LOGINRenataI didn't just say it. I didn't just ruin everything with my own lips.I found myself in a bar afterward, talking out of context, my words slurring because I was already drunk. After telling Mr. Cole everything, after watching his face collapse in real time, I needed something to dull the pain that had settled into my chest like a stone."Madam, are you sure you can take more alcohol?" the bartender asked, eyeing me with a mixture of concern and hesitation."You just do your job and keep it coming," I said, waving my hand at him like the request was nothing.What had I done? I asked myself the question over and over, the words looping in my head until they lost all meaning. I couldn't believe that after everything Drent and I had been through, after all the careful lies we had built together, I had ruined it all in one conversation.It wasn't my fault though. I wanted to save my mother. That was all I kept telling myself, over and over, like if I repeated it enough it would stop
Renata"Yes, Drent. I want our contract terminated. I can't do this anymore."He was shocked. I saw it flicker across his face, the way his jaw tightened, the way his usual composure cracked just slightly. He turned toward me, letting his hair fall loose and cascade down over his forehead, and for a moment he almost looked like a stranger to me."You can't leave," he said. "We had a deal. You be my girlfriend for a year until I get the company."I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I'm not staying until it's over."He didn't react right away. He just studied me with those dark eyes of his, boring into my soul like he was trying to find some crack in my resolve. The atmosphere between us grew heavier with every second that passed, thick with everything neither of us wanted to say out loud. He walked closer, and even though silence stretched between us like a held breath, I could hear my own heart pounding because I meant every word I had just said."Peach," he said softly,
Drent"Um. Is this a bad time?" Renata asked, already shifting her weight like she meant to turn and walk away.I paused, forcing myself into the composure I always wore like armor, and slowly pushed Katya's hand off my chest."Peach. It's never a bad time.""You look busy," she said, her eyes flicking between me and Katya.Katya spoke up quickly. "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I've caused any trouble. I was just finishing Mr. Drent's measurements.""Oh," Renata said, and the single syllable carried more weight than an entire sentence.I studied her for a moment. She looked a little scared, a little thrown off balance, and honestly, it was kind of adorable. My chest had loosened the second I saw her standing there. Minutes ago I'd been consumed with worry that she'd left me, disappeared without a word. But here she was, at my door, her curves still soft beneath her clothes, that quiet feminine presence of hers filling the room the way it always did. It amused me more than I probably should have
DrentI woke to the soft tap of a nurse helping me lift myself from the bed.Her scent reached me before anything else did, something light and feminine, and she eased me up with a gentleness that had kept my back from aching for days. The cast was still fixed around my arm, heavy and stiff against my skin.The nurse was young and pretty, someone I hadn't seen before, but the careful way she moved, checking my vitals, adjusting my pillow, made the whole process almost pleasant."How are you feeling today, sir?" she asked, slowly unwrapping the cast from my arm to begin the test."Horrible," I said.She giggled. "I expected a more positive answer. Not genuine, but positive.""It genuinely hurts," I told her, and she smiled, the kind of smile that said she'd heard that a thousand times before."Well, it's a miracle you survived. The killer didn't go deep enough into your arm to hit anything vital."She injected something into the line, and I barely felt the sting of it. My mind was too
RenataNo one seemed to notice when Marcus pulled the trigger. He had shot Finn in a corner of the ballroom, tucked away from the main crowd, and by the time the sound registered over the music and chatter, he had already slipped back into the party like nothing had happened at all, leaving Finn bleeding on the marble floor.I screamed for help and called for an ambulance, pressing my hands uselessly against the wound in his chest, watching blood soak through my fingers faster than I could stop it. By the time paramedics arrived, he wasn't moving, and I was convinced, in that moment, that I had already lost him.I couldn't stop crying. It felt like everyone I cared about ended up bleeding somewhere because of me, caught in crossfire that was never theirs to begin with. I sat in the hospital hallway afterward, my nose running, my eyelids heavy with exhaustion I couldn't fight off anymore.Please, I prayed silently. Please protect him. He was only trying to help me. He doesn't deserve t
Renata"How the hell did you get in here?"That was the first thing I asked when I turned and saw him standing there, far too close, far too comfortable for someone who had no business being anywhere near me tonight.Finn only smiled, closing the distance between us with that same maddening confidence he always carried, and I had to force myself not to step back as he reached out and trailed a finger along a loose strand of my hair, down to my chin."Is that any way to welcome an old friend?"I knocked his hand away. "It was one date, Finn. Our deal ended there. You can't just show up wherever I am."His eyes swept over my face, and something shifted in his expression when he noticed the dried tear tracks still marking my cheeks. "You've been crying," he said, his voice hardening instantly. "Who made you cry? Whoever it was, they'll pay for it."I grabbed his wrist before he could spiral further. "Calm down, Finn. You're going to get me in trouble.""How did you even get here," I pre
DrentThe applause soon faded, the unexpected kiss between me and Renata had amused everyone. I didn't know we had the attention of everyone, and most especially, my father, who seemed to stand from afar with a smile of approval.That alone made me feel so close to getting the company than ever, bu
RenataAfter three straight days in the hospital, I had not taken calls from anyone. I had stayed off social media, away from school, and away from everything else. Just sitting beside my mom and watching over her, hoping she would be alright.I had applied for a job at Tinnies, a fast food spot ne
RenataI waited for Edwina outside the class. I had stared at the flyer for so long that if someone handed me a computer, I could recreate it without looking.The bell rang and the students pushed through, rushing out. My eyes strained as I searched for Edwina. When she finally appeared, I dragged
Renata"You will never be a boxer, Renata." The coach screamed it so loud that it echoed through the hallway. My heart sank. This had been my dream since I was six, to be a professional boxer. But the school system seemed dead set on the fact that it was a male sport, and it had always been."Wait,







