LOGIN[Alma]"But that's not all," Sienna said and I looked up at her immediately.Something in her expression made my stomach twist."What do you mean?" I asked, my voice coming out much sharper than I intendedSienna swallowed, exchanging a look with Elara before turning back to me."They're shutting down the company." She said, staring back at the office. "That explains why James and the rest are a bit sad. But the good thing is that...""That what?" I took a step forward without meaning to. "They are not shutting us down, we heard a much bigger firm bought the company."I frowned."What?""It's just like we're being transferred." Elara quickly added. "No one is losing their job."I blinked.Transferred?"Transferred where?" I asked."No idea." Sienna shook her head. "All they said is that we have a meeting in a week. They're bringing new contracts for all of us to sign.""And…" She lowered her voice a little, taking another step toward me. "And we'll be meeting our new owner right after
[Alma]"What?"Sienna's eyes went wide as she froze right at the doorway of the office, one hand still on the frame. Her brow knitted together and she blinked hard, even rubbing at her eyes as if she thought she was seeing things before looking at me again."What are you doing here?""Wow." I chuckled, shifting the bag on my shoulder. "And here I was thinking my two best friends were missing the hell out of me."As if my words had summoned her, Elara appeared out of nowhere.She stopped so abruptly that she nearly bumped into Sienna.Her eyes widened."Alma?""Shouldn't you be in Paris?" Sienna asked, already taking a few steps toward me.I swallowed, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag.The way they were looking at me suddenly made my stomach twist."Is everything okay?" Sienna asked, her gaze shifting from my body back to my face."Something came up," I lied immediately. "Mason needed to report to work and he didn't want to go. I had to insist that I had something to do
[Alma]I'd barely stepped fully inside the house when that familiar voice cut through the air, followed by hurried footsteps."Who do we have here?"Grandma Rose's smile seemed to light up the entire house as she hurried toward the door and wrapped her arms around me before I could even say a word."Alma, of course." I giggled, my arms slipping around her waist.She nodded against my chest, her fingers curling tighter around me like she was making sure I was really here.She stayed like that for what felt like forever before finally pulling away.The smile on her face softened as she looked at me.Really looked at me.Her gaze moved from my face to my body and then back to my face again, searching, checking, and I couldn't have been more grateful that the bruises on my cheeks had faded."How are you?" Grandma Rose asked softly, taking my hand into hers and refusing to let go as she led me deeper into the living room.We walked over to the couch and settled down. She still didn't let g
[Alma] "Be safe. Princess." Zevyn's words echoed in my head as I stepped onto the grounds of Crestfall. The familiar air hit my skin and I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. My hand curled tightly around my bag as I unlocked my phone, already swiping through the Uber app when two men stepped directly in front of me. "Ma'am, which car would you like to ride in?" I raised my head, my brows drawing together as my gaze shifted from them to the four vehicles lined up a few feet away. A Rolls Royce. A Ferrari. A G-Wagon. And a Bentley. "None of the above," I said, already taking a step toward what looked like it led to the exit, only for the two men to move in front of me again. "I'm sorry, ma'am." "I am not your ma'am," I snapped, frustration rising instantly. "And get out of my way, will you? I said I'm not riding any of them." Neither of them moved. They stood there like statues, their shoulders squared, their expressions hidden behind black s
[Alma]My hand curled tightly on my lap as I stared out through the tinted window, my heart refusing to slow down no matter how many times I told myself it was over.Mason was right there.A few feet away from meThe image kept replaying inside my head over and over again like a broken record. His back outside the lobby. The way my entire body had locked up the second I recognized him. The way panic had exploded through my veins so fast it felt like I couldn't breathe.He would have seen me.If I'd taken one more step, Mason would have seen me standing right beside his boss.My jaw clenched painfully as I kept my gaze fixed on the passing vehicles outside, watching them blur together behind the glass.What exactly would I have said if he had turned around?Where would I have even started?How would I explain being in Paris with Zevyn?The thought alone made my stomach twist violently."You are almost squeezing the life out of that seat."Zevyn's voice cut through the silence of the ca
[Zevyn]Only if she knew there was no way in hell I was letting her go.Not now.Not when I was still trying to wrap my fucking head around all of this.Around the fact that she was the only person my body relaxed around.The only one.Years of therapy hadn't done it. Pills hadn't done it. Long nights spent staring at ceilings waiting for my mind to shut the fuck up hadn't done it either.Yet somehow Alma had.And the worst part?I didn't even think she realized it.None of it made any damn sense.Every logical part of me kept searching for an explanation, some reasonable answer that would make this whole thing less insane than it sounded in my head. But no matter how many times I turned it over, no matter how much I tried to deny it, the truth remained exactly where it had always been.Right in front of my face.Alma mattered now.Far more than she should.Far more than I was comfortable admitting.My jaw clenched.Because that brings me to a conclusion I can't ignore.I want her.No
[Zevyn]It didn’t feel like I was drowning. It felt… peaceful. Too peaceful, the kind of silence that shouldn’t belong to a place like this. I found myself standing still in the familiar emptiness as always, eyes drifting across nothing and everything at the same time, waiting for it—the fear.The
[Alma] "You don’t have to pretend to be asleep, you know?" His voice came low, rough at the edges, that deep sound vibrating straight through the space between us and somehow settling heavier in my chest than it should have. And I hated that I felt it everywhere. I didn’t respond. Didn’t e
[Alma ]"Do you expect me to come knocking at your door at 3 am if I want to fuck that wet pussy?"The words didn’t stop echoing in my head no matter how much I tried to drown them out.I should have gotten mad at him, should have snapped at him right there and told him he had no right to speak to
[Alma]With every bite that touched my tongue, the feeling in my chest tugged harder and harder, pulling at something I couldn't quite explain. This was becoming too much to be a coincidence.I hated too much seasoning on my pasta. I absolutely hated it. Most restaurants seemed determined to drown







