Entangled with the wrong man

DRUSCILLA “Oh my goodness, Druscilla! You look absolutely breathtaking in this dress!” Avery’s voice bubbles with excitement as she clasps her hands dramatically. I can’t help the blush spreading across my cheeks. My gaze lingers on the mirror, drinking in the reflection that hardly feels like mine. The gown is everything I have ever dreamed of—white as fresh snow, the sweetheart neckline glittering with delicate diamonds cascading down to the waistline. It cinches my waist so perfectly I can barely believe it, and the slit climbing up my thigh reveals just enough of my legs to feel daring without being scandalous. It is the kind of gown little girls dream about when they clutch pillowcase veils and pretend to marry their dolls. My heart swells. “Kaila, you outdid yourself,” I say as I turn to my cousin, who is beaming like an artist admiring her finest masterpiece. Kaila isn’t just family; she is one of the most talented designers I know, and years ago, I swore she would be the o

I know what that black thing is. A gun. In an instant, the faint tipsiness swirling in my veins vanishes. My eyes dart to him—Handsome Devil—just as he catches my stare and quickly tucks the weapon beneath his bed. “I’m sorry,” he mutters, his tone awkward, like he just spilled coffee and not revealed something dangerous. I blink, unsure how to respond. Who apologizes for being seen with a firearm? This man baffles me. A yawn escapes me, and I rub at my face. My stomach twists in protest—hunger clawing at my insides. I haven’t eaten anything since that miserable piece of toast and lemon tea in the morning. My knees tremble beneath me. “Are you planning to stand there all night?” he asks, a teasing curl lifting the corner of his lips. “Come sit.” He pats the space beside him on the bed. I shake my head immediately. “No, I’ll stay here.” His brows lift. “Why?” “Because…” My chest heaves. “Because I don’t trust a man like you.” He chuckles, low and amused, as if I just told him

~ DRUSCILLA ~ I cannot believe I am here. Laid out on another man’s bed, my body open in ways it has never been before, my mind scattered, my senses wrecked beyond repair. His fingers feel like sin given shape. Every touch sends sparks racing through me, sharp and sweet all at once. My body reacts before my conscience can catch up, arching, trembling, betraying me in ways I did not know were possible. The sounds slipping from my lips do not even sound like they belong to me. Soft, broken, needy. I barely recognize myself. God. Mum must never see me like this. Never know that her well raised daughter is stretched out on a stranger’s bed, breathing like this, feeling like this. Shame burns hot in my chest, but it is tangled tightly with something far more dangerous. How can I be engaged to one man and wrapped up in another? A stranger. A terrifying one. A man with a dangerously handsome face and eyes that feel like they are stripping me bare, peeling through flesh and bone unt

~Isaac~I froze, replaying her words in my head like a bad echo. No way. I must have misheard. Druscilla's voice cut through the air again, sharp and steady, as if she were ordering coffee instead of dropping a grenade in the middle of the room."I want the wedding date postponed," she said, her arms folding across her chest like a shield.My eyebrows shot up, my pulse kicking up a notch. "How? Why?""Because I don't think marrying you is the right thing, right now." She shifted her weight, her eyes locking onto mine with a cool detachment that sent a chill down my spine. "I need to clear my head.""No. No. No." I shook my head, the denial spilling out before I could stop it. This wasn't her. This wasn't the Druscilla I knew, the one who planned every detail of our life together like it was a perfectly wrapped gift.My mind raced. "Is this because of the little argument you just had with your mom?" Frustration bubbled up inside me, hot and insistent, tightening my chest."Oh... so now

~Druscilla~Kaila pushed the door open without knocking, the way she always did, and the scent of her vanilla body spray hit me first.“Do you really want to postpone the wedding?” she asked, kicking off her sandals and flopping onto the edge of my bed like she owned the place.I sat at the vanity, staring at my own reflection like it belonged to somebody else. The wipe in my hand smelled like rosewater and regret. I dragged it across my cheek, smearing the last of last night’s mascara.“I don’t even know what to think anymore,” I muttered, biting the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste copper.Kaila’s brows pulled together. “But why the sudden change of heart? You’ve been planning this wedding since we were kids. You had the damn color scheme picked out in middle school.”I tossed the wipe into the little silver trash can and watched it disappear. “That’s exactly the problem. My whole life has been mapped out like a damn GPS route. Turn left at twenty-five, merge into marriage at