로그인The electricity of the kiss is still buzzing like a live wire against my lips, but the sudden, cold splash of reality hits my brain a second later. My instincts—the ones that have kept me breathing through this entire nightmare—slay the romance in an instant. I pull away from him. Sharply. "Ow, da
A ragged, choking sob rips out of my throat, and I completely break down, burying my face into my hands as my entire body shakes with tears. Deckard was a fraud. A calculated, narcissistic, disgusting fraud. He was the imposter, and I spent three whole years of my life letting him emotionally manip
He doesn't reply. He looks away from me, his gaze drifting back out toward the crashing waves and the open sky. For a long, agonizing moment, the only sound between us is the rhythmic roar of the tide. He doesn't say he forgives me, and he doesn't tell me I'm wrong. Instead, he stretches his arm
The car door clicks open, and the salty, sharp scent of the ocean instantly floods my senses. I let out a low groan, my muscles locking up as Owen gently hooks his arms underneath my shoulders to guide me out of the passenger seat. Every single inch of my body is actively screaming at me. Since Ca
"Sydney... I stepped down from my position at the firm," I say quietly, the words falling like lead weights into the dark space between us. She freezes, her jaw dropping slightly as she stares at me in shock. "What? What do you mean you stepped down?" "I resigned," I clarify, looking her dead in t
Slowly, deliberately, I run my fingers through her soft hair, tangling my hand in the strands, silently vowing to myself that no one will ever lay a malicious finger on her again as long as I am drawing breath. We stay like that for a long stretch of time, existing entirely in the quiet sanctuary o
I lean in across the dark wood, my jaw tight, waiting for the genius to drop some mind-blowing corporate strategy. Owen slides his glass entirely out of the way, his eyes tracking mine with a sudden, sharp intensity. "The first thing we need to do," he says, leaning his forearms on the table, "is p
I don't wait to hear another word. A blinding, white-hot rush of pure adrenaline and rage explodes in my chest. Before I even realize what I’m doing, my arm whips forward. I throw my phone across the bedroom with every ounce of strength I have left. It hits the far drywall with a sickening smack,
The water is the only thing that doesn’t feel like it’s judging me right now. After Nicholas left, I couldn’t stand the silence of the house, so I headed straight for the pool. I need the physical burn of the laps to drown out the mental noise of everything he said. I dive in, the cold shock of the
The sun is warm on my skin, and for a fleeting second, I am actually, genuinely happy. I’m standing in the middle of a flowery field—the kind you see in perfume commercials where everything is soft focus and smells like jasmine. The wind is blowing against my face, and I feel peaceful. Free. Like







