SURPRISED.

The night was loud.

Music pulsed through the walls, the kind that made your heart race even if you didn’t want it to. Lights flashed red, blue, gold — people laughed, bodies moved, and the world outside the club ceased to exist.

I sat at the bar, my fingers wrapped around a glass of something strong. I didn’t even ask what it was — I just wanted the burn, the distraction, the numbness.

My sister, Bella, had dragged me here. She said she had a “surprise” to cheer me up, but really, I knew what she wanted. To make me forget.

Bella was everything I wasn’t — fearless, wild, unapologetic. While I’d spent years clinging to love and loyalty, she lived like the world owed her nothing and she owed it nothing in return. No attachments. No heartbreak.

She was dancing now, her hips swaying effortlessly to the beat, her laughter cutting through the music like silver bells. Men watched her with hungry eyes, but she didn’t care. Bella belonged to no one.

I envied her for that.

She came back to the bar, her hair sticking slightly to her forehead, her cheeks flushed. “You’re not drinking enough,” she teased, sliding onto the stool beside me.

“I’m drinking plenty,” I muttered, swirling the liquid in my glass. “I just don’t feel anything yet.”

She laughed. “That’s the point, Vera. You’re supposed to feel nothing.”

I looked at her and sighed. “I wish I could be like you, Bella. No man, no troubles.”

She smirked, the corner of her glossy lips curving upward. “You don’t need to wish,” she said, reaching out to tilt my chin up. “Let’s start tonight.”

Her eyes sparkled mischievously, and I knew that look — she was up to something.

“Start what?” I asked, half suspicious, half curious.

She reached into her clutch and pulled out a small silver key. She placed it on the counter in front of me. Attached to it was a tiny tag: Room 305.

I frowned. “What’s this?”

“Your surprise,” she said, winking. “Go upstairs. Have fun. Start a new beginning.”

“Bella,” I groaned. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “You’ve spent years being the good girl. The loyal one. The one who waits. For what? For a man who betrayed you in the bed you paid for?”

I flinched at her words. The image of Liam and Anna flashed across my mind again like a wound being reopened.

“I’ve never cheated on him,” I said softly, my voice barely audible above the music.

“Shhh.” Bella pressed a finger gently against my lips. “You never cheated on him, but he did. And not just anywhere — he did it under your roof.”

The statement cut through me like a blade. My chest tightened.

Bella leaned back, her eyes softening slightly. “You deserve to live too, Vera. To feel wanted. To stop crying over someone who doesn’t deserve your tears.”

I stared at the key on the counter. Room 305. The number glinted under the club’s flashing lights, as if mocking me, daring me.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

“Then don’t do it for revenge,” she said. “Do it for yourself.”

Her words lingered. The bass from the speakers vibrated through the floor, syncing with the rhythm of my heartbeat. My head spun — from the alcohol, from her words, from everything.

I looked at Bella again — my carefree sister, dancing between danger and freedom like it was second nature. Maybe I’d spent too long living in fear. Maybe it was time to let go.

Before I could change my mind, I grabbed the key from the counter and stood up.

Bella’s eyes lit up. “That’s my girl,” she said with a grin. “Room 305. You’ll thank me later.”

“I doubt that,” I muttered, but she just laughed and waved me off before disappearing back into the crowd.

I pushed through the haze of perfume, sweat, and music, heading toward the back hallway where the private suites were. The further I went, the quieter it got — the thumping bass faded into a muffled hum, replaced by the soft hum of air conditioning.

I staggered through the corridor searching for the right room…

The corridor was dimly lit, lined with sleek black doors, each marked with golden numbers. 299… 301… 303…

And then there it was. 305.

I tried inserting my key but then it was open, inside was so cool and spotless, I dragged myself to the bed, “ so soft and comfy” I whispered.

Just then I saw a smoke rising from a cigarette in the balcony.

“Who's there”!, I asked. No response, i stood up and went to the balcony,

He stood there — tall, broad-shouldered, and effortlessly commanding, as though the room itself bent around his presence. His suit was perfectly cut, black and sleek, emphasizing the sculpted build beneath — strength wrapped in elegance.

The first thing that caught my breath wasn’t his looks —it was his aura. Quiet, restrained power. The kind that didn’t need to shout to be obeyed. His eyes, deep and piercing, were the color of storm clouds — calm one second, dangerous the next. When they landed on me, it felt like he saw too much, stripped away my defenses one layer at a time.

His hair, dark and slightly tousled, looked like it had been ruined by impatient fingers — or maybe by the wind when he stepped out of one of those expensive cars parked outside. His jawline was sharp, dusted with the perfect amount of stubble, giving him that careless edge that made him look both sophisticated and sinfully wild.

He moved with unhurried confidence, each step deliberate — the kind of grace that comes from knowing the world bends easily for you. There was something dangerous about him, something that whispered temptation and ruin all at once.

When he spoke, his voice was low and smooth — the kind that doesn’t just reach your ears but sinks into your skin, lingers in your chest, and makes your pulse skip.

And when he smiled… God, that smile — slow, knowing, just a curve of his lips that promised trouble and pleasure in the same breath.

He was temptation dressed in a suit.

The kind of man mothers warned their daughters about — and the kind of man every daughter secretly wanted to risk everything for.