“You’re not his wife. You’re a ghost in a borrowed face.” Lena Moore thought she had outrun the darkness. Engaged to billionaire Aaron King and carrying a child she’s not sure belongs to him or the stalker, Kian, Lena’s past comes crashing through the doors—dressed in white. Jennifer, Aaron’s long-dead wife, is alive. Or so it seems. One betrayal spirals into another. On the run from heartbreak and chasing what’s left of her sanity, Lena goes into labor on a stormy highway—only for her ex-lover, Kian, to take their newborn and vanish. When Jennifer is found murdered and Lena is arrested, the world turns its back on her. But behind bars, the truth unravels. Jennifer was a puppet. Alara—Lena’s estranged mother—has been the mastermind all along, manipulating lives, identities, and deaths from the shadows. Lena is done running. With her child missing, a legacy built on lies, and the world doubting her every breath, she’s ready to burn the past down—face by face.
Lihat lebih banyakLena
Sometimes, I feel like my life isn’t mine anymore. Like someone’s gaze clings to my back, watching me even when I’m completely alone. It’s a strange sensation—chilling, intimate, and suffocating all at once. Right now, in this very moment, the hairs on my arms rise as if invisible eyes are drilling into me.
I turn around abruptly.
And there he is.
Aaron King.
Tall, impeccably dressed in his signature black suit, every inch of him screams control and power. His presence is like a blade—sharp, polished, and cold. He’s standing only a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back, his piercing gray eyes fixed on me.
For a split second, my chest seizes, as if the shadows in my mind have taken form in him. But then reality slams into me—of course it isn’t him. He isn’t the reason I feel watched. Aaron King doesn’t waste his time watching employees. He’s far too busy ruling his empire.
Still, my pulse stumbles.
“Miss Moore.” His voice is clipped, low, precise. It slices through the silence of the corridor. “Yes, sir.” I straighten instinctively, like every other new hire has been warned to do in his presence.
It’s only been two days since I started working at King Enterprises. Two days of constant pressure, deadlines that leave no room for mistakes, and whispers among employees that Aaron King is a man with no soul. He built this company from the ground up, and he guards it like a dragon guards its hoard—ruthless, unrelenting, untouchable.
He studies me, the way he studies everything—like he’s calculating, dissecting. My unease grows heavier.
“You’re late.”
I glance at my watch. I’m not late. I’m early. But correcting him feels dangerous, like stepping into fire willingly. “I—”
He cuts me off. “Being on time is the same as being late in my building. Early is expected. Do you understand?” My lips press together. “Yes, sir.”
The corner of his mouth twitches—not quite a smile, more like amusement at how easily he unsettles me. Then, without another word, he walks past me, his cologne lingering like smoke.
I exhale slowly once he’s gone, pressing my hand to my chest. Aaron King unsettles me, yes, but not in the same way as the phantom eyes that follow me everywhere. His power is obvious, out in the open, worn like armor. The other feeling—the one that crawls beneath my skin, the one that stalks me in quiet moments—that’s different.
That’s hidden.
That’s worse.
As I move into the office floor, I hear murmurs around me. The sea of desks hums with quiet activity—phones ringing, keyboards clicking. It’s organized chaos, but everyone’s posture is the same: straight-backed, focused, wary. Aaron King’s presence looms over this entire place like an unspoken law.
“Lena!” A whisper calls from the next cubicle. Hannah, a fellow assistant, leans toward me. “You’re brave.” I blink. “What?”
“You didn’t faint under his stare. Most of us avoid even breathing too loudly when he’s nearby.” She grins nervously. “Good luck surviving here. King’s a perfectionist. He doesn’t tolerate weakness.”
Her words should scare me, but strangely, they only add fuel to the fire inside me. Maybe it’s the stubborn streak in me, or maybe it’s just foolishness. Either way, something about Aaron King makes me want to stand taller, not shrink.
I settle into my desk, trying to bury the prickling sensation of invisible eyes. But even as I start typing, I can’t shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, is still watching.
Hours pass in tense silence until Aaron King calls for me. His office is sleek, glass walls and cold steel accents, a perfect reflection of him. He’s seated behind his massive desk, eyes scanning through documents with an intensity that borders on obsessive.
“You challenged the projections in yesterday’s meeting.” His voice doesn’t rise; it doesn’t need to. The weight of it is enough. My stomach knots. “I—yes. I thought the numbers on the report didn’t account for market fluctuations, so I mentioned it.”
His eyes lift, gray and merciless, pinning me in place. “And you were right.”
The admission shocks me, though his face reveals nothing. Instead, he leans back, his gaze unwavering. “But don’t mistake being right for being clever. This company doesn’t run on opinions. It runs on discipline.”
My throat tightens, but I refuse to look away. For a moment, his stare feels like a challenge, like he’s daring me to flinch.
And I don’t.
Something flickers in his expression—something unreadable, gone as quickly as it came. “Dismissed.”
I leave his office, heart hammering, not sure if I’ve just won a tiny battle or walked straight into a war I can’t win.
At night, when I finally return to my apartment, the strange feeling comes rushing back. The silence in my place is too thick, the shadows too deep. I flick on the light—and freeze.
Roses.
Dozens of them. Blood-red, fresh, scattered across the coffee table, the counter, even the floor. Their scent is overwhelming, cloying, as if the flowers themselves are suffocating me. My breath stutters. I didn’t buy these. Nobody has a key to my apartment—nobody except me.
A knock at my door jolts me. I whirl around. My neighbor, Mrs. Collins, stands there with her groceries. She peers inside curiously, her eyes widening.
“My, Lena! How romantic. Looks like you have a secret admirer.” She laughs, oblivious to the dread pooling in my stomach.
Admirer. The word makes my skin crawl.
I force a smile and invite her in, more out of fear than politeness. If someone is still here—hiding, watching—I can’t face them alone. As she sits on my couch, chatting about nothing, I move through my apartment in a frenzy, searching every corner, every shadow. Closet—empty.
Bathroom—empty.
Kitchen—empty.
Then I reach my bedroom.
Something white catches my eye on the nightstand. A folded note. Hands trembling, I pick it up and unfold it. Four words, written in dark ink, curl across the page:
“I like watching you.”
My breath leaves me in a rush. My pulse pounds so loud it fills my ears. And just as I clutch the note, a floorboard creaks somewhere behind me.
Kian I see him. Aaron King. That fucking bastard. His car pulls up to the street outside her place like he owns the night, like he’s the kind of man who gets to play savior. My jaw locks so tight it aches, but I can’t tear my eyes away. And there she is. Lena. My Lena. Stepping out of his car, her hair brushing over her shoulders, her lips parting as she says something to him. Too close. Too soft. I can’t hear it, but I don’t need to. I know that look. The way she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, the faint smile that curves her lips—it’s meant to be mine. She’s supposed to look at me like that, not him. A red haze crawls across my vision. My chest is burning. I slam my hand against the window frame, hard enough that the glass rattles. She lingers, standing there under his gaze, and I want to rip him out of that car and snap his neck until the world goes quiet. By the time she disappears inside, I’m pacing my apartment like a caged animal. My fists crash into the walls, i
Aaron The smell of smoke still lingers in the back of my throat as I stand before what used to be mine. The warehouse is an inferno, flames stretching high into the night sky like they want to devour the stars. Sirens wail, lights from rescue trucks and police cars strobe across my face. Men in uniforms rush past me, shouting orders, dragging hoses, pointing to exits. I can hear the hiss of water being blasted against fire, but it’s useless. The fire has already claimed it. My warehouse. My empire’s backbone. Gone. I clench my fists as the heat washes over me, sweat rolling down my temples despite the cold bite of night air. I should walk away, I should leave this chaos to the professionals, but I can’t move. My chest feels like it’s caving in as I watch everything I’ve built turn into ashes. Wyatt grips my arm, pulling me back a few steps as sparks shower near the fence. “Sir, we can’t stand this close—” “I’m not moving,” I growl. My eyes never leave the flames. No one knows
Aaron The taste of her lips still lingers.I shouldn’t be thinking about it, but I am. It’s ridiculous how one kiss can scramble my mind like this, undo years of discipline, of building walls so thick no one could ever break them down. Yet here I am, pacing my study late into the night, unable to concentrate on the files scattered across my desk.Her face keeps flashing before me—her startled eyes, the way her breath hitched against me, and the trembling way she leaned into the kiss as though torn between fear and desire. For years, I’ve been untouched, uninterested, keeping women at arm’s length because I’ve never trusted anyone enough to let them close. Work was easier. Work was safe.But she isn’t safe.She’s my employee. She’s… complicated. Every time I look at her, I see layers I can’t read, secrets that she tries to hide behind her composed smile. And tonight, when she flinched as though the shadows themselves might consume her, I knew it—she’s in trouble. She’s hiding somethin
LenaReturning home is the only thing I was looking forward to. The night is quiet, but my heart is anything but.I press my palms flat against the cool windowpane, trying to calm my racing pulse as I stare out into the dark street below. The neighborhood looks the same as it always does—dim streetlamps humming, an occasional car rolling past—but my eyes snag on the silhouette across the street. A man. Still. Watching.My blood turns to ice.It isn’t the first time I’ve felt his presence. Sometimes it’s a shadow outside the grocery store, sometimes the hairs on my neck prickle when I walk to my car after work. Tonight it’s undeniable. He’s standing there, exactly where the glow of the streetlight doesn’t quite reach, his body a shape carved from darkness. His stillness unnerves me more than anything—like he has all the time in the world to just…wait.I yank the curtain shut and step back, my breath shallow. I can’t do this. I can’t keep pretending I don’t notice.My phone lies on the
Aaron The shrill alarm is still echoing when my car skids to a stop outside the building. I barely let the driver put it in park before I’m out, striding toward the entrance. Wyatt and the other men fall in behind me without a word. Their silence tells me they feel the tension in my body, the cold storm running through my veins. “Status?” I bark the moment I reach the head of security. “Motion was detected inside your office, sir. No confirmed ID yet. The cameras caught shadows but no clear face.” Shadows. How convenient. We sweep through the building floor by floor, armed guards splitting to cover every hallway. My heart is hammering, not with fear but with the sharp awareness that someone dared to slip into my world, my sanctuary. My office is more than a room—it’s where the strings of this entire empire are tied. Anyone trying to get in has a reason. As I walk, I weigh the possibilities. A drunk who wandered in off the street? Unlikely. My security doesn’t leave holes that
KianI shouldn’t care.I shouldn’t feel this rage burning in my chest every time I see her laugh at something he says. But there it is—the bitter sting of jealousy that eats at me like acid, raw and unstoppable.On my screens, she appears in crystal clarity. I have her office, her building lobby, her apartment hallway—all angles covered. Tonight, I watch her through a feed from her office, where Aaron fucking King stands a little too close, his hand brushing her shoulder as he points to something on her tablet.My jaw tightens. He doesn’t even belong in her world, not really. Too old, too practiced. A man who knows how to wield power like a weapon. And she—sweet, bright Lena—doesn’t see it. She doesn’t see how his gaze lingers a little too long.She doesn’t realize that while he charms her, I am the one keeping her safe. I know her routines, her smiles, her sighs when she’s tired. I know she prefers peppermint tea over coffee when her stomach feels off, and that she always tucks her h
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