LOGINPearl Johnston fled to California chasing a simple life far from the chaos of her father's motorcycle club and the stepbrother whose dark eyes promised sins she couldn't afford to confess. For two years, she built a safe existence with Ryan. Until Ryan shatters her illusions with a cruel truth: their entire relationship was a lie. Forced back home by her father's death, she has to face Zander daily. He doesn't give her the chance to escape again. He has vowed to stake his claim on her. The journey of finding the truth about her father's death thrusts her in danger and its that time when Pearl realises that the hardest thing is not craving her step brother but loving a man who is willing to burn the world for her.
View More“ Let's break up. You are not the one for me.” The words felt like a hot slap,the weight of them landing on me, crashing my heart into a thousand tiny pieces.
I stared at Ryan,my boyfriend of two years with whom we had finally agreed to get engaged,ready to tie the knot.
“ What?” I chuckled nervously, hoping and praying that he would burst out laughing and tell me that he was only pranking me. But the serious look on Ryan's face told me that this was not the joke I was hoping it was.
“ You heard me Pearl! I don't want this anymore. I don't think I can push through when I don't even love you.”
If the first batch of his words was harsh,I don't know what to call this. After dating for two years and getting my hopes up,what did he mean by he didn’t love me? Was this some kind of a joke or something?
Was everything a lie?
“ Ryan—” I called,my voice breaking.
“ Don't give me that expression,Pearl. I agreed to date you because I thought it was fun to have someone who loves me. But now, I'm tired. I am in love with someone else and I plan to make things official with her.”
My heart trembled and I curled my hands into fists. So this is what everything was about? He was here for some fucking experience, bask in free love while finding his true love? Technically speaking,I was dating myself, fooling myself into thinking that what we had was long-lasting? That it was beautiful and perfect?
My tears threatened to spill but I pushed them back,met his gaze with a weak smile.
“ Alright. Good luck.” I said, stood up, turned around and walked away.
Today was supposed to be perfect. Ryan had called me earlier to meet him at our usual cafe. I dressed up for that damn meeting but now, walking away in my heels,I could not help but mock myself.
Two fucking years! I gave two years of my life to an asshole who didn't deserve it? Everyone around me said that Ryan was not the right man for me. Only I insisted that he was a good man because apparently, I loved him.
Anyone who dared badmouth him ended up getting sidelined with me.
As I walked down the familiar pathway we would walk, holding hands and sharing icecream, a mocking smile curled on my lips.
I thought I had it all, a perfect boyfriend, a happy relationship away from the chaos called my home.
Two years ago, I left New York, my homeplace and ventured to a new city.
I had a simple dream, to live a simple life and find love, probably get married and start a family.
I don't hate New York, I just didn't like how chaotic life was there. Always living on the edge, chasing that adrenaline every day?
That's a life I was never cut for. After college, I chose to relocate. My father, Flinn was against it but eventually, he agreed.
Escaping chaos was one thing, maybe the excuse I used to get away because the real chaos came in the name of Zander, my asshole stepbrother.
He was everything I loathed yet couldn't keep my panties dry around. He was the type of man I could never commit to yet looking at him, he was the perfect object of my darkest imaginations.
His half assed grin, like he could see through me, through every dark and sinful thought I could never admit out loud never ceased to piss me off. I never concealed how I disliked him yet every time he looked at me, I could swear he saw it, that tingling desire to be held in his arms and punished like his little whore.
Coming here helped me keep my mind and lust off him. Then I met Ryan–sweet, charming and handsome of course.
I set my eyes on him and didn't bother being subtle about my interest in him.
Months later, we got together. Everything was going perfect, well, until that damn meeting happened.
After dragging my feet across the streets for what felt like forever, I stood before my small apartment. I fumbled for my keys and unlocked the door, kicking the heels immediately I stepped inside.
I pushed myself forward, my body and mind screaming for a good afternoon nap. You see, one thing I mastered after being my father's daughter is that tears don't look demure on a beautiful face like me.
I have seen and been through so much to cry over an asshole who thinks I am not enough.
If Ryan needed that satisfaction when he announced our breakup,then he will have to wait for his next target.
“ You look like a mess.” A deep familiar voice sounded from across the room. My eyes scanned the area until they landed on him.
Zander fucking Johnston, my stepbrother.
A groan left my lips involuntarily.
“ What the hell are you doing here? This is my house.” I snarled, a scorching glare fixed on his face.
He grinned, that all too familiar annoying but panty dropping, heartbreaking, smile that I know so well.
“ It's our house, technically. Our father owns it.” He fired back.
“ He is my father, not yours.” I snarled. After being raised by my dad all my life, sharing his affection with someone else, a grown ass man at that never felt right.
Exactly four years ago, my father brought home a wife and guess who else, Zander.
He shrugged, seemingly unbothered by my words.
“ I am still waiting for a fucking answer. I made myself clear that I didn't want anything to do with New York so why come here?” I snapped, my annoyance bubbling again.
“ You need to come back home.” Zander announced, his expressions suddenly turning grim.
For a moment,
I am stunned but I manage to recover, ready to lash out.
“ Dad needs you to send him off. He is no more.”
Pearl POVThe room went deadly silent. Reaper swore under his breath.Brick looked like he wanted to disappear.The man’s expression shifted from suspicious to something almost resembling... respect?"Flinn's daughter," he said slowly. "Heard you'd run off to California. What brings you back to this shithole?""My father's funeral," I said coldly. "And finding out who killed him.""And you thought we did it?" He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Sweetheart, if we'd wanted Flinn dead, he would've died years ago. We had an understanding, him and me.""Then who?" I demanded, frustration bleeding through. "Who wanted him dead?"Venom studied me for a long moment. "You really don't know, do you? Flinn kept you in the dark about a lot of things.""Then enlighten me."He shook his head. "That’s not my place. But I'll tell you this for free, you're playing a dangerous game, little girl. Walking into enemy territory, asking questions you're not ready to hear the answers to. You're going
Pearl POVThe bass from the music vibrated through my chest as I stepped into the Viper's Den.It's a rival club's bar. I had no business being here. Vienna would lose her mind if she knew I came here to do the thing she warned me against.And Zander? He would probably lock me in my room like some damsel in distress.But I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for answers to fall into my lap.My father was dead, gunned down like some criminal and I needed to know why.The police had written it off as "gang violence". They always did if one of the bikers got hit. I wasn't going to settle for that. Someone in this world knew what happened to my dad. And if Zander and the rest of the Iron Wolves weren't talking, maybe the Vipers would slip up.I had dressed for the part: tight black jeans that hugged my curves, a leather crop top that showed just enough skin to be distracting and leather boots,the last gift from my dad on my birthday.My long hair fell in loose waves down my back and a l
The words felt like a punch, knocking all the air out of my system. I stared at Zander, really stared at him, waiting for him to grin and say that he was pulling my legs. Then I'd curse him, call him an asshole for making such a dry joke, only that it didn't happen. He didn't grin, his expressions remained hard, his jaws clenched. Then it hit me, the realization that this was not some fucking dry joke or Zander pulling another one of his annoying pranks. I stepped back and shook my head. “ That's impossible! You are fucking lying.” I screamed, unwilling to believe it. Zander's gaze never left me and I could see it, the pain, the grief he had concealed earlier. “ Pearl…” Zander called, taking a step closer. “ Stop!” I screamed. “ Don't come any closer! Don't fucking do it until you tell me you are lying.” The desperation in my voice could not be hidden and the tears I had convinced myself didn't look demure fell. “ I wish I could do that but this is the reality
“ Let's break up. You are not the one for me.” The words felt like a hot slap,the weight of them landing on me, crashing my heart into a thousand tiny pieces. I stared at Ryan,my boyfriend of two years with whom we had finally agreed to get engaged,ready to tie the knot. “ What?” I chuckled nervously, hoping and praying that he would burst out laughing and tell me that he was only pranking me. But the serious look on Ryan's face told me that this was not the joke I was hoping it was. “ You heard me Pearl! I don't want this anymore. I don't think I can push through when I don't even love you.” If the first batch of his words was harsh,I don't know what to call this. After dating for two years and getting my hopes up,what did he mean by he didn’t love me? Was this some kind of a joke or something? Was everything a lie? “ Ryan—” I called,my voice breaking. “ Don't give me that expression,Pearl. I agreed to date you because I thought it was fun to have someone who loves me. But no






Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.