INICIAR SESIÓNWhy was she not picking up my calls?Corinne stood still in the middle of her small apartment, her phone pressed to her ear, listening as the ringing faded out again until it reached the mechanical voicemail tone.She lowered the phone and glared at the screen. “Straight to voicemail again,” she hissed.Her fingers trembled with a mix of rage and pure, cold fear. Madison never ignored her. They were a team. They had a plan, and everything depended on timing.Corinne dragged a hand through her hair and turned in a circle, her eyes scanning the small living room: the couch, the coffee table, the half-drawn curtains. “Pick up, you stupid bitch,” she whispered, her thumb stabbing the call button one more time.It rang once. It stopped. Madison had manually rejected the call.Corinne’s chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. “Fuck!” she screamed, hurling a throw pillow across the room. It hit a lamp, sending it wobbling dangerously.Since the day she and Madison decided to destroy Lau
Madison stayed in bed long after the front door slammed behind Colt.The sheets were still tangled and warm. His scent still clung to the pillows. She sprawled across the bed naked, her limbs heavy and relaxed. She stroked the spot where he had lain, a slow, predatory smile stretching across her face.It had worked. Every dirty, desperate detail of her plan had fallen perfectly into place.The thought sent a quiet laugh spilling from her lips. She rolled onto her side, lazily dragging the sheet over her hip.She lifted a hand and pressed it hard against her flat stomach, her fingers digging into her skin.“Very soon,” she whispered into the quiet room. “I will be carrying your child, Colt. You won’t be able to look at me without seeing your own blood in me.”Her smile widened as she imagined it clearly.She could already see the future. The shock on his face when she showed him the positive test. The panic. The guilt. The way the world would corner him until there was only one way out
“Lauren, please. Just listen to me,” Colt pleaded.He stood frozen a few steps away from her, his fingers twitching at his sides. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but he was terrified that if he moved a single inch, she would pull away even further.“You promised me ten minutes,” he choked out. “Just ten. Please.”Lauren stopped pacing.Slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, the skin underneath them dark from a night without sleep. There was a new look in her gaze, something cold and distant. She clutched her arms around her stomach, bracing her body as if she were waiting for a physical blow to hit her.“I saw Logan yesterday,” Colt said.Lauren’s head snapped up. Her breath hitched, getting stuck in her throat. “What?”“I saw Logan.”“You saw… who?” Her voice was a tiny, shivering thread.“Logan. Your ex-fiancé.”The room seemed to freeze.“How?” Lauren whispered, her face turning even paler. “Where did you see him?”Colt slammed his eye
“What?” Colt gasped.Lauren did not answer him right away. Her hands shook as she reached for her phone on the couch. She thrust the it toward him, her knuckles ghostly white.“I think it’s too late to act like you don’t know,” she whispered. Her voice wasn't loud. It was flat and empty. It was the sound of someone who had already died inside.Colt reached out. His fingers felt numb and cold. The moment his eyes landed on the screen, the blood drained from his face so fast he felt faint.The picture stared back at him like a crime scene.There he was, naked, wrapped in white sheets that looked like a shroud. His arm draped over Madison, and she looked at the camera with a smug, victorious grin. It looked intimate. It looked like a betrayal.“Shit,” he whispered.The phone slipped from his numb fingers and clattered onto the coffee table with a dull thud. Colt stood there, his chest heaving, his heart thumping against his ribs. The room began to spin.“Lauren, look... It’s not what you
Colt burst out of Madison’s house like it was on fire.He didn't just walk down the steps; he stumbled, his shoes skidding on the gravel. His chest was a tight knot of panic. His lungs scorched with every breath, and he leaned against the side of his car, his head hanging low, dragging air into his body, but it felt like he was inhaling broken glass.“Fuck!” he yelled into the quiet compound.He pounded his fist against the roof of the car, the metal denting under his rage. He felt sick. His skin felt like it was crawling with invisible insects, a reminder of Madison’s touch he couldn't wash away.He was a victim. He was a grown man, and he had been hunted and used. The thought made him want to vomit right there on the pavement.He wrenched the car door open and dove into the seat, fumbling with his phone. His fingers shook so much he almost dropped it between the seats.Eighteen missed calls. Dozens of texts.Charlotte. Lauren. His mother. AlexHis heart pounded against his ribs. It
Colt woke up choking on confusion.His head felt as if it had been stuffed with wet, heavy sand. When he tried to swallow, his throat felt lined with glass. His tongue was thick and dry, stuck to the roof of his mouth. He tried to move his arm, but it felt like a lead weight. It took every ounce of his strength to crack his eyelids open.The room was unfamiliar.The room was too bright; soft light filtered through thick curtains, burning his retinas. The air smelled cloyingly sweet — vanilla, expensive perfume, and something sharp at the same time. It made his stomach turn.Then, he felt the weight on his chest.Something warm, soft. Bare skin.His heart hammered against his ribs. Colt forced his head to turn, his neck popping with the effort.Madison.She was pressed against him, her arm thrown over his chest and her leg tangled between his. She looked peaceful, a small, smug smile playing on her lips even in her sleep.His breath left him in a rush.“No,” he wheezed.He tried to pus







