Chapter: Chapter sixty four: What They Wanted All Along The dress Logan had chosen for me was pale gray, high at the neck, cut to say nothing at all. I stood in front of the mirror while Claire fixed a final pin into my hair and thought that even the color had been decided for me. Nothing bright enough to draw a camera’s eye away from Logan. Nothing dark enough to look like mourning. Just soft. Neutral. Forgettable. “You look lovely, Ms. Davies.” “Thank you.” There was nothing else to say to a woman paid to make sure I looked exactly the way someone else wanted me to. Claire stepped back as the door opened behind us. Logan stood in the doorway in a dark suit, his expression already arranged into the particular calm he wore for cameras. His eyes moved over me once before settling on my face. He didn’t comment on the dress. He simply held out his arm. “You look beautiful. When we get there, the photographs will take ten minutes,” he said. “After that, you can stay wherever you’re comfortable, but I won’t leave you alone with
Last Updated: 2026-11-03
Chapter: Chapter sixty three :The break I have been agitated throughout the night about getting caught but seems like I was getting worked up over nothing. The next day, the front door opened as I heard Logan walk in. He was slower than usual. I looked up from the book resting open on my lap as he crossed the entryway. He had come home alone, still wearing the dark clothes from his meeting, his expression unreadable. Usually, Logan carried the energy of whatever room he had just left with him. Meetings left him sharp. Games left him tense. Even bad news seemed to settle somewhere beneath his skin, making every movement deliberate. Today, there was nothing. No visible irritation. No exhaustion. Just stillness. He set his keys on the console. Claire appeared from the kitchen, to give him a daily feedback for babysitting me. Logan nodded once as his eyes moved to me and stopped. Something in my chest tightened. He didn’t ask how I was feeling. He didn’t comment on my ankle or the unfinished tea beside me. He simply
Last Updated: 2026-11-01
Chapter: Chapter sixty two: What’s Left of Me Logan left early for a morning meeting with the foundation board. Claire was occupied with a delivery at the service entrance, and the night nurse had already gone off shift. For a short window, the main floor was still in a way that felt usable. I waited until I heard the service door close. Then I went upstairs. Logan’s office door was unlocked. That was the first surprise. The second was how ordinary the room looked in daylight. Clean desk. Two monitors. Shelves lined with neatly arranged files. A single framed photograph of the ice turned face-down on a shelf. Nothing screamed secret. Nothing looked dangerous. That somehow made it worse. I closed the door behind me and stood still for a moment, listening when I heard nothing I crossed the room. The computer woke with a touch. Password. My pulse picked up. I tried the password Logan used for the household tablet. It worked. I almost laughed—not because it was funny, but because for a man who controlled everything, he ha
Last Updated: 2026-10-31
Chapter: Chapter sixty-one: What He Didn’t Say The house had been quiet all afternoon, but something about it felt different. I couldn’t explain it at first. Claire was going through her usual routine. Nothing had changed that I could see, but I was getting this weird feeling. Then I noticed the tablet on the kitchen counter. Claire had left it there while she took a delivery at the door. The screen was still on, open to a shared household calendar I had never been shown. I almost walked past it. Most of the entries were ordinary—practice times, medical follow-ups, the night nurse’s shifts. Then I saw one near the end of the week. McAllister Foundation — Sponsor Dinner
Attendance: Logan McAllister and Lena Daniels
Note: Joint arrival. Brief photo line. Approved talking points attached. I read it once. Then again. My fingers tightened around the edge of the counter. Joint arrival.
With Lena.
Approved talking points. The side door closed behind Claire. Her footsteps moved back toward the kitchen. I locked the tablet
Last Updated: 2026-09-04
Chapter: Chapter sixty: The Ultimatum I knew something was wrong when Claire stopped smiling. She stood in the doorway of the living room, one hand still resting on the handle, her usual professional calm strained around the edges. “Mr. McAllister’s parents are here.” The words settled heavily in the room. Logan was in somewhere in the house. I was currently sitting on the sofa with a book open on my lap and my ankle elevated. He appeared a moment later. His expression changed the instant he saw his parents. “Let them in.” Victor and Elena McAllister entered like people who had never needed permission to cross a threshold. Victor was tall, silver at the temples, his gray eyes carrying the same cold intensity as Logan’s. Elena looked perfectly composed in a cream suit, not a strand of her hair out of place. They both looked at me first. Then at Logan. “You’re looking much better,” Elena said. “I am.” “We were so worried about you.” “I’m fine.” Victor’s gaze moved briefly around the room before
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter fifty-nine: After The suite stayed quiet for the rest of the game. Claire didn’t leave again. The guard remained outside. Below us, Logan played like the ice belonged to him. He denied another breakaway, smothered a scramble against the post, and held the one-goal lead until the final horn sent the arena into a rolling roar. I watched him raise his glove once in acknowledgment before skating off. He never looked toward the suite. By the time they walked me through the private corridors, the main concourse was already filling with people. We left through the same entrance we had used earlier. No cameras reached us. The car was waiting. Logan came home almost two hours later. He walked in wearing a dark team hoodie, his hair still damp from the shower at the arena. The sharpness of the game hadn’t completely left him. His shoulders were tense, his expression focused, his movements slower than usual with exhaustion. He set his keys down. His eyes found me immediately. I was curled into the cor
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter 30: The Forgery UncoveredThe digital dragnet Roman has cast over my life closes in with terrifying efficiency.By the following afternoon, every breath I take inside Apartment 3B feels monitored. I can’t cross the hardwood floor without wondering whether someone is watching through a hidden camera or listening through a device I haven’t discovered.When I glance through the kitchen window, Declan’s black sedan is parked across the street. Its tinted windshield faces my apartment like a blind, unblinking eye.I step away from the window.He’s watching me.Perhaps not every second, but enough to make me question every movement. I haven’t received any calls from Roman’s people, and no one has come knocking, yet the silence feels more threatening than an open confrontation.I sit at the kitchen table, staring at a mug of cold tea I haven’t touched. My fingers drift toward my lower abdomen before I catch myself and pull them away.He suspects something.He doesn’t have confirmation yet, but Roman Sterling isn’t a
Last Updated: 2026-11-05
Chapter: Chapter 29 For one terrible moment, I forget how to breathe. Roman’s fingers remain wrapped around my wrist. His eyes search mine with a focus that makes every excuse I’ve prepared feel useless. “I’m not hiding anything,” I manage. “Then look me in the eye and tell me what’s wrong.” “I’m exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping properly, and I barely have an appetite. Is that what you want to hear?” He studies me. “A stomach bug,” I blurt out. “That’s all it is.” Roman’s gaze sharpens. “And that explains why the smell of wine makes you sick?” “I told you I’m not feeling well!” My voice cracks on the last word. I hate that he hears it. I hate that he notices everything. Roman releases my wrist, but he doesn’t step away. His eyes narrow as he works through the possibilities. I can almost see the pieces moving behind them, each detail being weighed against the others. My sudden withdrawal. The nausea. My refusal to drink. The way I keep protecting my stomach. I don’t know which detail
Last Updated: 2026-10-21
Chapter: Chapter 28It’s been three days since Aiden left and has refused to take my calls or reply to my texts I barely leave the armchair in the corner of my bedroom. The apartment feels too large without him, every room stripped of the warmth he used to bring simply by walking into it. Even the smallest sounds seem to remind me of what’s missing. Every morning, Lena brings me a glass of water and dry toast. She hovers nearby with sympathetic murmurs, smooths my blankets, and reminds me how fortunate I am to have her looking after me while everything else falls apart. She plays the concerned sister perfectly. I almost admire her for it. I don’t tell her about the nausea that greets me every morning. I don’t tell her about the prenatal vitamins I’ve been secretly taking. And whenever she’s in the room, I keep my hands folded tightly in my lap, terrified that even the smallest instinctive gesture—a hand drifting toward my lower abdomen—might expose the secret I’m desperate to protect. My pregnancy
Last Updated: 2026-10-21
Chapter: Chapter 27Sunny By the time I return to the apartment, my hands are trembling. I close the door behind me and lean against it, trying to slow my breathing. Then I notice Aiden’s jacket draped over the back of a chair. He must have come back while I was out. For one hopeful moment, I imagine him waiting in the bedroom, ready to hear me out. I hurry down the hall. The bedroom is empty. I turn back toward the living room, and something catches my eye near the jacket pocket. A diamond pendant. I stop. The stone glitters beneath the ceiling light, unmistakable in its expensive simplicity. I’ve seen Roman wear something similar to it before. Why is it in Aiden’s jacket? I approach slowly and pick it up. The metal feels cold against my palm. A folded piece of paper slips from the pocket and lands on the floor. I bend to retrieve it. The moment I see the handwriting, my breath catches. It looks like mine. The note reads: Thank you for the diamonds, Roman. I’m beginning to see what rea
Last Updated: 2026-10-20
Chapter: Chapter 26SunnyI tell myself that the meeting will give us a chance to talk face-to-face. If I can make him understand that whatever is happening with Roman is not a choice I’ve made, perhaps we can find our way back to each other.I change into a simple dark dress and pull my hair back. Before leaving, I glance toward Lena’s room.Her door is closed.I consider telling her where I’m going, but I don’t want another conversation about Aiden. I know she’ll worry, and I don’t have the energy to explain myself again.I leave a short note saying I’ll be back soon.The evening air is cool when I reach the street beside Roman’s brownstone. His black Maybach is parked near the curb, its polished surface reflecting the nearby streetlights.I look around.“Aiden?”No answer.I check my phone. The message is still there.Maybe he’s running late.I move closer to the building, trying to decide whether I should wait or go home. Then I hear the unmistakable sound of a car door closing.Roman steps out from
Last Updated: 2026-10-19
Chapter: Chapter 25The morning after Aiden leaves without saying goodbye, I can barely bring myself to get out of bed. Gray light slips through the curtains, illuminating the clothes scattered across the chair and the half-empty glass of water on my bedside table. I have spent most of the night staring at my phone, waiting for Aiden to call or send a message explaining why he walked out on me. Nothing. I replay our argument until every word feels carved into my mind. He knows I am hiding something. Worse, he knows I am afraid of something, and I cannot explain why without dragging him into a situation I barely understand myself. A knock sounds at my bedroom door. “Sunny? Are you awake?” Lena. I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand. “Come in.” She pushes the door open, carrying a small plate covered with a napkin. The smell of freshly baked scones reaches me before she does. “I brought breakfast.” “I’m not hungry.” “You say that every time you’re upset.” She places the plate on
Last Updated: 2026-10-18
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