With the commotion outside the boutique now reaching its climax, Damien, with one of his hands on Isla’s shoulder, led her out of the scene to where his car was parked, the murmurs and camera flashes still persisting behind them.He moved around the car, his steps steady, yet a little too deliberate as he opened the passenger door with care and extended a hand toward her.She hesitated for a second before slipping her hand into his own.As he helped her in, his eyes dropped to their joined hands, and he felt it.Isla's hand was trembling.He glanced at her with quiet, knowing eyes and then tightened his grip like some sort of anchor to keep her balanced.Isla felt it immediately. The moment his fingers pressed more firmly around hers, she pulled back from him, impulsively but gently.Damien noticed her reaction, how her hand left his own, and for a moment, his gaze remained on her profile, unreadable. But he said nothing about it.As for Isla, her brows knit faintly, the confusion i
The next afternoon, Isla was in her office scrolling through client emails. Most of them were about fittings, fabric changes, and an upcoming press event.And this was what she was trying to sort when the sudden sound of the office door creaking open made her head snap up sharply, looking startled.“Ma’am…” Came the breathless voice of her assistant, Leila Jones, who hurried with a black tablet in her hands.Her eyes were wide in a manner that seemed like she was unsure of how to deliver the urgency she clearly carried to her boss.“Ma Isla, you need to see this.” She voiced out as soon as she reached Isla's desk.Isla blinked at her, but kept her eyes steady. She sighed lightly and gestured with a quick nod. “Come closer. What is it?”Leila moved even more quickly around the desk and angled the tablet toward her. Isla leaned forward slightly as the glowing screen came into clearer view.It was a blog page, and at the very top, in bold letters, the title of the page left her stif
It was half past 8pm, and Vanessa was alone in the bedroom, roaming aimlessly from one point to the next. She was thinking about her narrow escape a few days ago.How she had barely made it out of that mess with her head intact.But how long would that kind of luck last? How long?How many more times would she be able to slip through the cracks?“No. Never again.“ She murmured.There was only one real solution to ensure the Hayes family wouldn’t shove her out the door the next minute they find yet another good quality Isla had over her, like they had been blabbing about late. She had to get pregnant. It wasn’t a wish, this was survival.Her expression slowly shifted as this reality settled in her chest. Then, with a slow, calming exhale, she turned toward the wardrobe, opened it, and searched through until her fingers paused when they reached the dark, sheer fabric tucked subtly at the far end.She pulled it out, holding it up with a sultry smirk.It was a seductive dark lace trim
Damien returned to his room moments later, looking as restless as hell.Every now and then, he would pace from one end of the room to the next, his hands thrown behind him.The kiss still lingered not just on his lips, but in his brain. It wasn't supposed to happen. None of it was. He was Damien Blackwood. Never the kind of man known for losing control, not over himself, and certainly not over women. But Isla... Isla had somehow proven herself to be more than just any woman.“Dammit,” He muttered under his breath, stopping once again at the edge of the mirrorHis reflection stared back at him, a tense jaw, furrowed brows, shoulders rising and falling too quickly.The moment played again in his head; Isla’s startled expression, his own reaction… raw and reckless. Then the way she left in a rush, looking like she had been burned by something far worse than a kiss.His fists clenched as he now started to think about this loss of control and how it had all started…it actually started
The phone kept buzzing in Isla’s hand while the screen lit up repeatedly.Her thumb hovered right above the green icon.The silence that coiled the space between her and Damien was heavy with pressure.She could feel his gaze before she looked and when her eyes finally met his own, it was like slamming into a wall of restraint. Damien didn’t speak, nor did he move. He just wore this empty look that still managed to be full of meaning, as though daring her to make the next move.Still, Isla didn’t exactly back down. She held his stare, the phone trembling just slightly in her grip before she muttered quietly, her hand gesturing with the phone. “It’s rude to control who I talk to.”Damien said nothing, all he did was keep that unrelenting look. Like he was trying to hold her in place with nothing but the force of his presence.The phone was still ringing. Then just as Isla was still torn between ignoring the call or defying Damien to answer it anyway, the screen went black, the call
A few minutes had passed since Isla made up her mind to follow Damien.It wasn’t easy, actually.As a matter of fact, she might not have done it at all if she had not later considered the contract binding her to him like invisible chains.She could still feel the sting of the humiliation, it was as choking as it was inescapable.The fact that Damien still had any credit left at all in her heart after all this was a big wonder.But there she was, seated beside him in his car, with shoulders stiff and posture upright as though determined not to melt into the leather seat.The car moved smoothly through the darkening streets, and silence prevailed between them.Damien kept his eyes forward, jaw tight, the corner of his mouth drawn downward.And every now and then his eyes would flick toward Isla…to give short, sharp glances, as if he couldn’t help himself.But her silence was louder than any shout.He could tell…he just knew, she was blaming him for everything that happened back there.A
Isla stood still, her eyes wide, her lips parted like she was deciding between fight or flight. When the silence stretched a little too long, it appeared to anger Damien the more so he lashed out and gestured even more harshly;“Well? Are you going to deny it, or are you just going to keep standing there like like….”“Yes, I was with him,” Isla burst out, voice fierce, unashamed.She had been holding herself together since dinner, the twisted emotions and puzzles had left her going crazy, and now, for her messy day to get crowned with Damien blaming her for the very same confusion he started, was the height of it.Damien didn’t move after she said this.He ground his teeth; he had expected it to sting, but not much.But Isla wasn’t finished. “And I didn’t sneak around to do it, either.”Damien stiffened further. Then, like an injured tiger, he clenched his teeth to declare “You’re my wife…”Isla scoffed with her eyebrows lifted. “Wife? But you remind me every time that it’s just a
Just a few hours after the fun moment they shared in the boutique, Caden had gone further to ask Isla to have dinner with him while they sat quietly in the car, on his way out. He sounded so calm and sincere, without pressure, and Isla looked at him, observing how he seemed so much more serious and so much less playful. Then, after a short pause, with a single nod and a faint smile, she agreed.They arrived at the place at exactly 6:47 PM.The sky was already shifting into hues of burnt orange. Isla, unfastened her seatbelt, stepped down from his car, and instinctively turned her head toward what she assumed would be their usual cozy lunch bistro, but the building before her made her pause.Her gaze floated from the glowing rooftop down to Caden, who was now standing beside her, watching her like he had been waiting for this exact moment all day.She blinked twice in confusion.“This… isn’t where I thought we were going,” she murmured in half-wonder, wearing a tentative smile.“No,
Damien kept one hand in his pocket.A couple of seconds passed with his eyes not leaving the screen, but then, finally, what he heard next was a beep that left one side of his face squeezed up."Call declined."Not missed.Not unanswered.“Declined?”The notification sat there like a slap to his face.He stared, his eyes didn't blink, didn’t twitch. But something inside him did.It felt like a sting behind his ribs as he murmured the words again.It was not a mistake. Isla had pressed that button intentionally. She did it herself; it was completely willful, and for the first time since he could remember, she had chosen to treat him like some sort of distraction.His thumb remained on the screen, as if considering a reply, but no. Without warning, he tapped the side button with a little more force than was needed and then shoved the phone deep into his pocket, rising sharply to his feet.The chair made a scratchy sound behind him.After that, he started to walk out of his office with