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Shouldn't have come
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2026-01-21 18:41:40Jose tossed his coat onto the sofa, the black shirt stretched taut across his broad chest, a blatant display of power. Brandy's eyes flickered down. Two years hadn't erased the memory of what lay beneath that fabric: sculpted muscle, barely contained energy, a raw, animalistic sensuality.
"Why...did you bring me here?" she asked timidly. Direct confrontation with such raw power would be madness, a fast track to destruction.
But then, a loud rumble cut through the tension. Her stomach growled, a loud, embarrassing protest. Heat flooded her cheeks. She hadn't eaten or drunk anything since the plane, and the day's terror had left her drained.
"Looks like someone's hungry,"Jose said in a cold and stern voice.
"Bring it."
A middle-aged man in work clothes emerged, carrying a steaming bowl. He placed it on the coffee table.
"Mr. William, the seafood noodles are ready," Daniel, the butler, announced, then stepped aside respectfully, as if he didn't exist.
But when Brandy heard the word "seafood", her face turned pale.
"Enjoy your meal," Jose said, his eyes like chips of ice.
"I... I can't. I'm allergic," Brandy's voice trembled. The thought of seafood sent a wave of panic through her. A reaction could be deadly. She'd been there before...
"So, you reject my… hospitality."
A flicker of something dangerous crossed Jose's face. Now Brandy understood. Jose was doing this on purpose. He wanted to see her suffer.
"No...please, I can't... I'll die..."
She recoiled, desperate to escape. Jose stepped forward, grabbed Brandy's arm, and threw her towards the coffee table.
"Eat!"
"Ah!" Brandy cried out as she slammed into the coffee table, the force sending her handbag flying. It skidded across the floor for several feet. In her haste, she hadn't zipped the bag. Now, her phone tumbled out, landing exposed on the floor.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in her knee, Brandy stared at it, a wave of panic washing over her. The worst part was, Jose was heading straight for it.
As he picked up the phone, Brandy's breath caught in her throat. Jose held the phone, noting it was powered off. He pressed the power button on the side. It wasn't a dead battery.
"I...I was worried my aunt would call,” Brandy stammered. She knew that Jose's hatred for her aunt ran deep.
"Password."
Jose's gaze swept over her like ice. The fear inside Brandy tightened its grip, constricting her throat, stealing her air. But she knew that the more she felt this way, the more she needed to stay calm.
"Let me..." Brandy walked over. She carefully took the phone from Jose's hand and walked to the coffee table, as if shielding the screen from prying eyes.
Jose simply watched her, a hint of mockery in his cold gaze.
Brandy entered the password while her eyes darted around the room. Suddenly, she grabbed the bowl of seafood noodles from the coffee table and hurled it at Roman!
With a loud bang, the bowl shattered between them with a crash, the broth and noodles spraying across the floor, creating a messy barrier.
A dangerous glint sparked in Jose's dark eyes.
"Grab her!" he roared.
Fear fueled Brandy's sprint. As she ran out of the lobby, she saw the approaching bodyguards and quickly turned to run in another direction. She spotted an open staircase and scrambled down. But running in heels was treacherous, especially on stairs.
Her foot slipped–
"Ah!"
Brandy tumbled, her body bouncing down the steps. Jose arrived, standing at the top of the stairs, his gaze a cold merciless survey.
At the bottom, Brandy lay on the ground, unconscious, a crimson stain blooming on her forehead.
Brandy jolted awake, as if snapping out of a nightmare. She sat up, a wave of dizziness making her groan. Her hand went to her forehead, finding a bandage. She remembered the stairs, the fall... and then nothing.
Now she was in this unfamiliar room. It was already bright outside...
A sudden thought sent a jolt of panic through Claire. She clutched her chest and scrambled out of bed, rushing into the bathroom. Locking the door behind, she took out her phone from her bra. She managed to stash it there during her escape. Thank God it was safe.
Ignoring the situation she was in, Brandy immediately deleted all messages and photos about her kids. She had backups on her computer, anyway. Once that was done, she texted Aunt Katrina
"Don't call me. Don't let the kids call me either. Something's come up. I'll call you when it's over. Please, remember."
Aunt Katrina replied: "What happened?"
Brandy texted back: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just please take care of the children for me.”
Only then did she leave the bathroom. She scanned the room. Unfamiliar, yet the quiet luxury style spoke volumes. She knew, without a doubt, that it was Jose's doing.
What did he want? Whatever it was, Brandy wouldn't stay to find out. She had to get out.
Brandy opened the door and searched for the stairs. The house was so big that she almost got lost. Reaching the bottom, she didn't even glance at her handbag and headed straight for the exit, clutching her phone.
But before she could reach the large iron gate, she was stopped by someone in front of her. She stumbled back, barely avoiding a collision.
"Let me go," Brandy demanded, trying to control her fear.
"Mr. Willam's instructions," the bodyguard said, his voice as cold as a machine.
"Where is he? Where's Jose?"
"I have no information."
Brandy knew then that a direct escape was impossible. What should she do now?
Back in the room, Brandy grabbed her phone and called Linda.
"Aunt, you told me Jose vanished from Elite City years ago? Why was he there?"
If she'd known Jose was in Elite City, she never would have come!
"He's not here, darling! We haven't heard from him in years. If he was in Elite City, we'd know. I wouldn't keep something like that from you!" Linda's voice was urgent.
Brandy trusted her aunt. But why was Jose at Linda and Diego's anniversary party? Some sudden surge of familial affection? Impossible. Linda had told her that Jose had severed all ties with Diego and the entire Willam family. They were estranged.
So why...?
Brandy rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Jose hadn't been there to celebrate. He'd been waiting for her to fall into this trap.
But now it was too late...
"Brandy, what's wrong? What happened? I've been trying to call you but your phone was off."
"...Nothing. I just ran into an old friend, we went out for drinks, and things got a little... messy." Brandy lied. She didn't want to involve Linda. Jose was targeting her, and her alone.
Bab terbaru
My Pain, his gain you actually enjoy this
The air in the private suite of the Elite City club was thick with the scent of expensive tobacco, the sharp tang of spilled vintage wine, and the heavy, metallic presence of fear. Jose Williams stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his silhouette cutting a jagged, imposing figure against the shimmering, uncaring skyline of the city he essentially owned. He didn't look like a man who had just systematically stripped a woman of her last shred of dignity; he looked like a god who had just rearranged a piece of his universe and found the new alignment slightly more to his liking.Martin remained frozen on the plush Persian rug, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps as he clutched his aching stomach. The bodyguard’s blow had been surgical—designed to incapacitate without leaving a permanent mark that might embarrass the Williams family name. "You’re a monster, Jose," Martin managed to wheeze out, his voice cracking with a mixture of physical pain and moral revulsion. "You know that?
My Pain, his gain Get ride of fantasy
As Brandy answered, Jose's dark eyes bored into her, filled with a chilling, predatory rage.Her breathing became rapid, her face turned pale, and her inner nervousness and fear overwhelmed her body.She repeated to herself over and over again, *"I can't let Jose find out about the children! I can't let him know about Emily, Ella, Kenzo and Kelvin!"*"Hello, Brandy? Why did you hang up?" Aunt Charlotte's voice was laced with concern.Jose seemed dissatisfied with the unfamiliar woman's voice. He flicked his eyes toward Brandy, a silent command to speak."I... I'm fine. I was just about to go back. I called to tell you that I won't be returning right away... I'll transfer the money I owe you later..." Brandy struggled to speak through her trembling voice."You silly girl, the money doesn't matter. It's you not coming back that worries me. My health is failing every day," Aunt Charlotte replied.Brandy was slightly surprised by Aunt Charlotte's acting. She knew her aunt was trying to he
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The move from the Regal Garden to the small studio apartment felt less like a transition and more like a tactical retreat. Brandy packed her few belongings into a single suitcase, her hands moving with a frantic energy. She didn't want to give Jose a single second to change his mind. Every moment she spent under the roof of the Regal Garden felt like another layer of lead being added to her soul.When she finally turned the key in the lock of her new home, the silence that greeted her wasn't the heavy, suffocating silence of the mansion. It was empty, hollow, and hers.She spent her first evening sitting on the floor of the 50-square-meter space. The apartment was located in a gray stone building on the edge of the financial district, close enough to the clinic that she could walk to work in ten minutes. It was a far cry from the luxury of the Regal Garden—the walls were thin, and the window overlooked a narrow alleyway—but as she watched the sunset paint the brick walls outside in sh
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Brandy lowered her gaze, a faint, weary smile playing on her lips as she looked at the steam rising from her tea."Really?" she whispered, more to herself than to him."I heard... my brother also went to the Johnson family’s wedding anniversary banquet. He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Martin asked, his concern cutting through the ambient noise of the restaurant."No, I didn't stay long..." Brandy replied quickly, her voice dropping an octave. She didn't want to talk about anything related to Jose. To speak his name was to make him manifest in the room, and she had already spent enough of her life under his shadow.It was as if she were a frightened bird; merely mentioning him was enough to fill her with a paralyzing anxiety and a sense of suffocation. She could still feel the phantom weight of his gaze from the night before, a heavy pressure that seemed to linger on her skin like a stain."If he bothers you, tell me, I'll help you," Martin said, his voice firm and sincere.A wa
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The bathroom door was thrown open without warning, and Brandy stood frozen, staring nervously at the man, whose sudden appearance emitted a chilling aura. Jose's gaze was like ice. "Locking doors in my place? By whose permission?" Brandy was powerless to argue. This space could hardly be considered
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The bathroom door was thrown open without warning, and Brandy stood frozen, staring nervously at the man, whose sudden appearance emitted a chilling aura. Jose's gaze was like ice. "Locking doors in my place? By whose permission?" Brandy was powerless to argue. This space could hardly be considered
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Brandy's face flushed. _This is Jose's goal, isn't it? To humiliate me?_ she thought. She suspected this was just the beginning. As expected, James's expression changed. "What does he mean?" "Is this your new client? No wonder I haven't seen you in a while. Does he pay more than me?" the man contin
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