LOGINSCARLETTMy eyes fluttered open to the sharp smell of antiseptic and the steady beep of machines.Hospital.Again.White ceiling. Pale blue walls. IV line taped to the back of my hand. Thin blanket over my legs.I blinked slowly, head still foggy, trying to piece together how I’d ended up here.The piano.The sudden pain in my stomach — sharp, twisting, like a knife.My scream.The maid’s panicked face.Then darkness.I tried to sit up.A hand caught mine.I turned.Ethan.He sat beside the bed, eyes red-rimmed, face pale, still in the same shirt from last night. He looked like he hadn’t slept.“Oh, my wife,” he said, voice thick. “Scarlett, are you okay?”I pulled my hand away fast.“Yes,” I said. “You don’t have to act like that. No one saw us here.”He lifted his head, worry flashing across his face.“No, no, I have to act like this. When did you find out? Why did you hide it? Why?”My heart stopped.“What… what do you mean?”He leaned closer.“Oh my god! You don’t know either? You
SCARLETTThe phone rang when I was already halfway under the covers, the screen lighting up the dark bedroom like an accusation.I stared at Ethan’s name flashing on the display.Ignore it, I told myself.Let it go to voicemail.But it kept ringing — insistent, annoying, impossible to tune out.I sighed, reached over, and answered before I could talk myself out of it.“Where have you been?” Ethan’s voice came through sharp and panicked. “My colleague said he met you. Why didn’t you call me? What did you say? Are you with Ryder?”I closed my eyes.Took a slow breath.“Scarlett!!” he snapped. “You’re with me, right? Don’t you dare ruin my reputation, or you—”“Will you regret it?” I finished for him, voice flat. “I know, Ethan. I’m not stupid either. I told him I was visiting my mom here. Don’t worry, he didn’t suspect anything. And I was also surprised to see him there, so it wasn’t intentional.”Silence on his end.Then I heard Lila’s voice in the background — soft, teasing.“Come he
SCARLETTThe car ride back to the penthouse felt longer than it should have.I sat in the passenger seat, dress still wrinkled, hair messy, lips swollen from the kiss in the restaurant hallway. My thighs were sticky, my body still humming from what we’d done in the back seat earlier. Ryder drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift, glancing at me every few seconds like he couldn’t decide whether to smile or apologize.The silence between us was thick, awkward, charged.He finally broke it.“You can’t lie to me,” he said quietly. “I know you enjoyed it too, Scarlett.”I stared straight ahead at the road lights streaking past.I didn’t answer.Because he was right.And admitting it felt like betraying myself.The car slowed as we pulled into the underground garage of the penthouse building.I reached for the door handle.“I have to go now,” I said. “Thanks for dinner.”His hand moved fast.The locks clicked down.I froze.“Ryder! This isn’t funny,” I said, tu
RYDERThe car door slammed shut and the world outside disappeared.We were in the back seat, city lights blurring past tinted windows, but none of it mattered. Scarlett was already on my lap, legs straddling my hips, black dress rucked up around her thighs. Her mouth crashed into mine again before I could even catch my breath — hot, wet, desperate. I groaned into the kiss, hands immediately sliding up her back, fingers digging into soft skin through silk.She tasted like wine and need.I could feel how badly she wanted this.Her hips rocked once, grinding down on the bulge straining against my pants. A low curse slipped from my throat.“Fuck, Scarlett…”She didn’t answer with words.Just kissed me harder, tongue sliding against mine in long, filthy strokes. Her fingers threaded through my hair, tugging just enough to sting. I loved it. Loved the way she pulled me closer like she couldn’t get enough.My hands roamed higher, tracing the zipper at the back of her dress. I tugged it down
SCARLETTThe restaurant was hidden on the top floor of a quiet building downtown, the kind of place where the city lights twinkled below like stars that had fallen just for us. Soft golden lighting, velvet booths, and only a few other tables far enough away that it felt completely private. Intimate. Dangerous.I sat across from Ryder in my simple black dress, the one that hugged my body a little too well tonight. He looked handsome in a dark shirt with the top buttons open, sleeves rolled up, showing the strong lines of his forearms. His eyes never left me.The waiter approached with the wine list.“Would the lady like—”“No wine for her,” Ryder said calmly before the man could finish. “My woman is pregnant.”The waiter nodded politely and stepped away.I glanced at his retreating back, then back at Ryder.“Your woman?” I asked, voice low. “Since when did I become your woman?”He swirled the red wine in his glass, watching the liquid catch the light.“Since you asked me to touch you,”
SCARLETTThe elevator doors slid open on the top floor, and the first thing that hit me was the silence.It was too big. Too clean. Too empty.Ethan walked ahead of me, carrying my small suitcase like it weighed nothing, while the maid he’d hired trailed behind with the rest of my things. The penthouse stretched out in front of us — floor-to-ceiling windows showing the city skyline, open-plan living room with white marble floors, sleek gray furniture, a kitchen that looked like it belonged in a magazine. Everything perfect. Everything cold.“This is yours for the next nine months,” Ethan said, setting the suitcase down. “Plenty of space. No one will bother you here.”I didn’t answer.I walked straight to the windows.The view was stunning — lights glittering across the entire city — but it felt like looking out from a cage with glass walls.Ethan came up behind me.“I’ve assigned a maid to clean, cook, whatever you need,” he said. “You don’t have to lift a finger.”I kept staring ou
SCARLETT Two months had dragged on like a sentence I couldn’t appeal.Every morning I woke up feeling heavier than the day before. Every night I went to bed wondering if tomorrow would finally be the day I broke completely. Ethan’s rules had become the air I breathed—suffocating, invisible, inesc
RYDERThe ice in my glass had melted into a thin, useless puddle.I swirled the whiskey anyway—slow circles, watching the amber liquid catch the low bar lights. I hadn't taken a single sip. Didn't want it. Didn't need it. What I needed was answers, and the woman who'd left me with nothing but cash
SCARLETTEthan's car disappeared down the driveway, taillights fading into the dark. I stood on the balcony, arms wrapped around myself, watching until the gates closed behind him. No sadness. No regret. Just a strange, hollow calm. He was gone for three days. Three days of silence in this too-big
SCARLETT The phone's shrill ring sliced through the quiet like a knife. I shot upright, heart slamming so hard it hurt. The room was dim, golden afternoon light slanting low through the blinds. For one dizzy second I forgot where I was. Then I saw him. Ryder lay on his side, facing away from me







