LOGINAnn gave up everything for Jake, the man she loved most. So when she discovers he’s cheating and asking for divorce, her world shatters.His cold silence after she leaves breaks her even more. Determined to make him regret it, Ann turn to Louis , her svelte and wealthy childhood friend. His business rival. She proposes a plan with panache: A contract marriage to provoke Jake.Loius agrees,hiding the fact that he’s secretly loved Ann. But Jake isn’t indifferent. He’s dying, and his self destructive affair was his way of facing it. The illusion that he’d moved on crumbles when he sees Ann marrying Louis. Jealousy and regret consume him. In a desperate move, Jake kidnaps Ann and reveals the truth. He gives her an ultimatum: Stay with him for 30 days. If she still doesn’t love him after that,he’ll let her go. Cut off from the world,Ann is forced into close proximity with the ex who betrayed her. As Jake cooks,cares for her and slowly shows the man she fell in love with,Ann’s anger begins to crack. By day 21, she’s ready to admit she still loves him. Outside,chaos brews. Louis goes to the media searching for his “missing wife”. Ann’s friend, Claire has been orchestrating everything. Consumed by envy,Claire manipulates her estranged twin sister,Clarissa- the sister who once scarred her in a fire and was left in poverty while Claire was adopted into wealth. On day 22,Clarissa arrives at the retreat with a bombshell, she is pregnant with Jake’s child. But Ann senses something is wrong. The woman looks identical to Claire,yet something doesn’t add up. With secrets, lies and a second chance on the line Ann must decide
View More061Jake's POVThe moment I stepped through the door, she was already waiting for me.Her expression changed the second she saw me. Whatever anger had existed between us during our phone call seemed to disappear completely.She walked straight toward me.“You actually came.”“I told you I would.”She smiled and wrapped her arms around me.I held her close, breathing in her familiar perfume. For a moment, everything outside that apartment disappeared—the company, my parents, Ann, the divorce papers, all of it.There was only her.“You look exhausted,” she whispered.“I am.”“Then let me take your mind off everything.”I looked into her eyes.There was something about the way she looked at me that made resisting her almost impossible.I leaned closer and kissed her.She immediately returned the kiss, her hands resting against my shoulders as I pulled her closer. The kiss became deeper, more desperate, carrying all the frustration and tension I had been carrying throughout the day.She b
060Louis POVWhen I was finally done with my meetings, I leaned back in my chair and let out a slow breath.It had been a long day.One meeting had dragged into another, followed by a series of discussions that could have easily been handled through emails. Yet somehow, every department head had decided that today was the perfect day to bring their problems directly to me.Normally, I wouldn’t have minded.Today, however, my mind had been somewhere else.Ann.I glanced at the time on my watch.It was almost closing time.Without giving myself much time to think about it, I stood up, grabbed my jacket, and left my office.I headed straight for the designing department.I wanted to see how she was doing.Ever since she had arrived here at Crescent, I had deliberately tried not to hover around her. I didn’t want her to feel as though I had brought her into my company because I had ulterior motives.She was definitely going to earn her place here.I knew that for sure.And judging by what
059Ann's POV I was really enjoying the tour and the gossip.For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t thinking about divorce papers.I wasn’t thinking about Jake.I wasn’t thinking about the conversation that had happened between us, or the way his voice had sounded when everything we had built together finally seemed to collapse beneath the weight of our words.I wasn’t even thinking about what would happen after I signed those papers.I was simply Ann.Not Mrs. Laurent.Not Jake Laurent’s wife.Not the woman whose marriage was falling apart.Just Ann.And strangely enough, being at Emerald gave me that feeling.Maybe it was because everything around me was so busy.People were moving from one office to another, assistants were rushing around with files, phones were ringing, designers were arguing over colours and fabrics, and somewhere in the distance, I could hear laughter.There was life everywhere.And I found myself smiling more than I had expected.Louis noticed
058Louis’s POVAnn was giving me that suspicious look again.I couldn’t quite explain it, but there was something different about the way she was looking at me.Her eyes stayed on mine for a few seconds longer than usual, almost as if she were searching for something behind my words.I shifted slightly in my chair.For a moment, I wondered if she already knew something.Had someone told her?Had Jake said something?Or perhaps she had heard some version of what had happened and was simply waiting for me to admit it myself.I studied her expression carefully.She wasn’t angry.She wasn’t accusing me either.But there was definitely something behind those eyes.“Is there something you want to ask me?” I finally said.Ann blinked.“No.”The answer came a little too quickly.I raised an eyebrow.She gave me a faint smile.“I just…” She paused. “You seem different.”“Different how?”“I don’t know.”She looked away.I leaned back in my chair.“Ann, if there’s something you’re worried about






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