Chapter: Author's NoteIf you made it this far into Zach and Leia's story, then it is safe to say you have reached the end. I have had so much fun writing this book, and being able to share it with all of you has been such an honor. I am so happy that we finished this together, and I'm so thankful for all of you who got to go with Zach, Leia, and the rest of the BATB family. I would like to add some dedications, as well. To my best friends, Josie and Natalie, you guys supported me through this book and I am forever greatful. I love you both so, so much. My parents, who supported my dreams to work on and finish this book. You two are such important figures in my life, and I am forever thankful for you. And to all of my readers, who kept me going. I love you all so much
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-10-04
Chapter: Chapter Twenty-One: The BastardI could only stand there as Leia stormed away, in absolute shock as I tried to process what had just happened. Shock that soon developed into frustration. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I looked down at what she had slammed into my chest. A helmet. I traced the design with my finger, creating an invisible outline along the lightning bolt on the side. Shit. This had to have cost a fortune for her. I looked up to where Leia had disappeared, and something snapped within me. Before I knew what I was doing, I threw the helmet onto the couch without a second glance before running out the door and into the freezing cold weather. "Leia!" I called out to her retreating form. All she was wearing was a thin long-sleeve top and a skirt with nothing else to cover her bare legs and arms. She had to be freezing to the bone by now.She turned at the sound of her name, but her expression turned colder than the snow beneath my feet once she saw who had called it. She turned back around and continu
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-10-04
Chapter: Chapter Twenty: BeautyIt was now December 18th. It had been one month and twenty days since I had broken up with Jacob. Seven weeks and one day since I'd found out he was cheating on me. Fifty days since Zach had beat him up until he was bloody and bruised. Fourteen weekends since my heart had been ripped out of my chest. For a month I had sat in my room, on my bed. It was where I had stayed most of the time. I'd skipped caroling, the baking tradition I shared with my mom, and even most of my family's Christmas shopping and gift-wrapping, my two favorite things about the holidays. I hadn't spoken to Zach since that night. I'd been too mad. Too hurt. No, not hurt. "Hurt" was too small of a word, almost cute sounding. "Aw, did that hurt?" No. It obliterated, demolished, destroyed me. Demoralized, maybe. But no, it didn't hurt me. It didn't "hurt" me at all. Zach had pretended nothing happened. He never talked about it. In fact, he hadn't talked to me at all. Not a single taunt or tease. No pulling my hai
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-10-02
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen: The Bastard My focus rotated between my phone and Leia as she paced the room while waiting for her asshole of a boyfriend to pick up the Goddamn phone. I had been this close to saying he had been talking to some chick at the party, just to make the situation worse for him. But, I knew that would've hurt Leia more than she needed to be hurt. The click of the line connecting seemed to echo throughout the room, followed by the disgusting sound of Jake's voice. "Hello?" Leia took a deep breath before speaking. "Hey, Jake," she said. Her tone held no warmth, but it wasn't ice cold either. "How are you?" I don't think Leia realized that her phone was on speaker. Unless she knew and wanted me to hear the exchange between the two of them. "I'm alright, just tired. How're you, baby?" I cringed internally. Baby? Give me a fucking break. He was already cringey enough with his sappy bullshit. The nicknames didn't need to be included in the package. "I'm fine." She kept her tone neutral. It wasn't
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-09-23
Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: BeautyI woke up the next morning with the worst headache I had ever felt pounding in my temples like a drilling machine. I groaned and sat up, holding my hand to my head. The last thing I remembered was going to the party last night, Zach talking to me and walking away, and... that was it. No snippets of anything from last night, no fragments, nothing. I looked around my surroundings to make sure I wasn't in some other guy's room. Thankfully, I was in my own room. The one that I shared with... Zach. My eyes widened, and I quickly checked myself under the covers. I was still in my skirt and blouse from last night. The only things removed from my body were my shoes. Zach hadn't touched me. Zach Turploy, who had fucked nearly half of the girls at our school and flirted with the rest, had the perfect opportunity to take me. And he hadn't. I sat up slowly, not wanting my head to literally explode from the pressure of my headache, and swung my legs over the side of my bed. I walked over to m
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-09-17
Chapter: Chapter Seventeen: The Bastard I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's not Leia's fault, and she didn't know anything. She didn't know my history with that scene in that fucking drawing. I sighed and rubbed my face as I walked down the hall, away from the door that I had walked out of after yelling at Leia. The sound of the slamming impact of the door echoed throughout my head as I made my way to the elevator, replaying not only the sound but the events that had happened before. The guilt made me feel like three tons of lead were sitting in my stomach, and it stuck with me as I pressed the button to send the elevator to the first floor and stepped out into the main lobby. I felt a buzz in my pocket and pulled my phone out to see the notification.Marcus: Yo, there's a party in the pool house rn. Get your ass over here. I heavily sighed as I read the text. I really didn't feel like going out. Especially not after what had just happened with Leia. But maybe I needed a distraction, some action, fun. And Marcus
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2024-09-13
Burned Lines
Allison Trainer has grown up surrounded by wealth, privilege, and the prestige of her family’s law firm. The Trainer Law Firm has been a cornerstone of success for generations, strengthened by its close partnership with Darson Law—a relationship that has brought both families fame, fortune, and influence.
But no amount of wealth or status can make Allison tolerate one person: Tristain Darson. The son of her parents’ lifelong friends, Tristain is everything she despises—arrogant, infuriating, and seemingly intent on pushing every button she has. Their rivalry is fueled by endless arguments, sharp words, and an unspoken competition neither is willing to back down from.
Then life throws them together in ways neither expects. Trapped in the same world of family expectations, high-profile events, and business dealings, Allison and Tristain are forced to confront the one truth they’ve been trying to ignore: the line between hate and desire is thinner than they ever imagined.
Baca
Chapter: Chapter Nine: TristainThe kiss detonated between us—hot, reckless, and inevitable. Her lips were soft and unguarded, a cruel contrast to the way she met me stroke for stroke, refusing to yield. It felt like coming home and committing a sin all at once. Her taste lodged itself into me, threaded through my veins, and I knew—instantly and irrevocably—that there would be no forgetting this. Or stopping it. My hand slid from her neck into her hair, fingers tightening as I angled her head, deepening the kiss until the world narrowed to heat and breath and the quiet, broken sound she made against my mouth. It still wasn’t enough. Nothing about her would ever be enough. She wasn’t something to satisfy—she was something to unravel for. I didn’t just want her. I wanted to undo her. To leave my mark so deeply that even when she hated me, she’d still feel me there. I wanted to be the thing she fought against and the thing she reached for when everything else fell apart. The thought terrified me as much as it consumed
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-20
Chapter: Chapter Eight: TristainMy GPS chimed softly as I rolled to a stop, the Ducati purring beneath me like it knew exactly what kind of mood I was in. I slid into a handicapped spot directly in front of the mall.I wouldn’t be here long.I cut the ignition and flipped the plate up before swinging off the bike and striding toward the entrance. Helmet stayed on. No face, no name—just intent. I didn’t need mall security remembering me if I had to come back later.Whether to rearrange someone’s face…or buy Ally something nice.The thought irritated me more than it should’ve.I didn’t understand why I was this infuriated. Ally wasn’t mine. She wasn’t property. I had no claim, no right to dictate who talked to her or who asked her out. And yet—when that name had flashed across my alert, something ugly and possessive had sparked deep in my chest.Maybe that was why I’d installed the restrictions.Control.The realization sat heavy, unsettling. Ever since that night, something inside me had cracked open, reshaped itself
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-03-10
Chapter: Chapter Six: TristainI worked the kitchen with mechanical ease, a dish towel slung loosely over my shoulder as I flipped the chicken in the pan, the oil snapping beneath the spatula. With my other hand, I stirred the pot of spaghetti, steam curling upward in slow, lazy spirals. The room smelled like garlic and heat—too warm, too domestic.Soft footsteps sounded behind me.“Look who finally crawled out of her fantasy world,” I said, not bothering to turn, a faint smirk edging into my voice.“Shut the hell up,” Ally snapped.I glanced over my shoulder. Her red hair was a mess of careless waves, her cheeks flushed like she’d been wound just a little too tight, and her emerald eyes sparked with irritation. She crossed the room and dropped into a chair, thumbs already flying over her phone screen.“Screenager,” I muttered, shaking my head as I turned back to the stove.I felt her glare like a physical thing pressing between my shoulder blades.“The fuck did you just say?” she demanded.I bit the inside of my c
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-02-02
Chapter: Chapter Five: AllyI sauntered down the stairs the next morning—and immediately wished I hadn’t.Tristain stood in the dining room, back half-turned, methodically adjusting the cuffs of a black dress shirt like he belonged in some tailored fantasy instead of my personal nightmare. My stomach did an annoying, traitorous little flip.A sliver of a long tattoo peeked out from beneath his rolled sleeves, immediately making me curious as to what it was.He looked exactly like how I imagined Alex Volkov in—No.Absolutely not.Get your shit together, Ally.I scowled at myself for even letting the comparison surface. He wasn’t fictional. He wasn’t charming. He was infuriating. Period.As if sensing my stare, he glanced over his shoulder. Dark hair fell lazily across those icy eyes, and—God help me—the faintest smirk tugged at his mouth.Oh. My. God.Snap out of it, Allison Trainer, I ordered myself, fighting the urge to physically shake the thoughts loose.“Good morning to you, too, Frosty,” he said, his voice
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-21
Chapter: Chapter Four: Tristain“TRISTAIN!”I nearly dropped my controller, the shout ricocheting off the walls. Surprise flickered for half a second before it flipped into smug satisfaction. Ah… so that’s what had her worked up. Her most prized possession, apparently, was missing.I heard her before I saw her—the furious stomp of her feet down the stairs, heavy breaths puffing out between gritted teeth, and a low, almost imperceptible growl that made me grin from ear to ear.“Yes, Princess?” I drawled, feigning innocence, my voice just dripping with mock courtesy.She appeared in the doorway, and I nearly lost it. Hair wild and tangled, cheeks flushed pink, one sock mysteriously gone—she looked like chaos personified. But, of course, she had to be distracting; her tank top had ridden up more than modesty would allow, revealing a sliver of skin that made me choke back a groan. I forced myself to keep a poker face.“Where. Is. My. Charger?” she spat, each word punctuated with fury.I tilted my head innocently. “Your
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-04
Chapter: Chapter Three: AllyThat morning arrived like an enemy—too soon, too loud, and completely against my will. I wasn’t ready. I don’t think anyone could ever be ready for being shipped off to live with their nemesis, but my parents seemed determined to test the limits of human suffering.They claimed staying at the Darson estate would provide a “fresh environment” and “new opportunities.”Sure. If by “opportunities” they meant a front-row seat to my own personal hell.I sat rigidly in the back seat of the Volvo, clutching my overnight bag like it was a life raft and I was five minutes from drowning. Every mile we drove toward the Darson mansion felt like a countdown—tick, tick, tick—to my doom.I kept scrolling through my phone, pretending like if I focused hard enough on Instagram reels, I could manifest myself into a different universe. One where my parents weren’t handing me over to the devil with dimples.“Honey, it won’t be so bad,” my mom said gently, catching my gaze in the rearview mirror. Her hopef
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-12-19
Masuk
