LOGIN“Your groom isn’t coming.” Those four words destroy Clarissa Ward’s world. After four years together, Luca Richard abandons her on their wedding day, leaving her humiliated in front of hundreds of guests. She expects the wedding to be canceled. Instead, the impossible happens. Luca’s older brother steps forward. Powerful. Ruthless. Untouchable. Charles Richard looks at the stunned crowd and says, “Continue the ceremony.” The next thing Clarissa knows, she is standing at the altar with a different man. A man she never truly understood. A man who has watched her for far longer than she realizes. A man who whispers in her ear after their vows: “You were never meant to be his.” Now trapped inside the powerful Richard family, Clarissa must navigate a mansion filled with secrets, hidden agendas, and enemies hiding behind polite smiles. A god-sister who believes she should have been Charles’s wife. A cousin who betrayed her in the worst possible way. A family determined to test whether she belongs among them. And a husband whose feelings are far more dangerous than his cold reputation. Because the biggest secret isn’t why Luca left. It’s why Charles stayed. And when the truth finally comes out, Clarissa will have to decide whether the man who saved her at the altar is also the man who has been quietly stealing her heart all along. “Tell me the truth, Charles.” He holds her gaze. “I’ve been trying not to love you for years.”
View MoreThe morning air inside the fashion division was thick with the scent of fresh steam and damp wool. Clarissa stood at the head of the long cutting table, her fingers pinned to the edge of a newly draped slate-gray coat.“The tension on the left lapel is off,” she said, her voice cutting cleanly through the low hum of the room. “It needs to be unpicked and basted again. We don't have room for pulling under the collar.”Sophia, who was holding the shears, immediately nodded. “I’ll fix it right now, Mrs. Richard.”On the opposite side of the table, Lauren let out a short, sharp breath—not quite a sigh, but loud enough to draw Sophia’s eyes. The two interns exchanged a brief, icy glance before looking away. They hadn't spoken a direct word to one another since Tuesday.Before Clarissa could address the friction, the heavy glass door of the design floor clicked open.Derek walked in, accompanied by a man in a sharp grey suit carrying a digital tablet. It was Vance, one of the senior corpora
“You came back late last night,” Maria said the moment Clarissa stepped into the kitchen.Clarissa smiled a little as she reached for a glass. “The materials arrived. I needed to check them before they moved anything to storage.”Maria poured juice into two glasses and pushed one toward her. “And? Did they look good?”“They did. Three of the fabrics are perfect. We kept them. One felt too stiff so I set it aside.”Maria leaned against the counter and studied her face. “You looked tired when you left the house yesterday. Did you at least eat something while you were there?”“I did. Olivia ordered food for the people who stayed.” Clarissa took a sip. “I’m fine. Really.”Maria tilted her head. “You always say that. Just don’t push yourself too hard these first weeks. The company will still be there tomorrow.”“I know.” Clarissa set the glass down. “How is the coffee shop?”“Busy. Two new regulars this week. One of them keeps asking if I ever plan to open a second location.” Maria laughed
Elena stood in the doorway for only a second. She looked at both of them, then turned and walked out without another word. The door closed softly behind her. Clarissa stayed quiet for a moment. Charles did not speak either. “No dear” She said, and left the study. Downstairs the house felt still. She had just reached the bottom of the stairs when her phone rang. It was Olivia. “Ma’am, good evening. The new design materials just arrived. The fabric samples and the first cut pieces for the capsule collection. I think you should come and see them before we move anything to storage. You need to check if the colors and the feel match what you wanted.” Clarissa glanced at the time. It was just after five-thirty. “Okay. I’m coming now.” She went back upstairs, picked up her bag from the chair near the bed, and came down again. Outside she called the driver. “Yes, ma’am?”
That same morning, after Charles left for the office, Derek stepped into Raymond’s private study and closed the door behind him.Raymond sat behind the desk with a cold cup of coffee. He looked up and waited.“He’s gone,” Derek said.“ So early, Raymond asked.I'm surprise myself, God knows why, Derek replied.“Fuck him; please sitDerek took the chair opposite him. “The fashion division is moving too fast. Clarissa is already giving orders. Interns, capsule collection, board presentation in two weeks. He’s letting her run it like she owns the place.”Raymond tapped one finger on the desk. “Charles has always been stubborn when he decides something.”“It’s more than stubborn. He’s handing her real power. The real estate expansion is still open. If we don’t take things fast, the board will start seeing him as untouchable.”Like always, Raymond said.“We can stop that together, Derek replied.Raymond leaned back. “What do you want to do?”Derek kept his voice low. “The apartment. People
She had been to the Richard mansion before.Six times in four years. Christmas dinner twice, a birthday celebration for Maria, two family gatherings she couldn’t remember the occasion for, and one Sunday afternoon that Luca had brought her without warning and she had spent three hours pretending sh
The first thing she was aware of was the light.It came through the curtains in long pale strips and landed across the bed with the kind of quiet that meant the world had continued turning overnight regardless of what had happened in it.The second thing she was aware of was that she was still in h
He didn’t sleep.He sat in the armchair by the window with a glass of whiskey he hadn’t touched and the city spread out below him like it had no idea what kind of day it had been. Which it didn’t. The city never cared. That was one of the things he had always appreciated about it.He was still hear
She had lost count of the champagne glasses somewhere around the fourth one.Or the fifth. She wasn’t entirely sure and had stopped caring around the same time she stopped being able to feel the specific shape of her heartbreak and it had blurred into something more general and bearable and golden






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