LOGINMIKA WAYNEI could remember exactly what orbited my mind the first time I laid eyes on her.Tiffany Reese.Simple. Sullen. Sweet.There was an innocence about her that instantly seeped through me. Like seeing Cinderella or Rapunzel for the first time. That epitome of perfection you couldn't help but admire because it was absent in you.Tsk.The more I thought about it, the more corny it sounded. Painting a picture of someone I'd barely even met. Barely even knew...So maybe... just maybe... I did a little more research on her.Straight-A Student.Literature Major.Simple Family.As if she couldn't get any more perfect.But, and there was always a but, was there a chance that this little Rapunzel wasn't as stainless as I believed?“What are you doing here?” she said between clenched teeth.A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.“I work here. Isn't that obvious?”Her hands clenched into fists. Her breathing turned so ragged I could almost hear it.Interesting.“Don't tell me you're st
Chapter 249TIFFANYWhat was the best thing to wear to make a good first impression on your first day of work?I asked myself that at least twelve times before the mirror finally stopped arguing with me.Not too soft. Not too eager. Not anything that made me look like a girl playing office. I needed to look like I belonged in a building where people spoke in schedules and signatures. Dark tailored trousers. A cream blouse that sat clean at the throat. Heels high enough to matter without looking like I was trying too hard. I pinned my hair back, then took half of it down again, then settled on something in between strict and approachable.First days were theatre, and I refused to walk into Theo’s world underdressed for the role.I cross-checked my outfit for the umpteenth time until the horn from outside suddenly cut through.I crossed to the window and pushed the curtain aside. A sleek black car waited at the curb, polished enough to reflect the morning sky. For a second, something br
TIFFANYWhat was the best thing to wear to make a good first impression on your first day of work?I asked myself that at least twelve times before the mirror finally stopped arguing with me.Not too soft. Not too eager. Not anything that made me look like a girl playing office. I needed to look like I belonged in a building where people spoke in schedules and signatures. Dark tailored trousers. A cream blouse that sat clean at the throat. Heels high enough to matter without looking like I was trying too hard. I pinned my hair back, then took half of it down again, then settled on something in between strict and approachable.First days were theatre, and I refused to walk into Theo’s world underdressed for the role.I cross-checked my outfit for the umpteenth time until the horn from outside suddenly cut through.I crossed to the window and pushed the curtain aside. A sleek black car waited at the curb, polished enough to reflect the morning sky. For a second, something bright and stu
ADRIANWell, maybe I was an asshole.Because I didn't say a thing after that stupid slip. And, unsurprisingly, Julia left in a haze.No slammed door. No final speech. Just the sound of her picking her clothes up off my floor, the quiet of a woman rewriting every soft thought she’d walked in with, and then… nothing.I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time after that, phone in my hand, her name still near the top of my recent calls like that meant anything useful. I thought about ringing her. Once. Twice. My thumb never made it to the button.What was I going to say?Sorry I used you to drown out another girl? Sorry her name came out when it was your body under me?I couldn’t even explain it to myself. Or rather, I could, and that was worse. So I kept telling myself I didn’t understand. That it was shock. Timing. A stupid slip with no meaning attached.It still left me fucked.I dragged on a shirt, pushed a hand through my hair, and went downstairs because staying in that room m
TESSAI’d been counting the hours by the way the light moved across Rebecca’s floor.Not because I cared about her house, but because counting made the dependence feel less absolute. Morning against the far wall. Noon over the glass coffee table. Late afternoon stretching toward the doorway I wasn’t supposed to use without help.Help. Everyday for the past fucking monthThe word alone made my jaw ache.Still, I'd endured the bitter taste of it. Ensured it for the past fucking month.Brian had left me here like a package with instructions. Keep her off the headlines. Keep Liam from finding a clean route back to her. Let her recover. As if recovery was something you could store in a spare room and check on between more important crimes. Surpsingly, Rebecca agreed, which somehow made it worse. She hadn’t agreed out of softness. That alone was clear. After all, I was a problem that belonged to the same bloodline that had already taken enough from her.I hated that I needed her.I ha
ADRIANIt’s one thing to see your half-brother’s girlfriend naked and doing it in her room. It’s another thing when she walks into the bathroom with no explanation and sees you naked too.That second version doesn’t leave cleanly.It sticks.Matter of fact, both of them stuck.All through the rest of the day, it stuck. In the locker room. On the ride back. In the quiet of a house that suddenly felt too small for the amount of people living in it. Every time I closed my eyes, I got the same useless replay: steam, the door opening, Bianca frozen on the threshold like she’d walked into a mistake she couldn’t unread.And then I started imagining it.Imagining her. What would I have done if she walked in—Fuck. Stop.I needed it gone.Not managed. Not reasoned through. Gone.So… I did something I knew I'd end up regretting eventually. I called Julia.She picked up on the second ring, voice already warmer than it should have been after the way we left things before the game.“Oh. So







