The thought made bile rise hot in my throat. The pen was already in my hand before I realized it. My fingers shook, the weight of it unbearable, but I signed anyway. My name scrawled across the page like blood smeared on stone. I divorced my wife. No, worse. I betrayed her. I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t clever. I wasn’t anything but a coward in Julian’s puppet show. I slammed my hand against the vanity so hard it rattled the mirror. The crack of flesh on wood echoed through the empty house. How was I supposed to tell her? To look Olivia in the eye and explain why I’d signed away our marriage while she carried my child? “God!” I roared, dragging both hands through my hair, clawing at my scalp until it burned. The madness of it all pressed against me, sharp and suffocating. This was my father’s fault. Every sick twist of it. If he hadn’t shoved me into that cursed society, if he hadn’t played me like a pawn on his board, none of this would exist. Olivia would be safe. Our baby woul
Sebastian The silence pressed in on me like a suffocating shroud. It wasn’t just quiet, it was the kind of silence that roared, that clawed into your chest until every breath felt stolen. My lungs burned, desperate, but the air refused to give me relief. I couldn’t even scream anymore. My voice was useless, caught somewhere in my throat along with the panic. All I had left were my thoughts, poisonous, relentless thoughts spiraling out of control. Julian had Lena. And now, Olivia. Always ripping away the pieces of me that mattered most. Why the hell did my life have to be this cursed? All I wanted was something simple, something pure. A quiet life with Olivia and the child we hadn’t even met yet. Our baby. The thought of it made my chest seize. That tiny heartbeat we’d both whispered about in the dark, the secret that still felt too precious to say out loud. What if Julian laid a hand on them? No. No, he wouldn’t. But the brutal truth cracked through my denial: Julian would. Of
“Business?” My voice cracked with disbelief. “I don’t recall Sebastian ever making deals with terrorists.” His smirk deepened, dangerous. “Oh, Olivia. Terrorists are sloppy. I am a businessman. If your husband does what’s required, you’ll leave this place untouched.” “And what exactly does he want?” I spat, my fear laced with sarcasm. “To divorce you,” he said matter-of-factly, “and marry my daughter. He owes me a debt, and that’s the only way to repay it.” I froze, staring at him like he’d just sprouted horns. Divorce me? For his daughter? “What the hell are you talking about?” My voice cracked into a laugh, brittle with disbelief. “What kind of debt forces a man into marriage? Are you insane?” His chuckle was colder this time, sharp as a blade. “Not insane. Practical. Sebastian made a choice to save someone he loved. And now, the price has come due.” My heart slammed against my ribs. “Save who?” Silence. It wasn’t him who answered. The woman stepped forward at last. Her e
Olivia I jolted awake with a violent shiver, the sting of cold searing straight through my bones. Water clung to my skin in icy rivulets, soaking my clothes until they felt like heavy, suffocating rags plastered to my body. My teeth chattered uncontrollably, each breath leaving pale fog curling in the air. For a moment, I prayed it was a nightmare. God, let this be a nightmare. But no dream ever felt this mercilessly real. The chair beneath me was hard, unyielding, its edges digging into my thighs. My wrists throbbed, skin raw where the ropes cut deep. Every time I tugged, the fibers only bit harder, cruelly reminding me that whoever tied me wasn’t sloppy, they wanted me to suffer. My ankles were bound too, cinched so tight I could barely move a toe. Something heavy weighed down the legs of the chair, chains maybe. I was trapped, locked in place like an animal waiting for slaughter. “W-Where... where am I?” My whisper cracked in the silence, swallowed by the suffocating dark.
Sebastian “Lena's gone.” The words didn’t hit at first, they slid into the room like smoke, quiet and deadly. I blinked, trying to process. “Wait… what? Mom, what the hell are you talking about?” My mother was pacing the living room like a caged animal, her silk robe dragging across the polished floor. Her hands shook as she clutched her phone like it was a lifeline. “She called me last night,” she stammered, voice high, frantic. “She said she was with Olivia. But this morning, nothing. Then Julian…” She froze, her throat tightening before she forced the words out. “Julian called me. He said he has Lena. And he gave me twenty-four hours to get you to sign the divorce papers.” My stomach lurched. I shot to my feet so fast the chair scraped back with a screech. “What?” “He sounded… cold, Sebastian. I know Julian’s cruelty, this wasn’t bluff. If you don’t do something, he’ll hurt her.” A bitter laugh escaped me, sharp and humorless. “Lena’s his daughter too. He wouldn’t—” “Do
Kaylee New York had always been loud, horns blaring, headlights flashing, sidewalks choking with people who acted like the city belonged to them. But beneath all that chaos, there was another noise I couldn’t un-hear once I noticed it: the silent hum of surveillance. Cameras were everywhere. And then the realization hit me like a sucker punch, if every street corner had an eye, then the Red Carpet gala from last month definitely had them too. Which meant that maybe, just maybe, the cameras had captured her. The masked model. The one who had stolen my night. The one who had stolen everything. I shifted in the backseat of the van, tapping my nails against the cracked leather while glaring at the guy sitting across from me. My hacker. My last resort. Hoodie pulled up, laptop screen casting him in blue light, fingers flying over the keys like he’d done this dance a million times. “Didn’t your best friend’s parents just die?” he asked casually, not even looking up. “Shouldn’t you be