LOGIN"No, no, please no! Help!" I scream, desperately pulling at the emergency handbrake, but the dashboard lights flash violently red as the car completely loses control, moving at seventy miles an hour toward the metal rear of the large delivery trucks ahead.I press my foot down on the brake again with everything I have. Nothing. The pedal is completely dead."Stop! Please, I beg you!" I scream. There is no open lane to swerve into, just concrete highway barriers on the left and heavy traffic on the right. My mind spins out of control. Is this how I’m going to die? Without saying goodbye to my daddy? Papa bear is going to be really sad and alone. Tears fill my eyes as I brace myself, closing my eyes tight.Then, a sudden roar of a high-powered engine grabs my attention.In my side mirror, I see a pair of blinding headlights. The Black Mercedes-Benz speeds up from behind me at an insane speed. It does not swerve away from my speeding car. Instead, it pulls right beside me, matches my ter
"I don’t have any issues getting married to Victoria as long as you keep to your end of the bargain, Margaret," Damien says, his voice is emotionless, and really cold. "Leave the marriage announcement to me. I will announce it at my own time, but you can tell Victoria that our wedding preparations will commence soon."Margaret’s face lights up with a victorious smile. "Beautiful choice, Damien. I will keep to my end of the bargain, as long as you don't try to play smart with me."She turns on her designer heels to head toward the elevator, but her eyes found me. She freezes, her eyebrows raising in mock surprise."Oh," Margaret’s voice drips with disgust. "The little tramp works here now?. A cheap boyfriend snatcher." She steps closer to me, scoffing right in my face until I can smell her perfume. "Don't even try to move funny around Damien, or else you'll regret it, loser."I open my mouth to respond but Roberto steps forward, placing his body between Margaret and me."Do not talk
Damien is still standing infront of us. His tall, broad stature fills the entryway and he looks like someone has just slapped him across the face. For a tiny second, the cold, powerful CEO disappears, leaving behind a man who looks completely heart broken while staring at Roberto and i. He looks like a man watching the only thing he cares about being snatched by someone else. He has faint dark circles beneath his eyes, as if he has not slept for days.My heart gives a betraying thud, I almost feel sorry for him but I refuse to let a single emotion show on my face. I keep my eyes completely blank.Roberto, however, does not flinch despite Damien’s death glare. He does not pull his hand back in a panic, nor does he bow his head in respect to the boss. Instead, he takes his sweet time sliding his thumb off my lip, letting his fingers linger against my chin just a second longer than necessary. He does it casually, almost lazily, as if he is intentionally poking Damien.Damien’s chest heav
I book a cab back to Elena’s apartment. For the first time in months, the silence inside my head doesn’t feel heavy. Watching my dad wave goodbye from the driveway, looking happier had done something to me. The truth about my birth mother, Alice, is devastating. The fact that she died bringing me into the world, leaving my father to endure decades of a forced, cold marriage with Diana just to keep me, is a heartbreak I will carry for the rest of my life. But beneath the grief, my heart feels lighter. At least, I am not the daughter of a woman who looks at me like a nuisance. I was born out of real, undeniable love. I have a name given to me by a woman who loved me before she even held me. When I walk through Elena’s front door, She looks up, her face lighting up with excitement. "There she is!" Elena cheers "Tell me everything! Did Becker say your dad is officially off the hook? Is the evidence solid?" "It's more than solid," I say, smiling as I slip off my shoes. "Becker said it’s
I instantly freeze. I know exactly what will come next without him even finishing the story. He does not need to say out loud who he had to marry against his will.Diana.The woman whom I have been calling my mother all my life. The woman whose attitude towards me I have been trying to justify for years. The woman with whom I have never been able to be close to, regardless of all my efforts.The blood stops flowing in my veins. Everything looks different now: the DNA test I had found in his office years ago, the distance that existed between my parents, the way Diana always looked at me like there was something about my existence she couldn't make peace with. All of this falls into place.It does not help in any way to know the truth. On the contrary, it makes it harder to bear.“I had to marry Diana,” he repeats, this time in a rough tone. “I was twenty-eight. I thought I could make it all work out.”He sheds a tear. “I was wrong.”I swallow.“Diana was the daughter of one of my fath
The noise in my head gets louder. My heart is beating so loudly that all I can see is my father’s face becoming blurry and dimming at the edges, along with everything else.What am I supposed to do about this? What does it even mean?No, that’s not possible. It’s got to be some kind of joke.“Aria.”My father’s voice cuts through to me right before my legs buckle under me. His hands grab me before I have a chance to fall on the ground.“Aria, look at me.”I lean onto the pillar next to me instead, gasping for breath. “I’m fine.”I’m not. I’m dizzy. Everything seems wrong; my whole life turned upside down by this one sentence.“Your mother isn’t really your mother.”And how am I even supposed to interpret that?“What—” I manage to get out before pulling away from him and grabbing onto the rails for support. Not because I do not love him but because I do not understand anything at the moment, and I need something very solid to hold on to.He freezes, and I see the pain register in his e







