LOGIN
DARIAN
“Where’s that bastard?”
My eyes snapped toward the woman storming into the room like a hurricane.
“I couldn’t stop her, Mr. Darian!”
I waved the guy away and studied the woman whose hair looked like it had gone through war, clearly fighting her way up here. My brothers looked just as entertained as I did confused.
“Which bastard?”
“My bastard of a husband! Where is Darian Freeman?”
My brothers burst out laughing like they’d just witnessed the world’s finest comedy show.
I, however, failed to see the joke.
She smoothed her wild hair, fixing those hazel eyes on me.
“Tell me where he is. I swear I won’t kill him. I just want to shove these papers down his throat,” she said, waving the papers in my face.
“There must be a mistake,” I said, still trying to piece this insanity together.
“Oh stop feeding me fairy tales! Where is that son of a bitch?”
“Are you insane? There’s clearly a mistake here! I am Darian Freeman and I am one hundred percent sure I am not your husband!”
---
ONE WEEK EARLIER
BELINDA
“What the hell are you doing?”
I stared at the lawyer, the repossession officers, and my landlord glaring at me like I’d personally ruined his precious morning.
I’d gone to bed late. Mornings and I? Never friends.
So why were these people outside my door at this ungodly hour?
“Add that too,” one of the officers said. I shot him my deadliest glare and blocked his way.
Sure, he was on official duty—but that didn’t mean he got to ignore me.
Who the hell did he think he was?
His attitude awoke the feral cat inside me.
“Hey! Look at me!” I snapped, shoving his shoulder. He had to tilt his head down to see me.
Yeah, I’m short. Yeah, that means my temper hits the ceiling fast. Try me.
“You owe a debt. You were notified several times.”
“I WAS NOT!” I shouted.
“Is the government lying then?” he asked, oh so smug.
“I—no, but—” My voice shrank.
The empty walls of my home hit me like a slap.
What was happening?
They were taking my furniture out. MY furniture. Without my permission.
I had no debt! Okay… not anymore. I had already paid off the debt my wonderful excuse for a husband left me with when he emptied our house and vanished like the useless stain he was.
So… how the hell was I being repossessed again?
Long story short?
My house was stripped bare. Correction: robbed clean by life.
The officers left. And I stood there with my cat, my bag, and my landlord staring like he owned the universe.
“Well, since you have no furniture left,” he grumbled, “get out of my house.”
He acted like he was being evicted. Old troll.
Next thing I knew?
Me, my barely-functional belongings and my fluffy traitor of a cat were kicked out.
So yeah. I was royally screwed.
---
I dumped my cat and luggage at the bar where I worked and spent the whole day chasing this debt.
Lawyers. Offices. Banks. Demons disguised as financial institutions.
Turns out the debt wasn’t 500,000.
It was three million.
People inherit fortunes.
I inherited debt.
Did I mention fate could kiss my ass?
And when I thought the universe was done—
It wasn’t.
Two days later, while I was singing on stage, two strangers dragged me off by force.
Turns out I owed another two million to a crime syndicate.
Because why the hell not?
Their boss threatened me, I cried, begged, survived…
But I had three days to pay. I had 500 lira to my name.
Which led me here.
A park bench.
A cat.
A suitcase.
A girl questioning every life choice since birth.
Crying solves nothing.
I cried enough in the orphanage, begging for parents.
All I ever got was cold floors and harsh words.
“Okay,” I told my cat, Paspas. “Time to hunt down my husband Darian Freeman and drown that bastard in his own spit.”
Paspas purred. Good. She agreed.
We were going to ruin him.
Not punish — destroy.
---
And here I was.
The bastard who left me broke apparently built a company.
Took me days, but I found him.
Ask and fate delivers. Sometimes by slapping you in the face.
Motels had chewed me alive.
Now it was my turn to chew him.
He left me heartbroken back then. I rebuilt myself. Slowly. Painfully. And stupidly believed he’d return, so I didn’t even file for divorce. That title protected me.
Idiot didn’t come back. So I came to drag him by the tail.
Cat in one arm, luggage swinging in the other, I marched into his empire.
“I’m here to see Darian Freeman,” I told reception.
“Do you have an appointment?”
Oh please. This was every drama ever.
“Yes,” I smirked. “Tell him someone he’s been waiting for is here.”
“And your name?”
“Belinda Freeman. His wife.”
Silence.
Judgment.
Rage.
“Out,” the receptionist hissed. “Mr. Freeman isn’t married. Are you insane?”
“Call him,” I barked.
Security moved. I moved faster.
As soon as he stepped forward, I sprinted to the elevator and slammed the top floor button.
Oof. I ran like my landlord was behind me again.
A woman entered on floor two.
“What floor is Mr. Freeman’s office?” I whispered sweetly.
“Sixth.”
“Thanks.” Ding. Floor six. War time.
Doors opened. I stormed down the corridor, checked rooms, ignored the looks—and found a secretary.
“I need to see Darian Freeman.”
“No appointment.”
“I’m his WIFE. Move.”
I put my cat on her desk like a furry grenade and shoved the door open.
I warned everyone, didn’t I?
Short girl. Fast temper.
Three faces snapped toward me.
Three ridiculously handsome faces.
And not a single one was my traitor of a husband.
DARIAN“Her current gig is fine. She doesn't need anything more!”“Darian, you’re really starting to get under my skin,” he said, his voice turning cold. “Let Belinda make her own damn decisions about her life.”“She’s happy at Night. That was her dream anyway.”“Why don’t you just admit you’re terrified she’s going to slip through your fingers!”“I’m not even—” I started, but he cut me off.“You’re scrambling, man! You’re scared to death she’ll become famous and fly right out of the cage. You’re doing shit you would never normally do. Don’t make me come down there and slam your head into the nearest wall just to knock some sense into you.”Just as I was about to hang up on him, he yelled, “Fix my phone and my socials. Or I swear to God, someone’s getting hurt.”He was the one who slammed the phone down on me this time.My eyes drifted back to Belinda’s photo. She was smiling. She looked innocent. Luckily, I was the only one who could see the heat
MARCUSAfter my brother left, I headed inside. He was clearly scrambling; I’d never seen him quite like that. He looked calm enough on the surface, but his eyes looked like they were holding back an explosion.I wondered if he’d ever get over his trust issues, if he’d ever give his heart permission to love someone again.I sat down at the table.“What’d he say?” I brushed off Luke’s question. Orders came from the top, after all. My brother had said, “Don't tell them.”“Work stuff,” I said, reaching for my tea.He gave me a skeptical look but didn’t push it. “I’m saying we should drop a hint about this wedding business to Mom. Otherwise, these two are never getting together,” Rose said.“I think we should leave Mom out of it,” Luke countered.I agreed; getting her involved wasn't a good idea. After the Tina incident, my mother had stopped trying to have a say in my brother’s life.“I think our sister-in-law has a point. Why are you objecting?” I sh
BELINDA"You're famous, sweetie. Congratulations."I barely opened my eyes."What's going on? Was I on the tabloids in your dreams?""You haven't seen it?" I sat up at the sheer shock in Amanda's voice. What on earth could I have done to become famous at the crack of dawn? As far as I could remember, I hadn't killed Darian."What's happening?""I'm sending you the video link on Instagram, look at it right now.""Okay," I said, saying bye and hanging up. I quickly opened Instagram. When I saw the number in the notifications, my eyes practically popped out of my head.Could I have actually killed Darian? Were these people following me out of female solidarity?My account had crossed seven hundred thousand. Did someone leak naked pictures of me or something? What the hell was going on?I opened Amanda's message and clicked the video link.The song I sang last night swelled from the speaker, and the stage appeared on the screen.I loo
DARIANThe moment she stepped onto the stage, I pushed the noise of the entire crowd into the background. The corner I was sitting in had a perfect view of the stage. I was shrouded in darkness. I don’t know if she’d discovered this spot before, but her gaze found exactly where I was sitting.She couldn’t possibly see me. But she was looking as if she did."Welcome," she said, letting her eyes wander over the people. "It's a pleasure to see a bigger crowd every week."She was wearing a black, skin-tight, shimmering dress. While she stood facing the stage, the dress looked completely modest, but I had seen the deep low-back detail as she walked up..."Let’s have a great time," she said, turning back to the orchestra. The deep plunge of the back of her dress was fully revealed.A thunderous applause broke out. I don’t know how she managed to carry every dress so well with that tiny height of hers, but it was getting on my nerves.She sang a few upbeat songs in a row. Then she took a sh
BELINDA My last words must have hit the mark because he finally stepped aside. "Go then, you little insolent stool! If you try to run, I’ll find you. You know that." "I won’t run," I said. "You know that. You’re as sure of it as your own name. But you’re threatening me just to satisfy your own ego." "Go," he said, shooing me away with his hand. As if he couldn't stand me for one more second. I wanted to smash his face in. He really had a spectacular way of managing to be both the guilty one and the one acting superior. I didn't say a single word. I took my suitcase and Paspas and walked out of the room. Just as I was about to turn the corner in the hallway, the spite inside me won, and I turned back. I got right up in his face and gave him a smile. He looked stunned by my sudden 180-degree change in attitude. I slammed my knee right into his balls. "Fuck!" "Fuck *you*! You animal!" I left him groaning in
BELINDAI felt like a walking corpse, both tense and on the verge of losing my mind from anger.After storming out of Darian's room, I hurried to my own. I stripped off my clothes without stopping and bolted straight for the bathroom.Sex?Just sex?How dared he say that looking right at my face? I turned on the water and sat in the bathtub.Son of a bitch!Egotistical, arrogant prick!This time, the reason my temper flared so quickly wasn't my height or anything. It was flat-out Darian himself.It was my fault. It was my own stupidity to think he'd change his mind when he finally made a move after all that time.A loud noise broke out outside. He was pounding on the door like a debt collector.As if there was anything left to collect or give!I sank into the bathtub. I was sure he was foaming at the mouth because he couldn't get in with the door locked.Something knocked over. I jumped out of the water at the sight of Paspas stic
BELINDA"You couldn't help yourself when you saw him, rubbing against his legs!" I shrieked at Paspas. She had no shame whatsoever."Ungrateful creature. I'm the one feeding you! Why are you rubbing against him?"She purred. All she ever did was purr and meow anyway. Why was I getting angry at a ca
DARIAN"You'll be asleep by the time I get back," I said. "We’ll settle that debt business tomorrow. Then you’ll head over to the fashion house Michael mentioned.""Fine," she said, licking her lips. She struggled quite a bit to get the words out as she added, "Thank you." I could see in her hazel
DARIANBelinda was stunned when she realized we had listened to her before. As for me, I was genuinely horrified. Did that naive, soul-piercing voice really belong to her?Well, I’ll be damned! While I was looking for her everywhere, was she right under my nose the whole time?Actually, it’s probab
DARIANEven as I walked into the restaurant, I had no clear idea why I was there.Each time I saw the places she went to for work, I felt like throwing her over my knee and spanking her ass. Because that was the only way she’d learn!The best option was to strike a deal with her.Yes. That was prob







