LOGIN~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN~ HARDIN’S POV I stare at her name on my screen for a second longer than I should. Then I lock the phone and slide it back into my pocket. The door opens almost immediately after, and Andrew walks in, dragging a man behind him like dead weight. Three of my men follow, their presence filling the room with something heavier than before. The man is barely holding himself together. Blood covers his face, dried in some places, fresh in others. One eye is swollen shut, his lips split, his breathing uneven like every inhale hurts. Andrew lets go of him and shoves him forward. He crashes to the floor, barely catching himself. “Boss,” Andrew says, steady and clinical. “He’s been softened up.” I say nothing, just watching. “He confessed,” Andrew continues. “He’s the one who passed information to the people who ambushed our men in the south.” Silence drops into the room. “A traitor…” I repeat slowly, my voice low, controlled. “In my club?
~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN~ HARDIN’S POV The moment I step into the club, I feel it. Something is off. It is not loud or chaotic, just tight. It feels like the air has been pulled too thin, and everyone is trying not to be the one who snaps it. My men straighten when they see me, but there is a stiffness to it. A hesitation they are trying to hide. One of them steps forward, lowering his head slightly. “Boss… he’s at the VIP lounge.” I follow his gaze and there is Sam Carter. Sitting like he owns my club, a drink in his hand, completely at ease in a space that should make him uncomfortable. When our eyes meet, he raises his glass toward me, slow and deliberate, like he is greeting an old friend or provoking me. I hold his stare for a second, then turn away without reacting, heading for the elevator. Andrew falls in step behind me. My mind is already working. What exactly is he doing here? If he came all the way into my territory, sat down in my club, and
~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN~ HARDIN’S POV By the time I finish the board meeting with the foreign investors interested in partnering with my chemical industrial company, my patience is already running thin. I stand, adjusting my suit as I exchange firm handshakes with each of them, maintaining the composure they expect from a man in my position. “Looking forward to working together,” one of them says. I nod once, giving him the version of me they understand. Professional, calculated, and unmoved. When they leave, I turn to the rest of the room, addressing the staff and the manager who will be handling things in my absence. My voice is steady, authoritative, but my mind is somewhere else entirely. I was planning to walk away from the family business. All of it. I was done with the secret deals and the illegal work. I was tired of the blood, the constant stress, and having to control everything. I wanted out. My plan was to focus on this company instead. I wa
~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE~ I inhale slowly, then exhale, repeating the motion until the spinning begins to ease. Even then, I do not feel normal. There is a lingering heaviness in my body, an exhaustion that feels deeper than physical. Still, I push myself up. I need something, anything to clear my head. I walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. The sound of running water fills the space as steam slowly builds. When I step under it, the warmth spreads across my skin, but it does little to settle what is happening inside me. My mind does not quiet. It replays everything. His voice and the silence. The look in his eyes that felt colder than anything he could have said. I close my eyes, letting the water run over my face, holding onto a fragile thought that refuses to leave. Maybe when I step out, he will be back. He probably just needed space. Maybe he will return once he has calmed down. But when I finally turn off the water, dry myself, and get dressed f
~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN~ His voice cuts through the silence before I can even find the right words. “Do you know how much I have had to defend you?” he says, not looking at me at first. “I kept telling myself I should give you time… that I shouldn’t pressure you.” He exhales slowly, the smoke drifting upward. “I was even planning to suggest we see a doctor together. A proper check-up. Do things the right way.” The weight of that lands heavily in my chest. I step forward slightly, my voice unsteady. “I’m really—” “Shut it.” The words hit harder than if he had shouted them. They are sharp and final. I nod immediately, swallowing everything I was about to say. I stay quiet, because I know, if the roles were reversed, I would feel just as betrayed. Maybe worse. So I understand. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. He finally stands slowly and deliberately. And when he looks at me, his eyes narrow slightly, like he is trying to see through me, past me, into
~CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TEN~ AMELIA’S POV Valentina looks like she wants to keep going, like she isn’t done tearing into me yet, but Ivy stops her. She reaches for her, low voice, controlled, almost amused as she tells her not to waste her time. “There’s no point,” Ivy murmurs, glancing at me with quiet satisfaction. “I already have him where I want him.” My heart skips, not because I believe her, but because of the timing… the way she says it right after everything she just exposed. Valentina exhales sharply, still glaring at me, but she lets herself be pulled away. The two of them turn and walk upstairs together, their footsteps echoing until the sound fades into the silence they leave behind. The house feels different now. I turn to Cassie, my hands coming up to my head as I press my fingers against my temples. Hardin was never supposed to find out at all. Not until I was ready,,” I say, my voice low and strained. She shakes her head immediately, guilt written
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE I walk down the stairs and find him already there. Hardin is leaning casually against the railing, phone in hand, jacket perfectly fitted to his broad shoulders. The kind of man who doesn’t wait, people wait for him. His eyes lift the moment he hears my heels, and the way hi
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR The memory hits me all at once. Four years ago, when I was nobody. When I hid behind dim lights and loud music. When survival mattered more than pride. I remember my boss calling me aside that night. He said some wealthy women wanted a private dancer. No mask. Just me. I sai
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO We’ll be returning to New York in two days. The words echo in my head as I have already sent Blake a message, that I’m ready to book him for therapy, no more pretending. A sound tears out of my chest before I can stop it—a sharp, frustrated scream that fills the hotel room
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE I walk away without knowing where I’m going. My feet carry me down a narrow path at the edge of the island. The farther I move from the house, the quieter it gets. The air smells like flowers. The ocean stretches endlessly ahead of me, calm and beautiful, like nothin







