Owned by the man I hated

The party was everything it was supposed to be..... loud, glittering, full of people pretending they weren’t exhausted by the performance of it all. Glasses clinked, laughter floated in the air, perfume mixed with champagne bubbles, and the music was thumping hard enough to make the walls hum. I should’ve been at ease here. I was used to this world, used to the flashing lights, the questions, the eyes always watching. I had taught myself how to stand tall in places like this. But then… I saw him. And just like that, everything inside me stopped. It’s strange how a single look can drag you back years in a matter of seconds. My chest tightened, my throat caught, and suddenly my body remembered things I had worked so hard to forget. His jawline, the way he carried himself, the kind of smile that wasn’t really a smile at all, it all came rushing back. I hated it. I hated that after all this time, my body reacted before my brain could. And my brain, oh, it was screaming. Screaming his

By the time my driver dropped me off that night, I already felt drained. The party, the lights, the cameras, it was all noise I’d mastered pretending to enjoy. But what I hadn’t prepared for was him. And of course, the universe wasn’t done punishing me yet. Because as soon as we pulled up outside my building, I saw it. A black car parked across the street. Not the kind that usually sat around here, either. This one was sleek, polished, expensive car belonging to someone who didn’t wait for things, but for people. And I knew instantly who it was. My driver turned to me, concern in his eyes. “Do you want me to check?” I shook my head. My lips felt heavy when I answered, “No. I know who it is.” I stepped out of the car, heels tapping against the pavement. My gown dragged slightly, the kind of outfit that looked perfect under flashing lights but ridiculous in the quiet night air. My eyes didn’t move from the car across the street. The door opened. And there he was. He stepped ou

I told myself I was going to ignore it.Ignore the pictures. Ignore the gossip. Ignore him.But have you ever tried ignoring the internet? Yeah. Exactly. It’s impossible. It’s like telling the sun not to rise.....it just doesn’t work.Two days after that night, my entire life had basically turned into free entertainment for millions of strangers. I couldn’t scroll through Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or even check my email without seeing my own face plastered across some dramatic headline.Clips of the kiss, the kiss I swore I’d already locked in the back of my mind where it couldn’t touch me were everywhere. People slowed it down, zoomed in, made edits with love songs, breakup songs, dramatic violin music… name it, someone had already done it.And the comments? Lord, the comments were worse than the actual videos.“She never got over him.”“Look at her eyes before she kissed him back. That’s not hate.”“Enemies-to-lovers trope but in real life.”At one point, someone even wrote: “She

The applause had died down, but Mariana’s heart hadn’t. Even backstage, away from the lights, the sound of people clapping still echoed inside her chest like a drum.It wasn’t the presentation that left her rattled. No. She knew she had nailed that. Her slides, her delivery, every word was absolutely perfect.What rattled her was him...... Alejandro de le vegaThe host had introduced them with their full names, his sounding like thunder in the room.....Alejandro De La Vega. It carried weight, the kind that filled a space without permission. Then came hers....Mariana Cariño.She’d tried not to react, but she caught the way his head tilted ever so slightly when her name was announced, like he was hearing it for the first time. And then he did the unthinkable.He leaned closer, his mouth brushing dangerously near her ear, and whispered, “Mariana Cariño. Fits you too perfectly.”Her knees had nearly buckled. Maybe that’s why he caught her elbow so smoothly, guiding her down the steps as t

The silence pressed against Mariana’s chest until she could hardly breathe. Alejandro’s eyes, dark and sharp, unyielding, were locked on her as though he could pull every unspoken thought straight from her skin.“You shouldn’t be here,” he said at last. His voice wasn’t angry, but calm. Too calm. And that calmness was worse than any fury; it carried the weight of danger, of a man used to deciding who lived or died with nothing more than steady words.Mariana swallowed, her throat tight. “I wasn’t spying,” she whispered. “I just… couldn’t sleep.”Alejandro tilted his head slightly, like he was dissecting the truth in her voice. He didn’t believe her. He knew she had heard.“And yet you heard enough,” he said.That tone, flat and certain, made her stomach knot. She tried to deny it, but the words from his call still burned in her memory: She can’t know yet. Keep your end of the deal.Her voice cracked. “Who were you talking to?”Instead of answering, he stepped closer. Every movement wa