiempo se quedaron allí, menos encajaban.Retiré la mano de su cuello de camisa y la dejé caer a un lado. Lo miré bien por primera vez desde que lo había dicho.—¿Amar? —repetí. No era una pregunta. Ni siquiera una declaración—. ¿Amar?Él asintió una vez, lento, como si el movimiento no le costara nada.—Amar —dije otra vez, y luego me reí, y salió lo suficientemente afilado como para que algunas personas en el sendero volvieran la cabeza. —¿Eso es amar? Aiden, tú me *secuestraste*. Me metiste en una casa con una puerta cerrada y a un hombre que no respondía ni una sola de mis preguntas, y te quedaste fuera de mi ventana mientras me bañaba como un fantasma, y nunca se te ocurrió tocar y decir *hola, soy el hombre que ahora te posee*… y ¿eso es amar?Él no se inmutó. Solo me miró con esos ojos firmes, los que tenían
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-11-01
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 83 - AIDEN ROSSPOV de NatalieFinalmente me volví para mirarlo… al hombre detrás de la máscara. El que me había mantenido encerrada en esa casa. Y era él. El mismo hombre que había estado de pie frente a mí ayer mientras me bañaba, los mismos hombros, la misma quietud… y todo este tiempo nunca había visto su cara ni una sola vez.Mi mente se volvió loca, intentando encajar las dos versiones de él: la forma enmascarada en el pasillo y la cara que estaba de pie en el sendero. Y de alguna manera, se negaban a encajar. Podía ser él. Tenía que ser él. Y sin embargo mis pensamientos seguían desviándose, negándose a asentarse en la simple verdad que tenía justo delante de mí.Así que solo permanecí allí, mirando a Aiden Ross. El hombre con el que, por lo que parecía, iba a vivir felizmente para siempre. Y no dije una palabra.Él dejó que el silencio se extendiera un momento entre nosotros, como si quisiera que lo tuviera, y luego se acercó. Despacio, calmado, como hacía con todo. Cuando llegó hasta mí, ext
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-11-01
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 82 - DESENMASCARADOPOV de NatalieEn el instante en que la puerta se cerró tras él, abrí los ojos.Había estado acostada en ese colchón delgado durante lo que parecieron horas, mirando el techo y contando las pequeñas grietas en el yeso, como se cuenta ovejas cuando el sueño se niega a llegar. Pero no estaba durmiendo, no de verdad. Mi cuerpo había aprendido a permanecer medio despierta en esta casa, con un oído siempre atento a la puerta, escuchando pasos que nunca se anunciaban… Y esa voz. Su voz.La conocía de alguna parte. Me tiraba de los hilos sueltos del fondo de mi mente, algo familiar que no lograba ubicar del todo, y cuanto más la perseguía, más se escapaba. Venía de la casa de Lucien. Estaba casi segura de ello. La había oído antes, en esos largos pasillos, en los momentos silenciosos en que los sirvientes pasaban junto a mí sin mirarme a los ojos. Pero ¿quién era él? Y más confundido aún, ¿quién era ese otro hombre, el que me había arrastrado de mi propia vida y me había encerrado en esta ha
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-11-01
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 81 - DESCUIDO**POV de Natalie**—¿Jefe? —me pregunté mientras escuchaba esa voz familiar llamando a ese hombre desconocido que me había secuestrado. ¿Quién era él en concreto y por qué su voz me sonaba tan familiar?Esa voz sonaba como la de uno de los hombres de Lucien. Estaba casi segura de ello, porque había escuchado suficiente de ellos hablando en los pasillos de esa casa para saber cómo hablaban: con ese tono plano y cuidadoso, llamando “señor” y “jefe” y “lo manejaremos”, bajando la voz cada vez que pasaban frente a una puerta cerrada, nunca diciendo más de tres palabras cuando dos bastarían. Y ahora estaba llegando a través de un teléfono en una habitación en la que nunca había estado, llamando a alguien “jefe” y esperando una respuesta como si el mundo entero dependiera de ello.Así que tenía algo que ver con mi secuestro. Después de todo.Lucien tenía algo que ver con mi secuestro, o al menos sus hombres. Y honestamente, con Lucien no había mucha diferencia entre él y sus personas, porqu
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-23
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 80 - NO DEBERÍA IMPORTARME**POV de Natalie**El hombre preguntó otra vez, y esta vez su voz bajó a ese tono bajo… “¿Qué estás haciendo cerca del collar de Natalie, Evelyn?”Estaba allí fingiendo que dormía mientras el hombre preguntaba a la criada a la que iba a quitarme el locket, el que mi mamá me había dado.La criada se dio la vuelta tan rápido que casi se le cae la bandeja que llevaba, y por un largo segundo solo se quedó allí tartamudeando, abriendo y cerrando la boca como si las palabras se le atascaran en el pecho y la garganta.Se había quedado paralizada de esa manera específica en la que la gente se pone cuando la han pillado haciendo algo que estaba segura de que nadie estaba mirando, y honestamente, mirándola, yo también empecé a ponerme nerviosa aunque el collar todavía estaba alrededor de mi cuello…—Yo… yo solo… no estaba haciendo nada, señor, solo estaba arreglando la mesa y entonces vi el collar y parecía que se iba a caer, así que iba a ajustar los ganchos, eso es todo, lo juro.—Evelyn. —di
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-23
Chapter: CAPÍTULO 79 - EL LOCKET DE MI MADRE**POV de Natalie**—¿Qué papeles estaba hablando de?La pregunta se me asentó en el pecho como una piedra mientras yacía allí, mirando la parte interior de mis propios párpados. ¿Qué tipo de papeles estaban discutiendo, y qué tenía que ver todo con mañana? Los papeles significaban algo oficial. Los papeles significaban firmas. Los papeles significaban que lo que él había planeado para mí ya no era solo alguna vaga amenaza susurrada en la oscuridad… ya estaba escrito, sellado, hecho real. El estómago se me revolvió solo de pensarlo, pero seguí manteniendo la respiración tranquila, el rostro relajado, interpretando el mismo acto que había estado fingiendo durante lo que parecía toda una vida.La criada asintió. Lo oí más que lo vi, ese rápido movimiento de cabeza como de pajarito que parecía hacer cada vez que él hablaba, como si su cuello no pudiera resistirse a él.—Bien —dijo.Solo una palabra, pero cargada de esa finalidad que siempre tenía, como un sello presionando sobre algo. Lue
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-10-22
Masuk
