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MAT GALA

Author: O.A PRESHY
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-29 06:20:38

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

The walk home felt longer than it should’ve.

My heels echoed off the empty pavement, matching the erratic beat of my thoughts. Xavier’s words played continuously on my head, quiet but lethal ..“Meridian Hotel. Not exactly corporate.”

I didn’t want to believe it.

But why is he lying? I thought we should tell each other everything.

The house was dark when I stepped back inside, cool and still. The silence stretched long enough to make me wonder if he’d gone to bed. But then I saw him in the kitchen, sleeves rolled, a glass of whiskey half full on the counter.

He looked up.

Relief softened his features. “Hey. Was starting to get worried.”

“I told you I needed air,” I said, slipping my heels off by the door.

“Still. It’s late.” He took a sip of his drink, watching me over the rim. “Everything okay?”

I nodded slowly, walking toward the sink and pouring myself a glass of water. “Long walk.”

A beat of silence. He leaned against the island, studying me, probably t
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  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   GONE

    DRAKE POVThe first thing I noticed was the cold.The bed beside me was empty, the sheets no longer warm. Her scent still lingered, vanilla and rose and something else, something heartbreakingly hers…but she was gone.I sat up, blinking against the early light.“Isabella?” I called out.Silence.I reached for my phone, expecting a text. A note. Something. But the screen was blank. No missed calls. No messages.A knot tightened in my chest.She never left without saying something. Not after last night. Not after everything we said, everything we did. My mind raced. Was it Eva? No. She would have woken me.I pulled on a shirt, heart thudding like a war drum, and walked through the house. Kitchen empty. Living room was quiet.Her purse was gone. So were her keys.I asked the house help if she have seen her but all answers were negative.Something was wrong.I was halfway to grabbing my car keys when the knock came.Three soft taps.I opened the door.And froze.Jasmine.Wearing a silky tre

  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   SECRET UNVEILED

    The morning light crept in through the curtains, brushing across Drake’s bare skin. He was still asleep, his face turned toward me, lips parted slightly, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. There was something devastatingly innocent about him in that moment, as if the night before had healed everything that ever went wrong between us.But I wasn’t naive.Not anymore.My fingers brushed the side of his face gently, memorizing the warmth, the peace. I wanted to stay. I wanted to crawl back into bed, wrap myself around him, and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist. But the blinking message on my phone last night had burned itself into my memory like a scar.Xavier.I slid out of bed carefully, moving like a thief in my own home. I didn’t even bother to change fully, I just threw on leggings and one of Drake’s hoodies, tying my hair into a quick bun. I paused at the door, looking back one last time.Last night had been more than just passion. It was a vow. A promise made in t

  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   RENEW VOW

    ISABELLA POVHe looked like death when he walked through the door.Not the dramatic kind, no blood, no bruises but something far worse. He looked empty. As if someone had reached into his chest and stolen whatever had been left of his heart. His eyes didn’t rise to meet mine, not fully. Just a glance, a flicker, before they dropped to the floor like they were ashamed to look up.And suddenly, all the anger I’d held, all the suspicion I’d carried like a shield, it cracked. No, it shattered.I had done this.“Drake?” I whispered.He didn’t answer.My heels made soft thuds against the floor as I walked to him. I could see how stiff his posture was, how his fingers trembled at his sides, like he was barely holding himself together. My own throat tightened as guilt bloomed in my chest, hot and suffocating.I reached out and cupped his cheek.He flinched, just slightly.“Baby,” I murmured, brushing my thumb along his skin. “I’m so sorry.”His eyes finally lifted to mine. And they were blood

  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   PAST

    XAVIER POVHe came.The moment I heard the dull thud of the elevator, I felt a delicious ripple of satisfaction coursing through me.I didn’t even turn around right away. Let him see my back. Let the city lights frame me like a goddamn painting. I lifted my glass and took a slow sip, the chill of the whiskey biting pleasantly at my tongue and burning my chest satisfyingly.He actually came.Drake. Perfect, golden boy Drake. Husband. Father. Saint.Fool.I placed my phone slightly in my coat pocket, just enough to ensure the screen stays lit. Recording. Every word. Every truth.“You look like hell,” I greeted, still facing the skyline, smiling to myself. “You always age badly under pressure.”He stomped forward, jaw tight, posture rigid with fury. I turned slowly, relishing the fire in his eyes. Rage and fear,such fragile emotions when layered on a man pretending to be strong.“Why?” he snapped. “Why the hell are you doing this? What do you want from me, Xavier?”I leaned back against t

  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   DOWNTOWN

    The charm was still warm in my hand, as if it remembered him too.I couldn’t stop staring at it. The sleek silver design, so clean and deliberate. My heart pounded against my ribs. I had seen this before years ago, on a chain Xavier wore religiously. He used to hold it between his fingers when he was thinking. Or lying.But that was impossible. It had to be.It couldn’t be his.Unless…The floor creaked above. My thoughts snapped. I looked up, just as the sharp tap of heels on tiles echoed down the stairs.And then she appeared.Granny Evelyn.Still regal despite her age, skin wrapped in pearls and bitterness, her expression carved into a permanent sneer of disapproval. She stood at the bottom step, arms folded, eyes glinting like polished glass, poisonous.“Well, well,” she said, with a grin as smug as it was venomous. “If it isn’t the mother of the year.”My heart dropped.Eva was still curled into my lap, hiccuping softly.I stood quickly. “Eva, sweetie, go upstairs with Nanny, oka

  • ISABELLA (The Night that ruined me)   ILLEGITIMATE

    DRAKE POVThe words hung in the air like poison."Is it true Drake isn’t Eva’s biological father?"My blood went cold, heat crawling to my spine.For a moment, everything froze. The flashing cameras, the sea of silk and suits, Isabella’s posture which was perfect one second, fractured the next.I saw it in her eyes.That brief, brutal flicker of devastation.And I knew someone had been digging. No, not digging. Planning."Isabella?" I said quietly, already placing my hand on the small of her back.Her body was rigid under my touch. Her silence was louder than the crowd.Reporters shout follow ups, like sharks in bloody water. Another voice sliced through the static."Is Eva being hidden from the spotlight because she’s illegitimate?"Illegitimate.That word set fire to my spine.“Let’s go,” I said through my teeth, keeping my face composed. I smiled fake, camera trained as I guided her down the carpet like nothing had happened.Like I hadn’t just been gutted in front of a thousand len

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