LOGINMy mother’s fingers clutch my dress. It’s sickening to see her like this. “Jade, please!” she sobs, her voice raw and echoing off the vaulted ceiling. “Don't do this to us. Don't let them throw us back in that cage. We’ll go back to jail if the creditors find us. Your father, he’s sick, Jade. He’s dying in a basement while you sit here pretending we don't exist because we’re poor.”I feel the collective intake of breath from the Board—the sound of fifty pedigrees recoiling.“Security,” Zayn calls. He doesn't move, but the air around him turns cold.“No, wait!” my mother shrieks, looking up at the guests, her eyes wild. “Look at her! Look at my daughter! She’s living lavishly, wearing more money on her neck than our whole family has ever seen, while she lets her own family rot! Is this who you want in your company? A woman who forgets where she came from the moment she finds a rich heir?”I don’t look down at my mother. I look across the table. Damon leans back, a slow, predatory grin
The knock is a sharp, demanding staccato that shakes the heavy wooden door against my spine.“Zayn? I know you're in there. The Board is reconvening in five minutes.”I gasp. “Damon.”My breath hitches in my throat, my fingers digging into Zayn’s shoulders as I prepare for him to pull away—to fix his suit, to mask the hunger, to be the professional heir again. But Zayn doesn't let the knock bother us. “I know,” he says, pushing inside me again. “Let him hear how you scream my name. Let him know you’re mine.”He thrusts deeper. “Fuck!” I scream, fingers digging into the fabric of his tux, my eyes rolling to the back of my head, my toes curling.“Zayn?” Damon calls again, the door handle rattling.My whimpers grow louder as Zayn’s thrusts grow more brutal. “Zayn?” Damon sounds aggravated. “I can't believe this.”He must hear us now. And he sounds really pissed. But I don't mind anymore. Zayn’s eyes lock onto mine, burning with a defiant craving. He settles deeper into me, claiming my m
He kicks the doors open to a private library, a room filled with the scent of old books. The second the doors click shut and the lock turns, the corporate mask he’s been wearing shatters. He flings the phone a few feet away. Then he spins me around, pinning me against the dark wood of the door. His eyes are dark, almost black, and the hunger in them is so raw it's frightening.“You kneed him,” he breathes, his hands framing my face, his thumbs tracing my lower lip as if checking for a sign of Daniel’s touch.“He tried to kiss me,” I say, my voice trembling with the leftover adrenaline. “He thought… he thought I was still that same Jade.”“And you showed him you weren’t. I saw the shadow of it on the GPS. Your heart rate spiked, then leveled out into something chilly. Something brutal. Do you have any idea what that did to me?”“Tell me,” I whisper, my hands reaching up to grip his lapels, pulling him closer until there is no air left between us. His forehead drops against mine, his b
“You’re supposed to be at the bar, Daniel. Or perhaps looking for a new job,” I say, not turning back.“I told you, Jade. I work here now.” He stands beside me, tilts his head, his eyes roaming over the backless cut of my dress. “And I think we have a lot to talk about. Like how you’re playing the part of the devoted wife to a man you barely know.”“Dont you understand after being told so many times? I don't love you anymore. I've moved on.”“Wiith a man who treats you like a pet? I saw the way you looked at him. Like you were afraid to breathe without his permission.”“What I do with my breath is none of your business,” I bite back, finally turning to face him. “Get out of my way.”“No,” he says, stepping closer, pinning me between his body and the cold stone wall of the gallery. “I know the real Jade. The one who wanted a simple life. This… this version of you? This one who looks like a whore seeking attention? It’s fake. He’s twisted you into something you aren't.”“He’s awakened m
“Allow me to introduce our newest staff member,” Damon sneers. “Daniel Ederson. He’ll be working directly under me to ensure the company’s trust is… properly managed.”Daniel bows his head slightly, his eyes boring into mine. “It’s a pleasure.”The board mutters a word of greetings. Amanda doesn't speak. My heart is pounding so loudly I swear I can hear it in my ears.That’s when one of the board members recognizes him. “Isn’t this the man from the wedding?”My breath catches. Damon’s smile stretches. “Is he?” he feigns ignorance, stepping back, pretending to take a good look at Daniel. “I didn’t know,” he lies.Zayn said this would happen. That Daniel would be here. He knew his brother would do this.Daniel refuses to take his eyes off me. “Yes, I happen to know Jade very well. After all, I was the one who was supposed to marry her before Mr. Hemsworth decided to take her away.”“I thought you called it off,” Damon says.Daniel shakes his head once. “No. She did. She ditched me at th
I roll my eyes and hang up. What did Damon mean? Zayn didn’t pick the beach house for our honeymoon—Amanda did. But then again, whose house is it? If it were Amanda’s, would the red room be there in the first place? Those torturously sweet devices that showed me a part of myself I never knew existed.I doubt the house belongs to Amanda. Damon’s right. Zayn chose that house so he could be alone with me on purpose. I should be mad about it, but I don’t see a reason to be. If anything, the thought makes my core ache. I’m glad we went there. I wish we’d stayed longer than just a week.A knock startles me. Zayn’s back. I run to the door happily and open it, but it’s Dave who’s standing there, holding a black zipper garment bag.“Dave? What are you doing here?” He smiles. “I work here. Remember?”“I remember. But you're not to resume until tomorrow. We just got back.”He hands me the bag. “Zayn asked me to resume immediately. He said to stay with you while he’s at the office for an impromp
“You forgot your dress,” Zayn says. “Are you okay?” I can see the steam rising from the fabric of his shirt. I know it’s blistering him yet he only cares to know if I’m okay. Nobody has ever defended me like this. Not even Daniel when he pretended to love me. But Zayn did it without hesitation.
Barbara pulls me into the pantry and shuts the door. She crosses her arms, eyes blazing. “What is wrong with you? You seem different. VERY different.” She sounds concerned. In my past life, I’d have believed every word that came out of her lying mouth. I would've cried about work and how diffic
I’m naked inside the robe. Zayn had undressed me last night while I was… Nope! I don't wanna imagine that. My brain wants to explode. I grab my phone and sprint for the door before he wakes. I don't know if I can face him. I don’t want to see him again. Not today. Not ever. Especially not with tha
Zayn’s vicious smirk fades into something more clinical, more restrained. His voice drops into an octave, “You’re drunk, Jade. And I don’t take what isn’t offered by a sober mind.” My fingers tangle deeper into his hair. “This is an offer. I’m tired of being the woman who waits for permission.”







