MasukFive years ago, on her birthday, Joan Lancaster was served with divorce papers by the one man whom she had loved with every fiber of her being. The same man who had sworn to protect her, cherish her, and never betray her, Dean Armstrong. He cast her aside without remorse, replacing her with his secretary and stripping her of everything but her dignity. Broken, wounded, and abandoned, Joan disappeared into the night with secrets only she knew, only to return five years later as a different woman. No longer the trembling, forgiving wife Dean once knew, Joan stepped back into his world as the untouchable Ice Queen, a woman whose rise to power had struck fear in the hearts of the Chicago businessmen. But she wasn't just back, she was back for revenge. And she wasn't going to stop until she stripped her ex-husband of everything that made his name. Once a powerful man, Dean found himself begging the woman he once discarded. The woman who now had the strings to his life and could do with him as she pleased. In a world where love had once broken her, Joan would prove one thing: some women don’t come back to be loved. They come back to be feared.
Lihat lebih banyakI have finally finished setting the dining table up. I have prepared enough food to feed this street. I'm just so happy and moreover, today is Christmas Eve so why not?
On the table lays Pan-seared steak with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes, chicken parmesan with spaghetti and mariara sauce which are his favourites. I also made some of mine like Paella Valenciana and Chuletón de Buey. I can't wait for him to get here. He would absolutely love this.
By 11pm, my excitement starts to turn into worry about Jaxon. He told me he would be here latest by 10pm. This is one hour later and I doubt anything could be holding him up at the office.
I decide to wait some more before calling because there's no use in getting agitated. There are times when he comes home late because of traffic but normally, he would have sent me a text first.
After pacing around the living room for God knows how long, the clock strikes 12pm further increasing my fears.
Picking up my phone, I'm about to speed dial him when a new message comes in from an unknown number.
I open it and it's an image. Who could this be? The image loads and the sight in front of me makes my stomach drop in dread. No, this cannot be true. It must be a photoshopped picture right? But staring at it every passing second shows that the picture has not been photoshopped in any way.
Jaxon is in bed with his best friend. His arms are around her while her head is on his chest. Another message comes in right after: He is mine now.
A tear escapes from my eyes and I slide down the wall. I pull up my knees to my chest while squeezing my phone tightly in my hand willing whatever just happened to just be a bad dream.
I really thought he was different. I genuinely did. I really did. He lied to me. He told me over and over that she was just his childhood best friend and he has never felt anything for her. I believed him. I always knew she liked him more than a friend but I was scared because I knew he loved me. I was so wrong. I was wrong. He cheated on me.
Today is supposed to be one of the happiest days of our days together. I was so happy. I really wanted to tell him about my pregnancy. I know we are not married yet and this was totally unplanned but I knew from one of his conversations I overheard with his friend that he was planning to propose soon. So why would he do this to me? Was he hoping to eat his cake and have it?
No I won't let myself cry over a guy who doesn't give a damn about my feelings.
I wipe my face with the back of my hand. I stand up from the floor and quickly head inside the room. I take my suitcase from the top of the wardrobe and start filling it with all my things.
After packing all my clothes, toiletries and shoes, I order an Uber. I stand in front of the mirror and look at myself.
I place my hand on my tummy and tears start falling again. This time I don't stop them. I really really wanted to have a family with him. Yet, now that I have what I have always wished for, it's being taken away from me. I feel so bad that my child will grow up without a father just as I did.
It hurts me to know that history is repeating itself but this time my child's father did not die. He chose to betray me and my child.
I absolutely love him with everything in me but I won't compromise my happiness and share my man with anyone. He can marry her if he wants but I can't stay here knowing he has cheated on me. After everything we have been through together.
I look up at our pictures all around the room and with each one my heart shatters. A year. He has been my world for a year. We have been dating for a year. We did everything together. It was just about two months ago that he completed this house and told me that he built it for us. The instant he broke the news to me, I cried out in joy because no one has ever made plans that include me in it.
Ever since then, we have been a team. Each other's confidant, companion and partner.
We fought for our love. His family was against us especially his mum. She didn't approve of me because I don't come from a high class family. The first day I met her, I realized that people still thought like this. According to her, I don't deserve her precious son.
It has taken a lot of constant reassurance for me to not leave him. The constant humiliation by her almost killed my self esteem. The only thing that made me stay was the fact that Jaxon constantly stood up for me, for us.
He didn't allow his mother to go scot free each time. He always made everything right but this time, nothing, absolutely nothing can be done.
It has always be us against the world but now, it's I and my child against him. I won't be around to lose to him when he starts his lies.
My phone pings to notify me of the Uber's arrival. I text him and tell him that I'll be down soon.
I use my wet wipes to clean my face although it doesn't do much because my eyes are really puffy and red. I move my two suitcases to the living room to make it easier to carry.
After two trips to and fro, all my bags are in the boot of the car. Taking one last look at the house that has grown to be my home for one last time before he drives off.
The drive to Brandon’s house felt strangely peaceful.After Victor’s confession, none of us had really known what to say.Well, none of us except Kai.Kai had spent the next twenty minutes asking increasingly complicated questions that Victor had very clearly not wanted to answer.By the time we finally left, Victor looked like he regretted every life decision that had led him to that moment.Not that I felt particularly sorry for him.He had apparently been hiding enormous secrets from all of us.The fact that he now had to deal with an inquisitive almost five-year-old felt like a fitting punishment.“You’re smiling again.”Brandon’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.I looked over from the passenger seat.“What?”“Nothing.”The smile on his face said otherwise.“You’ve been smiling for the last ten minutes.”Heat immediately crept into my cheeks.“Maybe I’m happy.”His expression softened.“I know.”The simple answer made my heart flutter.God.I really was acting like a teenager.An
For several seconds after Victor’s confession, nobody spoke.The noise of the restaurant continued around us, but it felt distant somehow.Muted.Unimportant.Because all I could focus on were the words that had just come out of Victor’s mouth.I never had leukemia.I stared at him.Then blinked.Then stared some more.Across from me, Brandon looked equally stunned.Even Kai seemed to understand that something significant had happened.“What does that mean?” he asked.Victor sighed heavily.The sound carried the exhaustion of a man who knew he was about to have a very unpleasant conversation.“It means I wasn’t sick.”Kai frowned.“You lied?”The question was so direct that Brandon immediately covered his mouth to hide a laugh.Victor looked personally attacked.“Children are terrifying.”“That’s not an answer,” Kai informed him.I couldn’t help it.I laughed.After everything that had happened over the past few months, after all the tears and court battles and sleepless nights, the a
The walk back to the restaurant felt surreal.I couldn’t stop smiling.Every few seconds, I would remember what had just happened, and my stomach would immediately fill with butterflies all over again.It was ridiculous.Absolutely ridiculous.I was a grown woman.A mother.The CEO of a company.A woman who had survived a brutal divorce, a custody battle, and enough legal drama to fill several lifetimes.And yet somehow, walking beside Brandon with our hands intertwined made me feel exactly like a nervous teenager experiencing her first crush.The worst part was that I loved it.I loved every second of it.The feeling was so unfamiliar that it almost scared me.Dean and I had shared passion.At least I used to think we had.But this?This fluttering anticipation every time Brandon glanced at me?The warmth spreading through my chest whenever he smiled?The constant urge to grin like an idiot?I had never experienced any of that with Dean.Not once.The realization should have saddened
JoanAfter everything that had happened inside the courtroom, after weeks of fighting and crying and wondering whether I would ever get my son back, the evening felt almost unreal.I kept waiting for something to go wrong.For someone to call and tell me there had been a mistake.For another letter to arrive.For another battle to begin.But nothing happened.For once, the universe left me alone.Kai was sitting on Victor’s shoulders by the time we reached the park, happily chattering about something that had happened in one of his cartoons. Victor, to his credit, was listening as seriously as if Kai were presenting a business proposal worth millions.The sight made me smile.It wasn’t the strained smile I’d been wearing for weeks.It wasn’t the brave smile I’d forced myself to give Kai whenever I was hurting.It was real.Warm.Effortless.Victor must have noticed because he looked over at me.“You should go.”I blinked.“Go where?”He glanced toward Brandon.Then back at me.His exp
Joan“Waiting for someone?”He flinched.Not subtly. Not in a way he could recover from quickly enough for me to pretend I hadn’t seen it. It was sharp, instinctive—the kind of reaction that only came when someone was caught exactly where they weren’t supposed to be.Good.Donald turned toward me s
I blinked innocently at him. "Mr. Armstrong. Surprised seeing you here." "You're surprised? You aren't even supposed to be here," he growled. "I'd have thought you'd have moved on after divorcing me and disappearing for five years. But no. You came back and found a way to get close to me, as you d
~~Brandon~~I never attended events with partners.That rule was there for a reason, and has never been bent. Not for convenience, not for appearances, not for pressure. It kept expectations low and helped me avoid the whole female drama. You take one to an important gathering, and suddenly, you g
~Four years, seven months later~“Again!” my little boy demanded, breathless and grinning.I smiled despite myself, spreading out my arms. “One last time.”I'd just spun him around as compensation for winning him at a game of chess, and I was breathless and tired, but saying no to my baby was almos


















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