LOGINIf you like this episode please let me know by suporting this book. Anna thanks you.
ANNA Daniel was waiting by the elevators, where he'd said. He offered his arm with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes flicked over her shoulder towards Enoch's door, and she noticed."Rough morning?" he asked as they stepped into the elevator."You could say that." She forced a smile, and let him lead her to the cafeteria. He set the trays down and studied her face with an intensity that made her want to look away. Anna's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "You heard the gossip, right?""Everyone's heard it, Anna." His voice was gentle. "But here's what I keep thinking about." He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Am I delusional to think I might be on it too? Airport beauty, maybe?" The unexpected kindness of him, he wasn't judging her, made her laugh despite everything. "Don't worry, it'll pass." "I'll tell you those words, when it's your turn to be the topic of the gossip.” I scoffed and continued eating."Let me tell you mine, then you stop feeling sorry f
ANNAShe followed him because the alternative was causing an even bigger scene. He walked her the short distance without letting go and shut the door behind them. Locked it with a quiet click.He then crowded her against the door without touching. Not a single inch of skin contact. The absence of it made her irritable."Are we going to talk about what happened last night?" His voice stayed cool. The same voice he used in board meetings.Anna's head snapped up. Anger flared hot and sudden under the shame, burning through the humiliation like a match to paper. "Really? That is what matters now?" She heard her own voice rising and didn't care. "The whole office just read my drunk confession that I want my cousin to ruin me, and you want to talk about last night's fight? The rumors are everywhere. People are laughing at me. Men are winking at me like I'm some kind of joke. And you stand there like none of it touches you."His eyes never wavered. They were dark and steady and completely, i
ANNAAnna stood at her desk and stared at the top sheet someone had placed, right in front of her monitor. Her own words stared back at her, transcribed in clean black font, every slurred syllable captured for public consumption.Transcription: Voice Note – 2:17 AMCousiiiiin. You are so beautiful. Did anyone ever tell you that? … You are the number one on my list.Another sheet had her completed beauty list. List of men I'd let ruin me, with a blank space where Enoch's name should have been, left empty like a taunt.Her stomach twisted so hard she had to grip the edge of the desk. Her eyes stung, hot and urgent. She refused to let the tears fall. Not here. Not where everyone could see."She has the hots for her own cousin," one of the analysts whispered, loud enough for the whole row to hear. Three of them walked past Anna's desk with their heads bent together, performing discretion badly. "Can you imagine? After everything with Jack, now this?"Another shook her head slowly, pity th
Enoch booked the private box at the theatre himself. The dark-haired, brooding, actor, fresh off a Netflix lead, was already waiting when Anna arrived in the silver slip dress Enoch had laid out for her.The play was good. The actor was better. During intermission he leaned close and whispered lines from the script against her ear. When the show ended he walked her out into the cold London night and kissed her slowly. He was skilled but Anna felt… nothing.She came home at midnight to find Enoch in the kitchen, shirt unbuttoned at the collar, pouring tea like he hadn’t been waiting for her.Anna kicked off her heels, the silver dress whispering against her thighs as she crossed the room. She walked straight to him, took the mug from his hand, and set it down on the marble with a soft click.“My date kissed me,” she said, voice husky from the wine and the night air. “Properly this time.”She stared at him with one raised brow, daring him.She stared at him with a raised brow as if ask
ANNAThe restaurant Enoch chose was all low lighting and black marble. He was beautiful. Candlelight flickered across the table where the six-foot-three Ghanaian model smiled at her like she was a prize.Kwame leaned forward, his deep voice warm and easy as he refilled her glass. “So tell me, Anna, what do you do when you are not stealing men’s breath away?”Anna laughed softly and took a sip of the rich red wine. “I work in marketing. Mostly campaigns for fashion brands, ironically enough. I spend my days convincing people that a scarf or a pair of shoes will change their whole life.”He chuckled and said. “I know that world too well. Last month in Milan I shot for three days straight in the rain. The creative director kept yelling that the wet look was intentional. I was just trying not to freeze.”She tilted her head, genuinely curious for a moment. “Was it worth it? All the freezing and the yelling?”“Worth it the second I saw the final images,” he said, pulling out his phone and
ANNA The dream had already gone too far before her mother’s voice slipped into it. In the dream she was on the stairs, feeling the warm press of Enoch’s body and the slow, deliberate drag of his mouth down the side of her throat. His hand was under the hem of the dress she’d worn to dinner, fingers sliding up the inside of her thigh. She felt the wood of the step against her spine, the weight of him between her legs, the low sound he made when she arched into him. “Anna,” he whispered against her ear, voice rough, “let me in.” She said yes and he pushed inside her in one smooth stroke and she woke up gasping, her thighs clenched and heart hammering so hard she could feel it in her teeth. For a long moment she lay perfectly still, staring at the ceiling of her childhood bedroom. The new floral curtains moved faintly in the draught from the window. Her skin was damp. Between her legs she was slick and aching and furious with herself. She pressed both palms flat to the mattres
EnochThe Tesla Enoch chose to drive today hummed silently along the motorway except for the low sound of K-pop music spilling from the speakers.Anna had connected her phone the moment they left the garage, queuing her favorite playlist without asking. Enoch hadn’t objected. He simply adjusted the
ENOCHEnoch stood by the bed too long.Anna was already asleep again judging by her slow breathing, dark hair spread across the pillow like silk. He watched her chest rise and fall. Felt a dangerous twist in his gut.Dearest.The word she'd murmured against his shoulder still burned. For one moment
ANNAThe first thought that surfaced through the fog of sleep was that she was lying on something so soft and so expensive that it felt illegal to exist here without a signed contract and a credit check.She stretched both arms out, then rolled over and screamed into the pillow. Not a dignified twe
ANNACheck-in was quick. Security was slower but manageable. By the time she reached her gate, she had forty minutes until board. She found a seat near the window and sat and watched planes take off and land and told herself she still wasn't scanning the crowd.She pulled out her phone and opened h







