LOGIN~SEREN~My reaction is as fast as lightning.In the blink of an eye, I shove Alaric away and spin around so quickly that my hair whips across my face. The sting barely registers, not when my heart is throwing a full-blown parade in my chest and nearly stops altogether as the doorknob turns again.Click.The door doesn't budge.It's locked."Huh?" I hear Georgia say from the other side. "Locked? Why—" She trails off before finishing the question.A second later, she lets out a heavy sigh."Where could those two have run off to?" she mutters and the next second, I hear her footsteps begin to fade in the opposite direction.My breath remains trapped in my throat the entire time. Only when I can no longer hear her voice or footsteps do I finally exhale the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.The relief hits so suddenly that my legs decide to give out beneath me. Before I can fall, Dominic's arm is already around my waist, pulling me securely against his body."Easy there, Princess,"
~SEREN~For a full ten seconds, I stand frozen, the silence in the room stretching so thin I could practically hear my own blood rushing in my ears.Open marriage partners?These men—my husband's uncles—were not just proposing an affair. They were proposing... this. A sick, twisted arrangement that sounded so unbelievably filthy and yet, so undeniably tempting.I should have been disgusted. I should have shoved them away and marched out of the room.But I wasn't.Instead, I remained trapped between them, my body betraying me by leaning slightly into Alaric's touch while the arm around my waist from behind felt less like a cage and more like an anchor."You're insane," I finally manage to say, my voice barely above a whisper. "You're both insane."Alaric's lips curves into a slow, devastatingly handsome smile. "Maybe," he conceds, his thumb stroking my jaw in a way that sent sparks shooting down my spine. "Or maybe we're the only ones who see what your husband is too blind to appreciat
~SEREN~For a second, I'm overcome by a mixture of disgust and surprise as I finally realize what he's doing.Masturbating.He is actually beating off over the phone while his mother—the woman who loves these family gatherings more than anything—is downstairs.My surprise quickly morphs into anger.The audacity.If he doesn't have any respect for me anymore, then he should at least respect Georgia.But the bastard clearly doesn't think that way.My stomach churns further at the sounds drifting from the room.Julian's groans are poorly suppressed, and that two-faced bitch on the other end doesn't exactly have a silencer either."Do you like that, Julie? Wanna stick your cock in?"Nausea rises immediately.The little steak I'd managed to eat earlier threatens to crawl back up my throat.I take a step forward, already reaching for the doorknob, only to stop myself at the last second.What good would confronting him do?We were in an open marriage—one I'd technically agreed to, even if no
~SEREN~Target.The word echoed through my head as my heart hammered so hard against my ribs that I was certain Dominic could hear it.That's all I was to them.A target.A woman they found interesting enough to pursue, someone to satisfy their desires with because her husband had made a mockery of her.My fingers tighten around the edge of the marble counter as anger slowly rises within me."Target?" I repeat, shooting him a hard look. "I'm your niece-in-law," I spit, as though saying the words aloud could somehow erase what happened in that suite two nights ago.Dominic doesn't even pause to consider my argument. Instead, he leaned closer, so close that every breath I take carries his scent with it.His warm breath fans across my lips, and beneath it, I catch the faint aroma of the red wine Georgia had paired with dinner."Last I checked," he drawls, his eyes drifting from mine before slowly trailing downward until they settle on my lips and linger there. Instinctively, my tongue
~SEREN~One second, I'm staring at Dominic's reflection in the mirror. The next, I've spun around and am glaring daggers at him."You."The word comes out as a hiss, but much to my disappointment, it only seems to deepen that infuriating smirk of his."Dominic," he corrects casually. "I'm Dominic, the one who fucked your mouth senseless until you were left gasping for air.”His words make my eyed double their size and I rush forward before I can stop myself and slap a hand over his mouth."You're crazy," I hiss, feeling my heart hammering wildly in my chest.I'm not sure whether it's from anger, adrenaline, or the way he's staring down at me with his lips pressed against my palm.His eyes gleam with amusement. When he speaks, his words come out muffled."That's no way to speak to your elder, Seren."Something about the way he says it—or perhaps the feeling of his breath warming my palm—causes my confidence to falter for a second.Immediately, I lower my hand and take a step back.His
~SEREN~My stomach twists so violently that I feel like I might vomit the midnight snack I'd managed to scarf down last night.Uncles?These men—the same ones who had become a hot, pleasurable, yet unfortunate mistake in my life—were Julian's uncles?I'd slept with my husband's uncles.The realization hits me, and it hits hard.My heart hammers painfully against my ribs while my throat tightens.Still, I force my expression to remain neutral. Or at least, I try to."Oh my, you look a little pale, Seren. Are you alright?"Georgia's voice is filled with concern, and it instantly makes guilt bloom in my chest.I'd slept with the twin brothers of the woman who had treated me like her own daughter after my parents' death."I'm... I'm fine," I say, my voice coming out steadier than expected. "Just a little carsick."I force a smile, the lie feeling like sand on my tongue.Immediately, guilt worsens when Georgia's face softens with concern and she begins fussing over me the way she always do
~SEREN~For a second, my brain struggles to process the words that were just said.I blink once, then twice.“Excuse me?” I finally manage to choke out, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears.Surely, I must have misheard them.“You heard us,” the brown-haired twin says, like he’s discussing the
~SEREN~As someone involved in real estate and construction, I’d seen my fair share of attractive men, yet none of them came close to the two seated effortlessly in that VIP booth, commanding attention without even trying.Calling them handsome would’ve been an understatement.A more accurate descr
~SEREN~I blink once, then twice.Did he just say…“An open marriage?” The words scrape against my throat like sand as they leave my mouth.Julian nods before pausing to stare at me like I’m a child struggling to understand something simple.“Ah, figures,” he mutters before continuing. “An open mar
~SEREN~“The diagnosis shows you have Thyroid Disorder—hypothyroidism, Mrs. Caldwell. The chances of you having children are slim to none.”Doctor Brown’s words replay in my head as I pull into the driveway of my house and force the car to a stop, pressing my forehead against the steering wheel in







