LOGINHe demoted me. Humiliated me. Made my life a living hell. And now, he's claimed me as his. When ruthless billionaire Nathan Bryant bought the company I worked for, I became his favorite target. One day I had a promotion waiting—the next, I was nothing but a data entry clerk beneath his cold, piercing gaze. I should have quit. I should have run away and never looked back. But I couldn't afford to. So I stayed, enduring his cruelty, surviving his games... until the night everything changed. The night he saved me. The night he kissed me like I was the only thing keeping him alive. Now I'm trapped between his arms and his secrets, drowning in a love I never saw coming. There was just one tiny problem: He's the stepbrother of my best friend—the girl who was betrayed by his family. Loving him means losing her forever. And when the war for control turns deadly, I'm caught in the crossfire. But will our love be enough to survive the wreckage? Or will we both burn in the flames of forbidden desire?
View MoreIn a large, dark room of a five-star hotel, the curtain was firmly closed. Dirty dishes were scattered on the table. Red wine had spilled over the floor, which had totally soaked the carpet. In the dim light, two figures could be seen on the messy bed. The woman dug her fingers into the man's hair and gave in to his power. She completely lost herself to sexual pleasure as her body shook with desire.
She had been looking forward to this moment for a long time. How could she easily let him go this time? Her charming body rippled. She tried her best to follow him and wanted to keep him.
The man tightly hugged the woman, and they tossed around on the bed for hours. It appeared that he was also beginning to sink into the moment. Either that or he was drunk now and didn't know who she was, and so it no longer mattered to him.
The noises that could be heard from outside the room were unbearably painful for the listener.
Sarah sat on the sofa outside. She could clearly hear the sound from the room even without looking towards it. The door was open, so she could see them from the mirror on the opposite wall.
Her heart was broken. The man inside was her boss, and she loved him dearly. The woman inside the room was his mistress. She couldn't say anything about what they did in the hotel because she was just a secretary, inferior to a mistress. Why did he show it to her? Why? He clearly knew she loved him.
Sarah grasped the sofa tightly and dug her fingernails into the leather. Despite how sharp the pain was that now coursed through her fingers, it failed to distract her from the deeper pain in her heart.
Finally, the alarm clock on the coffee table rang; it had been requested by Charles. He needed to leave the hotel at three o'clock because he had an important meeting in half an hour. As his secretary, Sarah, must remind him. Even if he had a private rendezvous with his mistress, Sarah had to follow him. She couldn't understand why he wanted her to see that scene. Even if he didn't love her, he could at least consider her feelings, Sarah thought to herself.
Sarah held back her tears, but it was futile. She quickly wiped her tears away, tidied herself up, and plucked up the courage to walk into their room.
She dared not even look at them. She just knocked on the door and politely announced, "Sir, it's three o'clock. We need to be going back to the company."
It seemed that they were both satisfied. Thomas Charles was lying on the bed and smoking. His chiseled face could be clearly seen in the dim light. He was so handsome and perfect, particularly when smoking. His messy hair also made him even sexier.
He heard her words, but he didn't look at her. Instead, he simply replied in a low and hoarse voice, "I see."
The woman who was lying on his chest suddenly hugged him and said, "Charles, don't leave me now. Could you stay for a while? You are so powerful today, and I want so much more."
Charles extinguished the cigarette and turned around to playfully tap her on the nose, "Well, my baby, I know you need more, but I can't be with you today. I'll come to see you later." His tone was so gentle, like a good lover, much better than the way he talked to Sarah.
Sarah lowered her head the entire time. She felt even worse because she knew he had the capacity to be gentle but would only behave that way with women who weren't her.
The woman continued to flirt with him. The next moment he pinned her down again and kissed her for a while, ignoring Sarah.
Sarah's patience had been worn thin and said in a cutting tone, "Sir, I am waiting for you outside." Immediately afterward, she walked out of the door.
Charles glanced at the door with a smug look on his face as Sarah left.
After a while, he got out of bed and got dressed. The woman also followed him and moved to tie his necktie for him. However, when he looked at Sarah, who was sitting on the sofa with her head lowered and gradually tearing the sofa apart, he pushed the woman's hand away and said, "You can leave now. Let her come in to dress me."
The woman was unwilling to do it, "Charles, please let me help you. How can other women do these things?"
Unexpectedly, he suddenly became cold, "Get out!" His eyes looked fierce and completely different from how they'd been after making love.
The woman was frightened. She was aware of his temper, so she didn't dare anger him further and left. After she walked out, she turned to Sarah and said, "The boss has ordered you to dress him."
Charlotte arrived at work already tired.Not physically exactly. It was the kind of exhaustion that sat behind her eyes, the lingering pressure from the previous day’s chaos. The investigation. The presentation. The silent drive home.She expected the office to feel tense again. What she didn't expect though, was for the silence to follow her.Conversations paused when she walked past. A few people offered polite smiles that didn’t quite reach their eyes. Others avoided looking at her entirely.Her stomach tightened... something was wrong.She stepped into her office and tried to ignore the unease crawling under her skin. Emails loaded slowly on her screen. Messages stacked up. Most were routine updates from teams still working on damage control.One message stood out.FROM: Compliance DepartmentSUBJECT: Request for Internal Review — UrgentHer fingers hesitated before opening it. A formal notice appeared on the screen. She was being asked to attend a review meeting regarding access
Monday arrived like a warning bell Charlotte didn’t remember setting.The weekend’s lightness lingered in fragments; grocery bags still unpacked on her kitchen counter, the faint memory of laughing in Nathan’s presence replaying at inconvenient moments. It made getting dressed feel oddly heavier, like she was walking into a room where something had already changed without her permission.She chose something simple. Neutral. Professional. Invisible.By the time she reached the office building, the atmosphere felt… off.Not chaotic nor loud,Just…tight. Like people were speaking softer than usual and typing faster than normal.The receptionist barely looked up when she walked past.Charlotte frowned but said nothing as she headed toward her office.She froze when she noticed Nathan’s door already open.He was rarely early. And when he was, it usually meant trouble.She slipped into her own office, trying to settle into routine of laptop on, emails loading, coffee brewing; but the quiet f
Charlotte woke slowly, consciousness returning in pieces.First came the faint hum of morning traffic outside her window. Then the heaviness in her limbs; the kind that came from emotional exhaustion more than physical tiredness. Finally, her eyes opened to the sight of her small living room… and the half-eaten birthday cake sitting on the table.Vanilla sponge. Chocolate frosting.A small slice missing from the side where she had attacked it with a fork sometime past midnight.She stared at it for a long moment, unsure whether to laugh or cringe. The candle she’d used;a random leftover from some forgotten event, was melted and leaning sadly to one side.“Happy birthday to me,” she muttered.Her phone lay nearby, screen dark, notifications stacked from friends, classmates, random acquaintances who remembered just late enough to feel guilty about it. She scrolled through messages lazily before dropping the phone back onto the couch.Her stomach growled and so she stood, stretched her s
Charlotte woke up to the sound of her alarm and the strange awareness that today mattered.It took a few seconds for the feeling to fully settle, hovering somewhere between anticipation and dread. Then it clicked.Her birthday.She lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, letting the realization wash over her without ceremony. No excitement burst through her chest. No immediate smile tugged at her lips. Just a quiet acknowledgment, like checking a box in her mind.Another year.Her phone buzzed beside her almost on cue.Jaina: Happy birthday, star girl I hate that I’m not there. I’ll make it up to you, promise.Charlotte smiled softly, thumbs hovering before she typed back.Charlotte: Thank you. I miss you already. Go be amazing for both of us.She set the phone down and finally pushed herself out of bed. The morning routine felt slower than usual, deliberate. She showered, dressed, moved through her small space with an odd sense of distance, like she was watching herself from
Charlotte knew something was wrong the moment she unlocked her office door.It wasn’t loud or dramatic. Nothing was overturned. Nothing was missing. But there was a shift in the air, subtle and immediate, like walking into a room where a conversation had just ended and no one told you what it was a
Charlotte stood in the middle of her room, phone in one hand, towel draped loosely over her shoulders, and a growing sense of dread settling in her chest. Her bed was already littered with discarded options; dresses she’d worn once and hated, dresses she loved but suddenly felt too loud, too soft,
By Monday morning, Charlotte had already decided it was going to be one of those days.It started innocently enough. A normal briefing. A normal to-do list. She had just settled behind her desk, coffee still too hot to drink, when Nathan’s voice came through the intercom.“Charlotte. Come in.”She
Weekends had a way of moving by really fast. For Charlotte, they didn’t bring rest so much as they brought reminders.The hospital sat at the edge of the city, tall and pale, its walls permanently smelling of antiseptic and waiting. Charlotte had memorized the route there long ago. Every turn, ever












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