登入DAHLIA'S POVI wake up with a violent start, screaming as if I’ve just been dragged out of a river after drowning.My chest rises sharply as I struggle to breathe properly, my eyes flying around the unfamiliar room while panic grips me instantly.For a second, I don’t recognize where I am. Then the memories rush back all at once.There was a crash.The blood and gunshots…And a woman standing in front of Sunny's wrecked car…Has the organization finally kidnapped me? Is this what they wanted all along? What are they planning to do with me now?Pain shoots from my shoulders straight into my skull and dizziness forces my eyes shut again. When I reopen them seconds later, the entire room spins so badly that it feels like my eyeballs are turning in circles inside my head.My trembling hand lifts to my forehead.A dull sting spreads beneath my fingertips and I realize there’s a bandage wrapped around my head.The room is brightly lit but almost empty. There’s only the narrow bed I’m sittin
WELLINGTON'S POVI fling the door open right into Victoria’s face, then shove her hard against the hallway wall before she can even gasp properly. My fingers clamp around her throat while I pin her head in place, the rage inside me burning too violently to care that she’s struggling beneath my grip.“You want me? Really?” I growl into her face, curling my hand into her hair and yanking her head back. “Or did your mother put you up to this?”“What are you doing? I’ll…”“Call your mother?” I finish for her with a dry laugh. “You’re so pathetic. You know nothing about this cruel world, just hiding behind your mother and letting her control your thoughts like some puppet. If you want me to truly see you, then that has to change. Or maybe you want me to choose Dahlia all the way.”I watch her expression change instantly.Her eyes widen slightly, disbelief flickering inside them the moment she realizes I’m implying she still has a chance with me.“But you already love her.”“I don’t.” The l
DAHLIA'S POV“Please, Dad! Don't let them take Mommy away!”I cling to my father's leg as I watch strange men throw my mother into the back of a black van.I had just returned from school when I saw what was happening. The second the car stopped, I jumped out and ran toward them, hitting their bodies with my tiny fists as hard as I could. My strength is nothing compared to even one grown man, let alone all three of them, so one of them shoves me aside and keeps dragging her away.Even then, she keeps laughing crazily like she enjoys being handled that way.“Dahlia, she's not…” My father suddenly stops himself, then grabs my wrist and starts pulling me toward the house.I fight him hard, twisting and crying as I look back at the van. He doesn't even try to stop them while they slam the doors shut and drive away with her.Even if she acts strange and scary sometimes, she's still my mother.Even if the kids at school laugh at me and say their parents told them she walks around naked at n
WELLINGTON'S POVNow the masters won't know I have any connection to Dahlia, and that way, she's protected. That is the one thing sitting at the back of my head as I slip the ring onto Victoria’s finger with a sly smile on my face.If only she knew what she had signed herself up for, the smile on her face would've disappeared the moment the priest asked me to kiss my bride.“You'll regret ever wanting me,” I whisper into her ear as my lips brush the corner of her mouth.Once the wedding is finalized, Christina insists that I drive them home myself. We are still in the car when I finally ask her how she got the watch. Vicente’s disappearance already points the finger at her, but I need to be sure. I need to at least give the girl the benefit of the doubt before I bury her with the rest of my enemies.“Don't worry about that,” Christina says calmly. “Just know that I am closer than you think, so don't ever believe you can get away from me easily. I've my eyes on you always… and on Dahli
DAHLIA'S POV“I hate to say it, but I told you so!”I can't go back to the penthouse. It's been five days, and I know I shouldn't still be sulking, but I am, and I can't stop myself. Do I really deserve all of this?I even had to turn off my phone although I don't think he'd ever bother calling me. He can easily find me whenever he wishes, so there's no running away. But I need to be myself and pull myself together before facing him again. I can't look this broken in front of a man that will only laugh hard if he realizes that he has such power over me.“And it's not someone else, it is the same people who ruined your life! Jerome was a setup and you fell for him and perfected their script, and now this one has you wrapped around his thumb with that shitty contract and you've even fallen in love with him!”“Fuck, just stop, okay!” I jump to my feet from the toilet where I've been sitting for hours. “Stop it, you're not helping me, Sun. And what the hell? You were the one who told me
WELLINGTON'S POV“It is Christina Shannon.”For a good fifteen seconds, the name keeps repeating in my head for reasons I don’t care to understand. I know exactly who she is, the second wife of Mr. Kanye Shannon, which makes her Dahlia’s stepmother.I had planned to use her daughter, Victoria, to get back at Mr. Shannon for thinking he could trick me into investing in a company that is already dead. And now, the very reason that company is useless is calling me, even after I didn’t go through with my plan?“I don’t know who that is.” I say it flatly, refusing to admit that I’ve studied her file long before I ever agreed to do business with her husband.“You’ll know after you’ve watched the clips I sent you.”Click.The line goes dead while the phone is still pressed against my ear. A few years ago, that click tone would have broken me. I would have been shaking, sweating, maybe even begging, my fear spilling out in ways I couldn’t control. But I’m not that boy anymore. I make people k







