MasukThe kiss started soft at first, but it quickly turned into something else. It was deep. Thorough. Filled with passion, aggression and pent up anger. His hands grabbed her face while his mouth wrecked her. Lyra kissed him back just as hard, tasting the faintest trace of whiskey in his breath, feeling every nerve in her body react to him as though she'd been waiting forever for this. As though his breath could quench the fury in her. The confusion.Suddenly, she pulled away. And before he could register the loss, her hand flew to his cheek and she slapped him again. She stared at him and he held her gaze. Her eyes were filled with an intensity that wasn't just anger. “Don't think kissing me solves everything,” she said, breathless. “I know,” he whispered.Even as her pulse pounded with anger, her traitorous body still responded—hungry with need. Heat flooded to her core and trailed down her thighs. Tyson's eyes, still glazed with desire, roamed her almost-bare chest. That's when
The words stopped her cold.For a second, she forgot what she was going to say. Heat crept up her neck as his words from that night filled her mind. *I get to call you my wife. We get to live together. Share a bed. Watch you eat off my plate. Travel. Argue about our next vacation. Smell your farts. Have kids. Pillow fight. Drink wine from your mouth, and do all the other weird shit that couples do. But it won't be weird to me—because it's you. And you don't get to leave. Forever.*Tyson was standing close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body. His eyes held hers, unwavering, and for once there was no teasing smile or smug remark hiding what he was thinking. He meant it. He truly meant it. He meant everything he'd said that night?That realization sent an unfamiliar flutter through her chest. She hated that it did. She pushed the feeling down and lifted her chin, refusing to allow herself go soft. “How about coming clean and not being a manipulative asshole?” she hiss
‘Yes’. Those words landed on Lyra like a bucket of ice. She wanted to ask him why. Why he’d done something so twisted? But at this point, did it really matter? Would whatever sick explanation he’d cook make it up?Lyra stared at Tyson who was still standing by the door with a blank expression on his face and she wanted to shout. Wanted to scream. Tyson had taken a page out of a dark romance plot. Except this was real life. Her life. And he'd crossed a line. This was control… Manipulation, in its finest, purest form. That day, she felt alive. She'd thought she was controlling the stakes. Bargaining, negotiating, taking matters into her hands—anything, but stepping into a carefully written out script.She allowed the paper to slip off her finger and she stormed towards the door before it even landed on the ground. Just as she reached where Tyson stood, he grabbed her wrist. “I'm sorry,” he gritted out.Her face twisted into a deep scowl. She wretched her hand away and eyed him. “
The biggest misconception Lyra had was thinking this was a contract marriage. That their agreement would be over after a year. That she'd just get up and walk away when the contract said she would. For years, Tyson had kept his eyes on her. He'd watched the way his nephew had treated her. He'd watched her stay. Anyone with eyes could see that Alex only had eyes for Nadine. Either she was too naive to notice, or it wasn't a deal-breaker for her. Quite frankly, he had no right to interfere. She loved Alex and she seemed content with where she was. After all, Tyson wasn't a saint himself. He didn't deserve her. Not after everything. But he also knew that Alex didn't deserve Lyra either. She deserved somebody way better. Somebody that wasn't part of the Wilson family. Somebody that wasn't involved in this mess. He'd continued to be an observer, deciding to meddle only when it was truly necessary. He'd told himself he'd allow her to live her life and only step in when the Wilson
The door of the study was half open when Lyra got there, the sharp smell of printer ink and papers overpowering the clean vanilla scent in the background.At a corner of the room, the printer hummed as it vomited papers that slid to the ground and added to the growing paper pool.Lyra stepped in, calling Tyson's name as her gaze roamed around.No response.Instinctively, her eyes landed on the table and she walked over. One after the other, she gathered the scattered documents on the ground into a neat pile. She straightened the edges of the bundle with a light tap against her thigh. Then she glanced around, looking for an envelope to keep the papers. She'd caught a glimpse of them, and they looked like work documents. She didn't want them lying around where they could go missing or damaged. Lyra opened the top drawer, but all the envelopes inside were occupied and labeled.When she opened the second one, she finally found an empty, unlabeled one. She picked it up, intending to pla
Lyra stood over a pot of seasoned rice and stirred. She watched the grains absorb the chicken stock while the smell of roasted chicken browning in the oven filled the air.Beside her, May diced bell peppers.Before leaving for work in the morning, she'd told May what to buy. And since Friday was practically a half day, she'd left the office a little earlier because she wanted to cook. Tyson was coming home today.She didn't know what she was doing, or why she was even doing it all. She just told herself that it's because he was coming back from a trip and needed something that felt like home.But the voice in her head called her a liar. Because when did she become responsible for that? If at all, why couldn't May do it alone?Lyra didn't pay much attention to the thoughts in her head. She pushed them aside and checked the chicken in the oven before returning to the rice.May gently pushed the bowl of diced vegetables to her, watching with interest as Lyra poured them into a different
In Mantha Oil Limited's top floor, Magnus had just entered the biggest office in the building. Patrick, who was resting with both eyes shut, opened an eye and glanced at his assistant lazily. “What is it?”“I have news on EC,” Magnus announced.Patrick leaned forward and raised a brow, curiosity p
Moments later, Tyson returned with a nurse in her mid-twenties. She checked Lyra's vitals and said she was fine. The impact from the accident wasn't fatal, and she just had a few bruises.After the nurse left, Tyson sat beside Lyra, an awkward silence stretching in the room. Until he broke it. “Sor
“Nadine?” Alex called out, worry etched on his face. Lyra knew that this was just one of Nadine's tricks. She wondered how Alex was always so blind to it. “Lex, please help me. I don't know what's wrong. I can't breat—” Nadine collapsed to the ground. Murmurs swept through the church. Men in
“Turn. Hang your legs on my shoulder.” The words came out as a groan, accompanied by a gasp and then the sounds of skin slapping skin. Lyra stared at her phone screen in disgust, chest tightening with each thrust, tears slipping from her eyes as the sounds grew louder and more insistent. She'd







