LOGINEstelle I had barely stepped foot out of the bathroom, the mud washed from my skin, when Riordan’s hand shot out, snatching my wrist, yanking me forward. My hands flew instinctively to my chest to stop the towel from slipping. My heart pounded at the fate that awaited me. With that grip that could break through steel, Riordan pulled me all the way from the room—not caring that I almost tripped twice—to the west wing. Tears blurred my vision, my chest constricting painfully as I tried to yank my hand from his grip. However, every struggle only fueled his anger as he tightened his grip around my wrist like he wanted to snap it in half. All his men lowered their heads, not daring to look at me with water dripping from my hair to the floor and a towel that was about to fall.“Let me go…” I shouted. Riordan didn’t answer. He was mad. So mad that only fury coated his eyes. The door to his room opened and he pulled me inside, shoving me to the floor. A wince escaped my mouth, as I rub
Estelle When the car slowed as I reached the heavily guarded iron gates with security, fear had clawed up my throat. I had thought that perhaps Riordan had notified them of my disappearance and that was the reason for the sudden halt. The first time I came into the Rogue Kingdom with Riordan, there was nothing like a stop and search. The security wasn’t even this tight. My fingers had tightened around the steering wheel, my pulse flying over the roof, and worse, the persistent voice that kept saying that it was over for me and I was about to be dragged back to Riordan. The fear of being busted almost made me heave up bile. I thought this was my end. Riordan would finally kill me and I would never see my daughter again. However, the security had only bowed his head in reverence, apologizing for the delay. He didn’t even bother to check who was sitting behind the tinted window and had only cleared the way for me to pass. I allowed my fear to get the best of me. I had been so pr
Estelle I sipped my juice slowly, still numb from the earful I’d gotten from my aunt. Where was she even? Had she stormed out of the hall and returned to the pack after our heated argument?I raised my head—in search of her—only for my heartbeat to waver. Why was everyone’s gaze on me? I had been too lost in my thoughts not to notice the number of eyes on me. They stared at me with intense scrutiny—looking at me like they had placed a bounty on my head and doing a silent count-down in their minds. I gulped on fear and juice, swiveling my gaze around in search of him.Riordan. He wasn’t here. Neither was Lara and Eden. A pair of eyes found mine and this time, my heart finally stopped. He patted someone on the shoulders, excusing himself as he downed the rest of his champagne and returned the flute to the server’s tray. Worse, he was strolling in my direction. I could already imagine how the conversation would go. Him telling me that he had just heard about what happened to me
Lara’s P.O.VWith a swipe of my hand, I swept all the makeup products on the sink to the tiled floor, a guttural scream rasping out of my throat asI stomped on the products, crushing them under the soles of my heels. My lower back slumped against the sink as I slid my hands into my hair and let the tears fall. My body trembled with each sob while her cruel words echoed in my mind. As much as I hated to admit it. Estelle was right with everything that she had said about Eden. Two nights ago, I approached Eden’s home office to ask him to join Maeve and me for dinner. I had stumbled on his conversation with that condescending Aunt Danica whom Estelle never kept in check whenever she treated me harshly. She was on her knees before Eden, promising to speak to Estelle. I had expected him to kick her to the ground, saying he wanted nothing more to do with Estelle but what did he do? He slumped on the couch and shamelessly agreed to her condition without even thinking twice or even talkin
Estelle’s P.O.VWhy did it seem like everyone and everything was against me tonight?First it was my aunt, then Maeve’s dad, and now, Lara?I paused for a long minute, considering making a U-turn because I knew that nothing good was going to come out of Lara and me being cramped up in the same space. I’d gone through so much in a single night. I didn’t have the mental capacity to take on more blows. At the same time, she must have learned her lesson. I mean, it was in a way that she averted her gaze quickly and focused on what she was doing. Because the last time we were together in the same space, it didn’t end well for either of us. I drew in a deep breath, walking towards the sink with plans of finishing my business and leaving without even uttering a word to her. A silent mock-scoff aimed at me escaped her lips. I would ignore her. She removed her phone as I caught a glimpse of her face brightening in the mirror. “Oh…” she swiped through the screen. “My baby is calling,”A pho
Estelle’s P.O.VI slammed the door hard behind me, leaning against it, my heart racing hard in my chest as Aunt Danica’s selfish words replayed in my head. I fought back the tears that threatened to slip past my eyelids. How dare she belittle everything I had felt? How could she make it seem like Eden had done nothing when he cheated on me, fucked Lara under the same roof I slept in? On our bed. All the emotions I felt then were raw, real, and still burning alive. I literally caught him with Lara on our wedding’s eve and she labeled it as me overreacting. Like making a mountain out of a molehill. Fresh anger coursed through me all over again, my heart burning as I opened the door—just in time as she turned to it, her hands flying to her chest before she broke into a sigh. “Ellie, I thought you had left…”“The last I checked, you are my dad’s sister, closer to him than I would ever be. You knew him longer than I had, grew up together so if you are that worried about making sure th







