Novels by Liptu

"Jessica, go home. You look like a beautiful, highly stressed ghost," my father said, gently squeezing my shoulders in the quiet hospital corridor.The doctor had just announced that only one relative was permitted to stay in the ICU overnight while they prepared Henrietta for her surgery tomorrow, and my father had immediately volunteered to hold down the fort."Dad, I don't want to leave," I protested, my eyes darting toward the doors of Room 408. "What if something happens during the night? What if..""Nothing is going to happen," Noah interrupted softly, offering a tired, reassuring smile. "I'm going to sit right in that uncomfortable plastic chair, drink terrible hospital coffee, and make sure she stays breathing. You and Aaron have been flying across the globe for hours. Go home, get some sleep, and come back first thing in the morning."I had a million questions burning a hole through my tongue. I wanted to ask him why he never told me about Henrietta's diagnosis. I wanted to a

"We are going to have to perform emergency surgery on her immediately," the doctor’s voice echoed, sounding like it was traveling through a mile of murky water.My head began to spin slowly. The white walls of the hospital room tilted at an unnatural forty-five-degree angle, the loud *beep... beep... beep* of the heart monitor fading into total silence.Suddenly, the memories hit me like an avalanche. Every insult. Every sharp, venomous word I had hurled at her. I remembered calling her a selfish, shallow bitch who only showed up on my father's birthday to flaunt her designer clothes before abandoning us again. I remembered the way Henrietta had looked at me that day,her eyes heavy with an unreadable, tragic sorrow as she whispered: *"Don't speak on things you know nothing about, Jessica."**She didn't abandon us for Vogue,* my brain screamed as my knees buckled completely beneath me. *She left so we wouldn't have to watch her rot from the inside out for seventeen years.*I felt like

I stood outside the door of Room 408, my hand resting on the cold metal handle, while a chaotic storm of memories battered the inside of my brain.*Why are we even here?* I thought, a bitter taste rising in the back of my throat. *Why does my father care so much about a woman who abandoned us when I was barely out of diapers just to chase runway lights in Milan?*I still vividly remembered being a desperate, crying five-year-old, wrapping my tiny arms around her designer suitcase, begging her with all my little heart not to go. And I remembered the cold way she had peeled my fingers off her coat, kissed my forehead like an acquaintance saying goodbye at a bus stop, and walked out of our lives.The only time she ever reappeared was on my father’s last birthday,just long enough to drop off an overpriced, impersonal gift before jetting off to her next career-defining photoshoot like a glamorous ghost.And yet... as I pushed the door open with Aaron right by my side, the sight of her hit

The private jet was gliding through the clouds at thirty thousand feet, but the atmosphere inside the cabin was lower than zero.Emilian was nowhere to be seen,having packed her bags and slunk back to her own life before I even made it back from Nicholas’s fortress. So it was just me, my dark-suited husband, and a sleek leather interior that felt entirely like a flying interrogation chamber.Did I care? Absolutely not.I was sprawled out across the plush ivory leather seats, my legs crossed, completely absorbed in my phone screen. I had my front-facing camera open, tilting my head at a thirty-degree angle, catching the golden sunset streaming through the oval jet window.CLICK.I struck a pouty, effortlessly gorgeous pose.CLICK.I shifted, letting my hair fall over one shoulder, holding up two fingers in a peace sign.CLICK.Right across the aisle, sitting in a leather armchair with a glass of scotch clutched in his hand, Aaron was staring at me. His jaw was clenched so tight I cou

"I never used you," I continued softly, stroking his cheek with my thumb. "I have wanted you since the exact second you saved me from Chantal at the pizza café. I lied about being single because the moment I set eyes on those blue eyes of yours, I honestly didn't want to be married anymore! You are what I call the ultimate upgrade. And even when I go back to California... I am going to be thinking about you every single day, and I promise you I will find a way to sneak back into Paris."The heartbreak in Nicholas's eyes slowly melted away, replaced by a radiant, dazzling warmth that made my chest swell.He leaned down, pressing a soft, reverent kiss against my forehead. "You promise?""I swear on my vintage silk wardrobe," I smiled.He climbed into the tub beside me, and for the next thirty minutes, he bathed me as gently as if I were made of fragile glass, washing my hair, massaging my sore shoulders, and making me laugh until my stomach ached.When it was finally time to say goodbye

"Where in the living hell are you?!" Aaron’s voice slammed through the speaker like a crack of thunder, vibrating the tiny microphone in my palm.I didn't flinch. I sat there on the floor of Nicholas's sunlit bedroom, naked, sweaty, utterly wrecked, and feeling like an absolute queen."Oh, good afternoon, husband dearest," I drawled into the phone, my voice dripping with lazy, post-coital satisfaction. "Did you wake up and realize your plastic doll doesn't know how to boil water, or did you just miss the sound of my voice?""Jessica, I am giving you ten seconds to tell me your exact coordinates before I track this cell signal and pull you back here myself," Aaron snarled, the sound of papers rustling violently in the background echoing through the line. "Reed is outside your door right now.""Tell Reed to go get a croissant and take a nap, his blood pressure is already sky-high," I chuckled, tossing my hair over my shoulder. "I'm out enjoying Paris, Aaron. You know, that beautiful cit