LOGINThat was it. My mind glitched, flashing red warning signs everywhere.My mouth hung open as I stared at him, wondering if I'd heard correctly or he had finally lost his mind.His face remained serious. "You're not joking?""I'm not a comedian. Never been one."What the hell!?"Have you lost it, Marshall?" I slammed my hands on the table. "Seriously? You're trying to take advantage of my situation because you think I'm desperate? Why the fuck do I have to move in with you? How many couples live together?"Despite my outburst, he remained unbothered and calmly shrugged. "It's just for precautions. I don't trust you, Solayne. So I need to keep a close eye on you." He leaned forward, going back to the papers. "I hope this doesn't come as offensive—though I don't really care if it does—but my image is more important than yours."My hands folded beside me. I closed my eyes temporarily, taking a deep breath. "Marshall, you're being unreasonable."He glanced up. "You kissed me. Now, you're tr
He lowered his eyes to his desk and scoffed. When he looked up at me again, the shadow seemed to have passed."I was expecting you to laugh," he said dryly. "Turns out you aren't joking."I exhaled. Okay, his reaction scared me more than I'd admit. Why did the mention of a relationship get to him that much?He went back to shuffling papers."This—This is serious, Marshall. In my defense, I didn't expect him to take it seriously. I'd thought the conversation would die in his office. It was the only way I could stop him from seizing power from me. Marshall, you have to understand." I paused. "Now, he's requesting to see you.""Solayne, you better go back there and tell daddy you were high on drugs. I don't do relationships."The asshole.Well, I wasn't surprised. Marshall became too closed off after his girlfriend died seven years ago, two years after the 'incident' between me and him. She'd been abducted and murdered.Her death had really gotten to Marshall. He became too closed off. R
I looked up at Marshall who had that half-lidded amusement in his eyes. Shame suddenly felt heavy on me. I'd kissed him while moaning his brother's name. How did that land in his pretty little ego?"Y—You didn't try to stop me." I tried sounding tough again, but even I could hear the crack in my defense. "You could've done something, Marshall! Push me off or something!"I blinked, remembering the video. "Hold on, you were holding my thigh! You were... touching me!""You don't throw a bone at a dog and expect it to just sniff."My eyes went wide, my jaw dropping."Please, Solayne," he scoffed. "I'd only been carrying out a test to see if you'd become interesting. Turns out you're still the same Solayne from high school."His words ran deep. He was never going to stop talking about the incident from highschool was he?He emptied his glass and reached for a refill. "So, you were hurt my brother picked Nessa over you. Is he even aware you have these feelings for him?""My personal life is
He went mute. Guess he wasn't expecting to hear my voice.I had to check the screen to make sure the call hadn't ended. "Please don't tell me you're waiting for a translator to interpret plain English. Tell your security to let me through the damn gate, Marshall."His response came two seconds later. "And how do you expect me to do that when I'm not talking with him?"I squeezed the phone so hard I wished it were his skull. I yanked it from my ear and stabbed the speaker. "Well, he can hear you now. So, let out the royal command.""Ken," he called, his voice coming off lazy."Sir.""Let her through. And if she's still listening, she should be informed to wait right outside the door until it's opened for her."Before I could spit a comeback, he hung up. Seriously? Dishing such orders like I was some delivery girl?I rolled through the gate and parked at the entrance, killed the engine, and climbed out to wait—just as commanded.My eyes skimmed the driveway. There were seven cars cluste
If I could see a magician that could turn back the hands of time, I'd spend every penny in my account to make it happen.A plan I'd thought would be my rescue turned out to be a house fire.How could I have predicted he'd become so interested in Marshall? How was I supposed to get engaged to a guy I'd only spoken to once in nine years? Not to mention the fact that we actually hated each other's guts."Will that be a problem, Solayne?" Father asked, his look accessing.No. He could not know I was lying. That'd be worse than the video."Of—Of course, not," I said, pasting on a smile that could pass for genuine. "Marshall and I will be here tonight for dinner.".....Mum followed me out of the office."Why didn't you tell me you were in a relationship with Marshall?" her voice was softer now.Christ, I couldn't believe even she fell for it."Like...I said in there, mum, we wanted to come out at the right time.She crossed her arms. She seemed really impressed. "Marshall is a good catch.
For the first time, I wished my parents’ mansion was in another country.But no, 'lucky' me, it was fifteen minutes away.Still in the car, I decided to take Vance's call. He'd been calling non-stop after I texted him asking for Marshall's contact. Even before then he'd been calling like everyone else."Solayne, thank God you finally answered. I'm on my way to your place." His voice was taut with worry."I'm not home.""Where are you?""My parents." I dragged my fingers through my hair. "You haven't sent the number, Vance.""Because I don't have it. He changes his number too frequently. I don't have the current one, unless I ask my mum."Fucking hell."Give me his address, then. Or is he at your parents?""Solayne, I need to know what's going on. What is that video all about?""Well, I don't know either!" My voice rose a notch. I forced in a breath, pressed a hand to my temple, and softened my tone. "I'm sorry, Vance. M—My head is a mess right now. Everyone's been calling. My dad want







