LOGINARIELLA Asher stayed there for a moment, standing between my legs as he looked down at me like he still couldn’t quite believe I was real. And maybe that was ridiculous considering everything we had already been through together, but there was something about the way he looked at me lately that f
ARIELLA The room was still dark, the faintest hint of early morning barely touching the curtains, and for a second I was too lost in the feeling of him even to think properly. By the time he finally pulled back, I was breathing hard, completely flushed, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I tri
ARIELLA "What do you mean?" “Tonight..... My mother humiliated me in front of everyone. Creating problems for you publicly... in front of everyone.” I looked away from him. “I know how these people are. I know how they talk and you have a reputation to uphold. I am supposed to....” Asher's enti
ARIELLA My voice cracked completely after that. “She is my mother." I began, trying to hold it together. "She's the only relative I have left, the only parent I have left, and I know my dad loved her. And as much as my mom was... that to me...” I swallowed painfully. “She was there for my father.
ARIELLA Leon had been a very welcome, loving, and warm distraction from all the emotions and the pain I was fighting inside. He had occupied my mind when I helped him to bed, when I read him a story, and when he fell asleep and I just sat there on his bed, watching him sleep, seeing him taking in
ARIELLA Asher helped me into the car carefully, like I might shatter if he moved too fast. The second I sat down, he followed after me, pulling the door shut behind him before anyone else could touch it. Outside, I could still see movement near the ballroom entrance. Men collecting phones and Guar
This was different. This seemed serious. When I stepped inside, my mother was already there, standing beside him. My father was seated in his chair, his face tired, and worn down. My mother, on the other hand, was practically beaming. Two completely different reactions. Unease brewed inside me. T
His grip tightened. With each struggle, with each desperate attempt to push him away, his fingers pressed deeper into my throat. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, and I realized— I was going to die. Here. Like this. Beneath him. Panic seized me. I couldn’t die. I couldn’t. Leon—he needed me.
ARIELLA After getting dressed, I glanced once toward the bathroom door. The water was still running. For a brief second, I considered walking in, wrapping my arms around him again, just to reassure myself he was still here. But I didn’t. If I started doing that every time fear crept in, I would ne
ASHER They all looked at me, a little surprised. “We don’t go in through the main boarding entrance anymore.” Luca leaned forward slightly. “Side entrance?” I tapped my finger toward the screen once, thinking it over. “Yes.” I decided “The left or the right?” “The left. You know I can never t







