LOGINIn this chapter, Veronica faces the storm within... the tug-of-war between morality and desire, peace and chaos. Theo represents the calm she craves, while Max ignites the fire she’s afraid to feel. But love isn’t always logical… and sometimes, the heart refuses to obey the mind. 💔🔥
Veronica’s POV:The building didn’t look like a psychiatric facility. It looked like a luxury hotel.Tall glass walls. Polished marble floors.And the damn soft lighting that felt more like a high-end spa than a place where people came when something inside them had broken beyond repair.I stood there for a moment, taking it in.“This place…” I muttered.Max followed my gaze, his expression unreadable. “Yeah. Not exactly what you picture when you hear ‘psychiatric hospital.’”It wasn’t.This wasn’t where forgotten people were kept. This was where powerful families hid their darkest secrets.A chill ran through me at that, as I wondered which secret I would uncover there.We walked toward the reception desk, the sound of our footsteps echoing softly in the pristine silence. The woman behind the desk looked up, she was polite but guarded.Max placed the ID card on the desk.“We’re here to see him,” he said.The receptionist picked up the card, her eyes scanning it briefly.“Marcus Carte
Veronica's POV:"This is what I want... for you to lose yourself in me." Max growled.His hands gripped my hips harder, his breath hot against my neck, and I felt myself spiraling toward that edge where nothing else mattered except...CRASHThe sound of something heavy dropping outside the cabin shattered the moment like glass.We both froze.Nothing in the world could have interrupted us from that moment except for that. The noise was too loud to be an animal or the wind.Someone was out there.Max immediately pulled back, his body going rigid with tension, his protective instincts overriding everything else.He looked toward the door, his jaw clenched, eyes sharp and alert."Someone's really there," he said quietly, already moving away from me and reaching for his discarded clothes.My heart was pounding, but now it was from fear rather than arousal.The stalker. The anonymous messages. The person who'd been watching me at the carnival.Had they followed us here?"Max, wait..." I st
Veronica’s POV:“Not enough.” Max sounded rough, and it sent a strange shiver down my spine.I blinked at him, still slightly breathless from everything that had just happened, my back pressed lightly against the car.“What?” I asked.His eyes didn’t leave mine.“That,” he said, his thumb brushing slowly against my jaw, “was not enough.”My heart skipped.Before I could even process what he meant, he leaned closer, and God, he looked so dashing this way.“I’m not settling for moments like that anymore, Veronica,” he said. “I’m going to make you fall for me completely. Head over heels.”My breath caught.“There won’t be any confusion,” he continued, his gaze burning into mine. “ Passion is what you should feel for me, Veronica. I'll show you the depth of the pleasure. ""You think I'm not passionate?"" No. Not enough. ""That is quite insulting." I sighed. "I thought I was hot."" You don't have to try hard, " Max said. "I'll make you feel everything that you are currently suppressing
Veronica's POV:I stared at the message from my stalker, my blood boiling with a mixture of fear and anger.This was insane. I wasn't going to play along with some anonymous blackmailer who thought they could manipulate me with vague threats and promises of "truth."I typed furiously: I'm calling the police. This is harassment and blackmail. Stop contacting me.The response came immediately:Unknown Number: Go ahead. Call them. But you'll never know the vital information I have about Chase Pemberton. My fingers froze over the screen.Chase. This person had information about Chase.Me: What kind of information?Unknown Number: The kind that explains why he's so obsessed with you. The kind that might change everything you think you know about your family. About his family. A horrible thought occurred to me.What if the stalker was Chase himself? What if this was some twisted game he was playing, trying to manipulate me further, to get me alone somewhere?The thought made my skin crawl
Veronica's POV:It was dangerously easy to get lost in Max.That was the first thought that crossed my mind as our lips met.Max had a way of loving in an all-consuming way, it was visible in the way he gripped my waist tighter, his tongue went deeper into me deeper.All of his gestures said that he was safe with him, he would protect me until the end of the world.Knowing all this, but even as I kissed him back, even as I tried to feel what I was supposed to feel, my mind kept drifting to green eyes instead of blue.My phone buzzed in my pocket, breaking the moment."Sorry," I murmured against Max's lips, partly thanking my buzzing phone as I pulled back slightly. "Let me just check...""It can wait," Max said, trying to pull me back in.But something made me look. Some instinct that this wasn't just another news alert or social media notification.I pulled out my phone and felt my blood run cold.Unknown Number: You think Laura is your problem. You must know about your father.I sta
Veronica's POV:I had forgotten that it was possible to feel like this light, and unburdened by life's struggles.The laughter bubbling out of me felt so unfamiliar, almost foreign, as if it belonged to a younger version of myself I had lost somewhere along the way.For a brief moment… I was twelve again. Max did fulfill his promise by making me feel this way.The merry-go-round slowed to a stop, and I stepped off, still smiling, my fingers brushing over the painted horse I had been riding as if I wasn’t quite ready to let go of that feeling yet.“Is that all you’ve got?” Max shouted behind me, teasing me playfully. “Seriously, Just three rounds on a merry-go-round and you’re done having fun? ”I turned to him, narrowing my eyes playfully at him, though the smile still lingered on my lips.“Excuse me, that was not just three rounds,” I said, placing a hand on my hip. “That was a very important emotional reset.”He laughed softly, shaking his head.“Right. Very intense therapy session
Veronica's POV:"Yes," he said simply. "You can touch me."Then he reached down, grabbed the hem of his soaking tank top, and pulled it over his head in one smooth motion.I forgot how to breathe.It wasn't like I hadn't seen his bare torso before. I had. That day when I'd stumbled into his room, w
Veronica's POV:"Well... you're really hard to understand," I confessed;Max only chuckled... that always did strange things to my insides.We took our seats at the table opposite each other, and I immediately noticed the imperfections—the table wobbled when I rested my elbows on it, the chair squea
Veronica's POV:I'd seen Max in many forms by now.The surfer boy playing in waters... The party boy with a drink in hand and that dangerous smile. The bad boy with his tattoos and irreverent attitude.I've seen him even drunk and sick, vulnerable in ways he'd probably hate me remembering.But I nev
Veronica's POV:Let it be tails, I thought desperately as the coin spun through the air, catching the light.It landed with a soft clink on the coffee table.Heads.Theo groaned deeply... as he slumped back against the couch cushions.Max, on the other hand, was overjoyed. He literally jumped up on







