로그인***~~ZARA~~***I knew Dante was going to try his hardest to talk to me, but I wasn’t buying anything he was saying because I was still angry.I needed him to understand in a language impossible to misread, that this kind of thing should not keep happening: the silent treatment, the unilateral decisions, all of it.I needed it to register properly this time.So I sat with my drink, adjusted my shoulders, and kept my eyes forward.And then my head started spinning.Not dramatically, not in a way that anyone around me would have noticed, just a low, unsettling dizziness that moved through me in slow waves, the kind that makes you go still, wondering if it will pass or get worse.I could not explain it or trace it back to anything specific. I hadn’t had enough to drink for that, hadn’t skipped a meal, wasn’t particularly overheated.I just felt off.I was in the middle of trying to decide whether to say something about it when the sound of glass hitting the floor cut clean through the r
***~~DANTE~~***Let me tell you something about seeing your wife walk through a crowd of hundreds and feeling your entire chest shift.That’s not something you plan for, it’s not something you brace yourself against, it just happens, and it happened to me the moment Zara came through those doors and moved through the red carpet like the room had been waiting specifically for her arrival and had only just realised it.I had been standing near the entrance when I saw her, and I genuinely needed a second — just one — because she looked that good, the kind of good that short-circuits whatever you were thinking about before and replaces it completely.I stood there and watched her move through the crowd with a particular composure she had when she knew exactly what she looked like.Every single rational thought I had about the tension between us dissolved somewhere between the moment I spotted her and the moment she looked up and found my eyes across the room.I wanted to walk straight o
***~~ZARA~~***The MC’s voice filled the entire hall like he’d been waiting all evening for this exact moment. “It’s right about time, ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome the CEO of Wright Holdings Company to give us the opening speech.”Immediately the room responded the way it does when the most important name in the building gets called. A specific stillness that only real power manages to produce without even requesting it.I watched Dante from where I stood.He adjusted his suit once, just one smooth pull at the lapel, then his expression settled into a composed, locked-in look he always wore whenever he was about to step in front of a crowd.Then without a single word or backward glance, he was already moving, cutting through the parting crowd with a long, unhurried stride that somehow managed to feel both relaxed and intentional at the same time.Every step landed with quiet authority, making people step back and watch without fully understanding why.He stepped up under the
***~~ZARA~~***We pulled up to the venue at 8:05 p.m., and I want you to understand that when I say everywhere was already packed, I mean the kind of packed place where you sit in your car for a second just absorbing the energy before you even open the door.Paparazzi lined up along the carpet, reporters with microphones and cameras, guests arriving in clothes that clearly cost more than most people’s rent.The whole thing was buzzing with a particular electric energy that only happens when rich people gather in one place and everyone is trying to outdo everyone else without looking like they’re trying.I scanned the area from inside the car, just taking stock, and that’s when I spotted Dante’s car parked nearby and felt something shift in my chest.He was already inside, which meant he had walked past the red carpet, past the photographers and the entire entrance, without waiting for me, his wife, the person he was supposed to walk in with tonight.I just sat there for a second, le
***~~ZARA~~***6:58 p.m., and we were finally done.I’m telling you, I stood in front of that mirror and needed a second — just one quiet second — to process what I was looking at because Julia had done something to both our faces that I did not have the vocabulary to describe properly.It was that level of stunning, the kind where you keep turning your head at different angles to make sure you’re seeing it right, and every angle keeps confirming, yes, this is real, you actually look like this.I turned my head slightly toward my mom, slow enough that she could see the full makeup, and I watched her expression shift in real time.Her expression right there told me what I wanted to know because my mom does not fake reactions. She never has. If she’s not impressed, she’ll find a diplomatic way to say so, and if she is, you’ll know it immediately.She was impressed.I turned back to the mirror.The gown my mom had brought was a structured dual-tone dress in black and burnished gold.I
***~~ZARA~~***I stared at that screen for a solid few seconds.A caller ID at four in the afternoon on a day that already had enough going on felt like a personal attack on my nerves.I picked up anyway, kept quiet, and waited — because if you called me from a hidden number, the least you could do was speak first.“Zara, hi.”Julia’s voice came through, and I felt the tension in my shoulders drop about three inches immediately.“Hi, Julia,” I answered, relaxing back slightly. “And why was your caller ID hidden? You nearly gave me a full moment of anxiety just now.”She laughed, and there was movement on her end like she was already multitasking. “I’m on Ethan’s phone. You know how he is about his privacy settings — the guy treats his devices like classified government property.”I laughed at that.My mom looked up from across the room with raised brows, silently asking me what was funny. I waved my hand at her in that universal signal for ‘I will explain later’.She accepted it and
***~~DANTE~~***"You're very stupid for even saying that out loud," Mr Henry snapped viciously, glaring at Adrian with pure hatred. "Do you want to bring public shame on my daughter by standing here denying this in front of everyone?""That's enough Adrian, what exactly do you have to say about t
***~~ZARA~~***I grabbed my phone and headed downstairs toward the pool area.I needed to get away from him and clear my head.When I got to the pool area, the evening air blew on my face, and I could see the water reflecting the orange sky.I pulled off Dante's t-shirt and I was left with just m
***~~DANTE~~***When Dahlia's father shouted my name across the compound, his voice echoed off the mansion walls.I immediately turned to look at Zara, who had confusion written all over her face. She looked just as lost as I was.Her eyebrows scrunched together in that cute way they do when she'
***~~ZARA~~***I rushed through the hallway with its fluorescent lights and rows of lockers.My shoes clicked against the tiled floor, and I barely made it to the exam hall before the exam officer walked in carrying a stack of papers and announced we'd be starting our exams immediately, which was







