LOGINEmily The kiss left me breathless. It wasn’t gentle or hesitant the way I had expected it might be after everything that had happened between us. It was desperate. Hungry. As if Adrian had been starving. I barely had time to catch my breath before his hand tightened around my waist again, pulling me closer. I tried to shift away slightly, my mind still spinning from everything that had just happened at the dinner table. But Adrian didn’t let me go. Instead, he lifted me easily and drew me fully onto his lap. “Adrian—” My protest faded when he buried his face in the curve of my neck. His arms tightened around me, holding me against him like he was afraid I might disappear if he loosened his grip. “I missed this,” he murmured against my skin. His voice was low. Rough. For a moment, I didn’t reply. The car moved smoothly through the quiet night streets, the dim lights from outside flickering across the dark interior. Daniel was driving in front, wisely pretending he coul
Adrian The silence in the dining room was absolute. Every single pair of eyes was on me. Shock. Disbelief. Confusion. I could see all of it clearly on their faces, but… I didn’t care. Because the long game was finally over. I had spent years watching Emily from the shadows. Months hiding in secret like a dirty affair. The last few months helping her dig through secrets that had kept her trapped in a cage she didn’t even realize existed. And tonight, it had paid off. She had chosen me. Not out of love. Not because she suddenly couldn’t bear to stay away from me. But because she was finally done being used by the people who claimed to care about her. The Brown family. The Carter family. Both of them had treated her like a pawn. A tool. A bargaining chip. And now she had flipped the board over completely. I had known something was coming tonight. The moment she walked into the dining room earlier, I saw it in her eyes. Emily had a particular expression whenever she
Chapter 81 Emily The Carter residence had always looked intimidating to me. Tonight it looked like a battlefield. Crystal chandeliers hung above the long dining table, casting warm golden light across polished wood and delicate porcelain. The room smelled faintly of roasted meat and expensive wine, but beneath that there was another scent—something sharp and uncomfortable. Tension. I sat quietly in my chair, my fingers lightly resting against the stem of my wine glass. Across the table sat Nathan. Beside him… Lily. My stepsister wore a soft pink dress that made her look fragile and innocent. She lowered her gaze shyly whenever someone looked her way, playing the role perfectly. If I hadn’t known her for years, I might have believed it. Nathan leaned toward her slightly. “Are you sure you don’t want more?” he asked, gesturing toward her plate. “I’m fine,” Lily replied softly. Nathan frowned. “You barely ate.” “I’m really okay.” He pushed the dish closer to her anyway.
Emily I thought I had misheard Adrian. “The Carter family?” I repeated. My voice sounded thin, almost unfamiliar to my own ears. Of all the possibilities I had imagined over the years, that was never one of them. “That… can’t be right.” For a moment Adrian didn’t respond. The silence on the other end of the phone stretched long enough to make my chest tighten. “Emily,” he finally said quietly, “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t have a reason.” I sank down onto the couch. The apartment suddenly felt smaller. Hotter. “What exactly did you find?” I asked. “Financial records.” That answer alone made my stomach twist. “What kind of records?” “Old company transfers. Shell accounts. Investment movements that don’t make sense.” I frowned, pressing the phone tighter to my ear. “I thought you said my father was the one siphoning money from the company.” “He was,” Adrian replied calmly. “But the money didn’t just disappear.” “Then where did it go?” “Several shell companies.” My
Adrian Daniel placed the folder on my desk like it weighed a hundred kilograms. In truth, it might as well have. I didn’t open it immediately. Instead, I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling of my office. “Are you sure?” I asked. Daniel nodded once. “I verified it three times.” I exhaled slowly. Of course. Nothing about this case had been simple from the start. Emily’s mother had been framed. Her lover had died. Records had been wiped. Money had disappeared. And now the deeper we dug, the uglier everything became. “Say it again,” I said. Daniel didn’t hesitate. “The money your future father-in-law siphoned from the company didn’t disappear.” My jaw tightened. “I assumed as much.” He opened the folder and slid a document toward me. “It was transferred
Emily I didn’t sleep that night. After Adrian left, the apartment became too quiet again, but this time the silence wasn’t peaceful. It was heavy. Oppressive. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind replayed the same things. My mother sitting in a clinic, asking if stress could cause a miscarriage. A train ticket. A pregnancy no one told me about. And the possibility that my father might have had something to do with her death. By morning, my head throbbed. I sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the window when my phone buzzed. Nathan. For a moment I considered ignoring it. But then I remembered the performance I was supposed to keep up. I answered. “Hello.” “Emily,” Nathan said. “I heard you moved out.” Of course he did. News traveled fast in our circle. “Yes.”
Emily Adrian picked me up from work. As usual, he was discreet. He waited in the underground parking lot instead of pulling up at the entrance like he had the first time we met after work I'd warned him, and I was still surprised he actually listened. The underground parking lot was dim, quie
EmilyI didn’t hear from Adrian the entire next day.Not a message, not a call, not even one of those short, possessive little notes that usually had me reading and rereading them until my chest ached.He must still be angry.I wanted to call him so badly. I wanted to ask questions, explain myself,
AdrianShe wasn’t ready.I’d known that the moment the silence stretched on the line, heavy and uncomfortable, the moment she failed to give the answer I hadn’t explicitly asked for but had been waiting to hear anyway.She was engaged. I had known that from the start.Still, I’d taken her. Made her
Emily I hadn’t thought about it. Not really. Amidst the panic, the fear, the humiliation of walking into that pharmacy and whispering my situation to a stranger… amidst Adrian’s calm voice and steady reassurance… I had not truly contemplated what I would do if there







