LOGINHASANThe ringing of my phone forced its way in the air, slicing through the stillness of the night with a persistence that refused to be ignored. For a brief moment, my mind resisted waking, clinging to the remnants of sleep, but the ringing continued without mercy, dragging me out of unconsciousness with a steady, unrelenting pull.My eyes opened slowly at first, unfocused, staring at nothing in particular as awareness began to return in fragments. The ceiling above me came into view, dimly lit by the faint glow of the bedside lamp that cast long, stretched shadows across the room. I didn’t remember leaving it on, and for a second, that detail lingered in my mind, as though my thoughts were searching for something simple to hold onto before confronting whatever had disturbed the night.The ringing continued.My head turned slightly, my gaze landing on the bedside cupboard where my phone lay vibrating against the wood, its screen lighting up in intervals that punctuated the darkness.
TATIANAIt wasn’t the kind of silence that soothed. It pressed in from all sides, thick and contained, like the air itself had been stripped of anything unnecessary. My head throbbed faintly as awareness sharpened, my breathing uneven for a moment before I forced it to steady.I tried to move.My hands didn’t.The realization settled heavily, not as panic, but as something more measured. My wrists were bound tightly behind a post, the position pulling my shoulders back just enough to make every slight movement strain against the restraints.There was something in my mouth.Cloth.Rough enough to dry out my tongue, to make swallowing uncomfortable.I exhaled slowly through my nose, grounding myself in the sensation rather than fighting it immediately. Panic would only make this worse. It always did.So I stayed still.Listened.Waited.Footsteps broke through the silence.Slow. Deliberate.They didn’t rush. Didn’t hesitate. Each step carried a quiet certainty that made something uneasy
TATIANAA breath left my lungs quietly, controlled, like my body was trying to hold itself together despite what my mind had already understood.Out of everything they could have used—They chose her.Because they knew. They knew exactly where to aim.Emily, who had already paid for my mistakes once. Emily, who had struggled on her own to rebuild her life after everything fell apart. Emily, who had nothing to do with any of this.I locked my phone, the image still burned into my mind, and pushed myself off the shelf.The bottle remained where I left it and moved toward the door without hesitation.The hallway felt colder when I stepped out, quieter in a way that made everything seem more deliberate. Like the house itself had withdrawn from me the moment I crossed that threshold, leaving me to stand in the open with nothing but the weight of my own decisions pressing down on my shoulders.And then I saw the van sat just beyond the gates, exactly where the message said it would be. The
TATIANAI knew Hasan hated me.It wasn’t something I had to guess at or piece together from fragments. It was there, plain and unhidden, in the sharpness of his voice, in the way his eyes held mine like I was something he would rather erase than face. He had said so a thousand times.If given the chance, he would ruin me. I had no doubt about that.And yet, standing there with my back pressed against the door I had just been kicked out of, my palm flat against the wood like it could somehow ground me, I found myself thinking something far worse.I would rather he run me over with a truck than touch another woman the way he had touched me.The thought was ugly, and painfully honest.Because no matter how much hatred lived between us, there had always been something else tangled beneath it. Something neither of us had ever been able to bury properly, no matter how much time passed or how far we tried to run from it.He hated me. But he had never been able to stop wanting me. And that wa
HASANI froze mid-kiss.Althea’s presence made the room collapse in on itself, thick with tension. Tatiana’s body stiffened beneath me, her breath catching as she realized, too, who had intruded. My hands didn’t release her immediately, but I felt the shift in her energy, the sudden awareness of eyes on us that were not mine.In the blink of an eye, Tatiana was pulled away from me as Althea’s hand fisted in her hair, yanking her off me with such force that the warmth of her body disappeared before my mind could process the movement itself.Tatiana stumbled, her balance thrown off as Althea forced her back. A sharp inhale left her lips, more shock than pain, but it cut through the fog in my head all the same.I should have moved. That thought came and went in the same instant because the heat inside me didn’t loosen its grip. If anything, it tightened, coiling through my body in slow, suffocating waves that made every limb feel heavier than the last.“What the hell do you think you are
HASANThe dizziness didn’t leave with Althea. Even after the study door had clicked shut behind her, the room still spun. My head pounded in rhythm with the fire coursing through my veins that was impossible to ignore.I had barely managed the call with my PA when I slammed my laptop shut. The sound did nothing for the heat that had taken residence in my body. My shirt clung to me like a second skin, every nerve alert and screaming, and I could not stand it.My fingers fumbled at the buttons as I dragged myself toward the stairs, a sluggish, heavy dizziness turning each step into a chore, a challenge my body had no business failing.By the time I reached the first door I saw, I barely registered its location. Instinct carried me forward, my body reacting before my mind had fully processed. The door opened with a push, and I froze for the briefest of moments before registering the figure before me.Althea.I didn’t even think. The accusation ripped from my throat before I could stop it
HasanFuck me sideways.I hear Taty murmur under her breath, clearly displeased at the sight of me. But I don’t let it get in the way of my mission. Instead, I give her my signature smirk, the one I know makes her boil with seething rage. Only this time, it doesn’t get me the reaction I wanted.Tat
HasanMy whole body stiffens as Emily’s words sink in, the final nail in the coffin of whatever fragile thing Taty and I had left.She wants nothing to do with you.The words slam into my chest with the force of a freight train. Taty doesn’t even look at me. Not once. Not when Emily turns and pulls
TatianaI wake up to the blinding glare of fluorescent lights, my head pounding like it’s been split in two. My body aches from every angle, almost like I’ve been hit repeatedly by a massive truck. A groan slips past my lips as I try to move, but a firm hand presses against my shoulder, keeping me
I hear them talk. Really, I do. But I don’t give a damn. Their words blur together, meaningless noise compared to the only thing that matters right now—the one person I did all this for.HasanI hear them talk. Really, I do. But I don’t give a damn. Their words blur together, meaningless noise comp







