LOGINMorning came slowly.Not because the sun didn’t rise.But because I didn’t want to meet it.I had barely slept. The kind of restless, broken sleep where your body shuts down for minutes at a time but your mind never really lets go. Every time I drifted, I saw it again—The bedroom.The woman.Zane’s voice.I never promised exclusivity.I turned on my side, burying my face deeper into the pillow, willing the memory away.It didn’t go.A knock sounded lightly on the door.Then Amanda’s voice—too bright. Too awake.“Vivian… wake up.”I groaned softly. “No.”“Vivian, I’m serious. You need to see this.”Something in her tone pulled me out of my haze.Not urgency.Excitement.That alone made me frown.“I don’t need to see anything,” I muttere
Moments later, I found myself standing in front of Amanda’s apartment door, my hand hovering just inches from the bell.I didn’t remember leaving Zane’s house.Didn’t remember how I got into the Uber.Didn’t remember the route.Everything between the moment I tore myself from his grip and now felt like a blur of motion and noise and something sharp tearing through my chest.But the pain?That was crystal clear.It sat heavy in my lungs, making it hard to breathe. It pressed against my ribs like something alive, something angry, something broken.I swallowed hard and finally pressed the bell.A few seconds passed.Then the door swung open.Amanda stood there, dressed in soft home clothes, her hair tied up loosely, a glass of wine in her hand.Her brows furrowed instantly.“Vivian?”Her eyes swept over me — my disheveled hair, my trembling h
I didn’t remember walking down the stairs.One moment I was standing in that doorway, my world tilting off its axis… and the next, I was in the living room, my heartbeat loud in my ears, my steps unsteady but determined.I just knew one thing.I had to leave.Now.Before I broke in a way I wouldn’t recover from.My fingers tightened around my bag as I moved toward the door, each step faster than the last, like instinct had taken over where logic had failed.“Vivian.”His voice cut through the air behind me.Low.Sharp.Too close.I didn’t stop.I couldn’t.“Vivian.”This time, firmer.Closer.My hand had just reached the door handle when I felt it—His grip around my wrist.Strong.Unyielding.I froze.For a second, I couldn’t breathe.Slowly, I turned.
The drive back felt shorter than it should have.Amanda had hugged me tightly before I left, her earlier questions still lingering between us like unfinished sentences.Are you his woman?I had laughed it off then. Deflected. Changed the subject.But now, alone in the backseat as the city blurred past the window, the question kept replaying in my mind.Not loud.Not urgent.Just… persistent.By the time the car turned into Zane’s estate, my thoughts were tangled.I told myself I was overthinking.That what we had didn’t need labels.That actions mattered more than words.Still… something felt unsettled.The gates opened.The car rolled in.And that’s when I saw it.Zane’s car was already parked.My brows pulled together slightly.He wasn’t supposed to be home this early.He had meetings scheduled into the evening.“Plans changed,” I murmured to myself as I stepped out.A small, unexpected warmth flickered in my chest.Maybe I’d get to see him earlier.Maybe we’d have wine together.Ma
The day Zane told me to take the day off, I thought he was joking.“You’re giving me a day off?” I asked, standing in the doorway of his office.He didn’t look up immediately, finishing the email he was typing before setting his phone aside.“Yes.”“That’s suspicious.”His mouth curved slightly.“You solved a problem yesterday that could have cost me several million dollars.”“I rerouted a shipment.”“You rerouted a shipment without panicking, without asking questions you didn’t need answers to, and without drawing attention,” he corrected calmly. “That’s rare.”I crossed my arms lightly.“So this is a reward?”“In part.”“And the other part?”He leaned back in his chair, studying me.“You need time outside this building.”That surprised me.“Why?”“Because this place,” he said, gesturing toward the glass walls around us, “has a way of consuming people.”I raised a brow.“And you’re worried about me being consumed?”“I’m practical,” he replied. “Burnout makes people careless.”Then he
The next morning, I woke before Zane.That had already become a quiet habit.Not because I had to.Because I wanted to.His bedroom was still dim, early sunlight barely beginning to slip through the curtains. Zane lay beside me, one arm stretched across the empty side of the bed where I had been moments earlier. Even in sleep, he looked composed — controlled — like the world never truly caught him off guard.I studied him for a moment longer than necessary.The man who commanded boardrooms with a single sentence.The man whose world ran on loyalty tests and quiet threats behind glass doors.The man who had said he trusted me.And who had kissed me like trust meant something dangerous.A strange warmth spread through my chest.Not just desire.Something deeper.Something steadier.Love.The realization didn’t arrive with fireworks or panic.It arrived quietly.Like a truth that had been building piece by piece until it could no longer be ignored.I loved him.And if I was going to exis
The door hadn’t even finished clicking shut behind Zane before I sank onto the couch like my legs could no longer support me.My heart was still racing. My palms were damp. The air felt too thick to breathe properly.Amanda came out of her room slowly, studying my face the way someone does when the
Things got intense so fast, I didn’t even remember moving.One second, I was standing there, drowning in the familiar pull of him—of us, and the next, I was in Zane’s arms, my back pressed against his chest, his hands gripping my waist like he was afraid I’d vanish again if he loosened his hold.I
By the time noon rolled around, my nerves were already frayed.I’d spent the morning pretending to focus—answering emails, familiarizing myself with internal systems I already knew, nodding politely at coworkers who were still trying to figure out.Every time the clock ticked forward, my chest tigh
The call came three days later.I was standing in line at a café, clutching a paper cup of coffee I didn’t really want, when my phone started vibrating in my hand. I glanced down absently, then froze.Zane Wilde.My stomach dropped so fast it felt like I’d missed a step on a staircase.For a second







