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Chapter 9 — Perfect Couple
publish date:
2026-05-23 08:18:21
Latest chapter
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 177 — Too Late for Promises
*POV Derby* Derby’s hand stayed raised between them for one more second after Jordan’s mouth closed. The rest of whatever he had been about to say never left his throat. She lowered her palm slowly. Her fingers curled once against the side of her coat, then relaxed. The jazz under the café speakers kept its quiet loop. Somewhere near the counter a cup met its saucer with a soft click. “Don’t give me possibilities,” she said. The words came even, no lift at the end. “Give me reality.” Jordan’s fingers pressed harder against the edge of the table. The wood was warm from his hand. He looked at her and saw the same steady set of her shoulders he had watched from across the ballroom the night before—no small shift, no breath held and released. She wasn’t leaving space for him to land the sentence softly. She had already decided the shape of the answer she would accept, and possibilities were not in it. He tried to speak. Nothing arrived. The quiet stretched. In it he heard ev
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 176 — Not Yours Anymore
*POV Derby* The message arrived at 9:17. Derby had been at her desk since eight, the follow-up report from last night’s presentation open on her screen and a half-drunk coffee cooling beside the keyboard. Her phone lit up face-up. She finished the sentence she was typing before she looked. Jordan Vasquez: Need your input on the regional adjustment before the board packet goes out. Can we talk after six? She read it twice. The offer card from the ballroom still sat unopened in the side pocket of her bag under the desk. She hadn’t told anyone about the meeting she had scheduled for tomorrow morning. Her thumb rested on the screen for a moment, then moved. Derby Odellia: Send the file. I’ll mark comments by four. She set the phone face down and went back to the numbers. The office around her stayed ordinary—phones ringing two desks over, the low hum of the printer, someone laughing near the kitchen. None of it reached the tight space behind her ribs. She marked three lines i
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 175 — You Look… Different
*Limited Third Person: POV Derby* The last of the formal program ended twenty minutes ago. Most of the guests had already drifted toward the elevators or the open bar on the lower terrace. The ballroom lights sat at half strength now, turning the white tablecloths a soft gray and catching faint reflections off the polished marble near the doors. A low piano track moved through the speakers—slow chords, no melody strong enough to follow—barely louder than the soft clink of plates being stacked onto a rolling cart somewhere behind the stage. Jordan crossed the remaining distance when the aisle finally emptied. The air still held the leftover warmth of too many bodies and the faint, sweet edge of spilled champagne that someone had wiped from a table edge. I stood near the side doors, bag over one shoulder, checking something on her phone. The screen light touched the side of her face. I looked up before he reached her. Her hand lowered. I didn’t put the phone away. He stopped
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 174 — She Doesn’t Look for Him
*POV Derby* Jordan stayed near the wall where the doors opened onto the corridor. The break had started three minutes ago. People moved past him with phones and half-finished glasses. He watched the water station. Derby was still there. A woman from one of the investment groups had joined her, tablet open between them. Derby pointed at a line on the screen, said something short, and waited while the woman typed. Her free hand rested on the edge of the table. She didn’t lift her head to scan the room. She didn’t check the doors. She finished the point, nodded once, and let the woman leave. Jordan’s hand found the seam inside his pocket again. He pressed his thumb against it until the fabric pulled tight, then let go. A reporter approached next. Younger, recorder already on. Derby turned toward him without shifting her stance. She answered two questions about the regional adjustment, kept her replies under ten seconds each, and declined a third with a small shake of her head. The re
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 173 — Jordan Sees Her
*POV Derby* The door closed behind him with less sound than he expected. Jordan stayed just inside the threshold, one hand still in his pocket, while the ballroom continued without him. Derby stood at the front, clicker in her left hand, answering a question from a man two tables back. Her voice carried clean across the open space. She didn’t rush the numbers. She didn’t look down at her notes. Jordan’s feet stopped on their own. He had planned to cross to the head table, take the empty seat beside Tamara, and keep his face neutral through the rest of the program. The seat was still empty. Tamara had turned her head when he entered; he felt the shift in her attention the way he always did. He didn’t move toward her. Derby finished the sentence and waited. The man asked a follow-up. She nodded once, turned the slide, and pointed to a single column without turning her body fully toward the screen. Her weight stayed even on both feet. No shift. No hand rising to smooth her sleeve. Th
One Night, Wrong Man CHAPTER 172 — She Walks In Different
*POV Derby* The elevator doors opened on the thirty-second floor and Derby stepped out without checking her reflection in the polished metal. She already knew what she looked like. The black dress fit close but not tight, sleeves to the elbow, hem brushing just below the knee. Nothing that would make anyone turn their head for the wrong reason. She adjusted the thin strap of her bag once, then let her hand fall. Inside the ballroom the lights were already up. Round tables filled the space, white linen, low centerpieces, name cards standing at angles. Investors and executives stood in small clusters near the windows, the city spread out behind them in late afternoon light. A few photographers moved along the edges, cameras lowered for now. Derby walked straight to the registration table near the side entrance. The woman behind the table glanced up, pen paused. “Ms. Odellia. You’re early.” “Traffic was kind.” Derby signed the sheet, the pen moving steady. She set it down and offered
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 6 — Again
-POV Derby The first thing that brought me back to reality wasn’t the blinding sunlight cutting through the heavy velvet drapes. It was the sheer, suffocating quiet of the room. I blinked my eyes open, my brain taking a messy five seconds to remember exactly where I was. Penthouse suite. The Four
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 5 — The Night.
-POV Derby Somewhere between freezing under Jordan Vasquez’s heavy gaze in the conference room and stepping into the private executive elevator, my brain completely short-circuited. I’d already decided to go upstairs. The rest was me desperately acting like this was still up for debate. The ride t
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 4 — Impulse
-POV Derby I spent most of Thursday morning pretending my life hadn’t become significantly more complicated over the course of a single night. By the time I slipped into a seat near the back of the conference room, my presentation was already open on my laptop. The slides waited patiently on the s
One Night, Wrong Man Chapter 3 — Just a Name.
-POV Derby By Monday I’d almost convinced myself it was over. Not in some dramatic way. Just… closed. Like shutting a tab you left open too long and deciding not to open it again. I made coffee that tasted like nothing. Went to work. Answered emails acting like the weekend had never happened,
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