ログインIt was strange; I’d spent so much time wishing William would just leave me alone, but once he actually became a ghost in the house, the silence became deafening. I didn't see him at breakfast, his chair was empty at dinner, and the heavy oak door to his study remained firmly shut. Part of me wondered if he was avoiding me because of the kiss—or if he was just done with me entirely.By Friday, I couldn't take the walls of the house anymore. I headed into the office, my mind set on one thing: my future. If I was going to survive this internship, and I needed to be in the legal departmentWhen I arrived at the Sterling Global headquarters, the glass tower felt even more intimidating than usual. I checked my reflection in the lobby mirrors, adjusting the lapels of my blazer. Today wasn't just about filing papers; I was going to ask for what is practical to my field of study.When I stepped off the elevator on the fiftieth floor, I ran into Jax. He was leaning against a desk, nursing a
"No I haven't, You're Marcus," Chloe blurted out before the guy could even open his mouth.He froze, his hand still reaching for the frisbee on the grass. He blinked, clearly caught off guard, but then that slow, lopsided grin returned, wider than before. He straightened up, tucking a plastic disc under his arm, and looked at Chloe with a mix of shock and genuine amusement."Well," he laughed, his voice warm and rich. "I guess I don't need to introduce myself then. I was literally about to say my name is Marcus, but you beat me to it."I shot Chloe a look—the kind of look only best friends understand. It was a mix of 'Hello, girl, go for it!' and 'Wow, you really did your homework.' I gave her a subtle nudge with my elbow, trying to encourage her to keep the momentum going. After the night I’d had, watching someone else’s love life play out felt like a much-needed breath of fresh air.Marcus chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at Chloe. "It’s good to know I’m not the
~Isabel ~The morning light felt like a physical assault as it poured through the sheer curtains of my room. I groaned, burying my face in the silk pillow, but as I shifted, a strange sensation washed over me. My body felt... different. Sensitive. There was a lingering hum in my veins that I couldn't quite place until the memories of the night started to rush back in a blurry, golden wave.William. Here. In my room. His hands—I bolted upright, my heart beating a frantic rhythm. I looked at the nightstand. There sat a glass of milk and a plate of cookies, untouched and cold. My breath hitched. Was it a dream? It had to be. The way he had touched me, the warmth of his skin, and the way I had practically begged for him—it was too vivid, too real to be anything but a high-definition fantasy cooked up by my own starved subconscious self.I slid my hands over my face, heat blooming across my cheeks. "Get a grip, Isabel," I whispered to the empty room.I shouldn't be having dreams li
~William ~I stood outside her door for a long minute, staring at the tray in my hands. A glass of milk and a plate of those cookies she liked. My father had noticed she barely touched her dinner, and in his usual "everyone must be happy and i should bond more with my Step-sister we are family now” discussion.He had suggested I take something up to her. I should have told him no. I should have handed the tray to a maid. But instead, here I was, with my heart doing a slow, heavy throb against my ribsI pushed the door open quietly. The room was dim, lit only by the moonlight filtering through the curtains. I walked over to the nightstand to set the tray down, but my eyes drifted to her. Isabel was fast asleep, her dark hair fanned out across the white silk pillow like a crown of shadows. She looked so peaceful, her breathing was deep and even, her face also softened by sleep. In the office and while awake, she was a fireball all sharp words and stubborn glares.But now in fro
~Isabel~ I lay staring at the ceiling of my room, the shadows of the tree branches outside dancing against the wall. My heart was still doing that frantic, fluttering thing against my ribs. Why did he have to be so handsome? It felt like a personal insult. He was a bully, he was arrogant, and half the time he opened his mouth, I wanted to scream. But then there was the other half of the time—the way he looked in that black tee, the way he smelled like rain and expensive wood, and the way he’d looked at me across the dinner table.He was my stepbrother, for heaven's sake. Even saying the word in my head made my stomach flip with a mix of guilt and something much darker. Thinking about him this way, imagining the things I was imagining, was so incredibly wrong. But my mind was a traitor. Every time I closed my eyes, I wasn't thinking about Corporate Law or my bank account or why I needed this internship why i was here in London to bag a degree in Law. No, instead, instead I was
~Isabel~I spent the rest of the afternoon with Chloe in the library, but I wasn't really reading about Law Ethics. My mind was stuck on that text message from earlier from William. A simple “What up?”I had been looking for him the other day to talk about my transition to co-operate department so I texted him to know where he was since I didn't see him around the mansion and he had replied almost immediately that he was at the gym.It shouldn't have surprised me; nobody gets shoulders that broad and muscles that lean just by sitting behind a desk. I kept picturing him in that humid gym air, those biceps strained under weights, and honestly, the image was doing things to my heart rate that were definitely not helpful for my studies. He looked dashing in a suit, like he was born to rule the world, but in a simple gym tee? That was a different kind of danger entirely.By the time I got back to the mansion and finished some extra reading in my room, the sun had long since tucked itsel
~William~I had spent the better part of the night staring at the ceiling, my lips still burning from a kiss that should have never happened. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those chocolate-colored irises challenging me.By the afternoon, I needed to drown out the noise in my head. I hit the pri
I stood in the center of my study long after the door had clicked shut, the silence of the mansion pressing in on me like a heavy weight. My hand moved on its own, my fingers tracing the burning sting on my cheek where Isabel’s palm had connected. A dry, bitter laugh escaped my throat.I was losing
Instead of the explosion I expected, William just stood there. He slowly brought his hand up to his face, his fingers tracing the red mark where my palm had hit him. A dark smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes stayed eerily calm.The silence was so loud it made my ears ring. My hea
I stood outside the heavy oak doors of William’s private study, taking a dip breath before going in. My face felt tight from the dried tears, and my heart was still thumping from the blowout with my mother.I didn't have the energy for politeness so I just pushed the door open.The study was dimly







