LOGIN“Mom kept you company, yeah?”A pair of warm arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind, followed by a soft kiss pressed against the side of my head.“I’m sorry I made you wait,” Jack murmured. “Dad gets a little too talkative when he wants to.”A quiet chuckle slipped from my lips as I tore my gaze away from the endless stretch of the Winehouse estate and glanced at him over my shoulder.“I think he just summarized three decades of his business journey in three hours,” he whispered jokingly, letting out a laugh under his breath. “I barely even got to speak.”“Well, he missed you,” I replied softly, covering the hand resting against my stomach with mine. “It’s not every day you get a father-and-son talk. You both needed it.”Jack hummed quietly before resting his chin on my shoulder. His thumb lazily caressed my stomach through the fabric of my dress.The gesture instantly reminded me of what Elizabeth said earlier. A baby. A family.And that thought didn’t scare me the way it used t
I stood by the balcony, my eyes glued to the two gentlemen deep in conversation by the garden below.Uncle Nolan had called Jack the other night, inviting us over for this so-called dinner.But I knew it was just a front.Knowing how influential Uncle Nolan was, there was no way he didn’t already know the kind of mess his son was crawling into.“Boys,” Elizabeth groaned beside me, fanning herself dramatically as she followed my gaze. “They love setting aside their ladies whenever business comes up. Which, honestly, I’m glad for because I wouldn’t want to hear any of it.”I turned toward her, both brows lifting when I noticed her outfit.It was normal.And somehow, that made it unusual.She wore a beige sweater tucked into brown tailored shorts paired with white sneakers.From what I remembered, normal outfits had never exactly been Elizabeth’s forte.“Are you hungry?” she asked, offering me a basket of madeleines.I picked one up and lifted it slightly toward her. “Thanks,” I murmured
Exhausted from the whole day? That was nothing against how bad Jack used me.I wished to see the monster he told me about, and yes... I witnessed it with my own eyes, felt it on my body, and probably heard it by the world outside that room.For a moment, I thought he wanted to rip my vagina from how hard he took me. My boobs felt raw and still sensitive from the way he had sucked, squeezed, and slapped them the same way he always did to my ass.He really did hide that monstrosity in him.But who was limping now?“Did I hurt you?” Jack asked, his hands settling on my hips as he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling me between his parted legs while holding a towel up toward me.He stayed there while I stood in front of him. Yet his fingers couldn’t stop tracing light and absent-minded lines along the edges of my body like he was memorizing me all over again.I hummed softly, rubbing the towel through his damp hair, but my focus kept breaking into pieces—my mind replaying what we had just
Even after we got home, Jack stayed quiet.And I was too scared to start a conversation only to end up getting shut down again.I didn't want that.My eyes followed him around the room instead. The way he moved around the bed. Checked his phone. Slipped off his watch. Loosened the buttons of his shirt one by one before lazily kicking his shoes off onto the floor.My guilt sat heavily in my chest as I silently tried figuring out how to bring back the Jack I knew.I pulled the tie from my hair, letting my curls fall loose around my shoulders before shrugging my blazer off. Then I reached behind myself for the zipper of my dress... and failed.A sigh left me.Clicking my tongue softly, I stood in front of the mirror with my back facing it, fingers awkwardly fumbling behind me.But before I could start struggling harder, another pair of hands appeared.Jack brushed my hair over one shoulder before his fingers found the zipper.He pulled it down slowly... and leisurely.The slight scrape o
I swore I felt it in my bones. They shook under my skin, my heart pounding hard enough against my ribs.Jack had always been the one to yearn for attention, to beg for forgiveness, the one willing to be dragged around or punished if it meant I would keep looking at him.Yet here he was, flipping the table between us and taking the reins.I'd only seen him this upset once before, and I never wanted to see that version of Jack again.But I gave him a reason."What time is it?" he suddenly asked."Uh..." I stalled, glancing down at my wristwatch. "It's already past four—""It's four in the fucking afternoon and you haven't eaten your lunch," he cut me off sharply, teeth gritting as he kept glaring at me."I—I left the office past two in the afternoon. I was so busy trying to keep up with work. Victoria and I got stuck in traffic, and I was trying not to be late for the visiting hours at the hospital," I explained in one breathless outburst before shrinking a little under his stare. "So..
"He just came out of nowhere just a few minutes after you went in," Victoria told me as she hopped out of the car, already giving me a painful wince. "He was silent but damn, he came in like a wrecking ball by Miley Cyrus," she added before dramatically acting like she was melting under the sunlight.Clamping my lips together, guilt slowly washed over me as I stood there on the sidewalk like a kid caught red-handed doing something bad.But it was more nuanced than that. Either way, I kept something from him, and I deserved to stand there and bathe in his glare while talking to Victoria."I told you, he's going to kill you," she whispered in that creepy Gollum voice while gripping the edge of her car door tightly. "And I should probably go before he kills me too.""Wait, Victoria—""Abandon ship, sugar pie honey bunch. Apologize to him, give your kiss, and hope he won't feed you to the kraken," she awkwardly chuckled before blowing me a kiss and speeding off like she was auditioning fo
He moaned between our kisses as he answered each one feverishly, returning my starving kisses with a devouring one.His hands—hands that had been kept away from me for too long—were now holding me tightly, pulling me closer like being body-to-body still wasn’t enough.I gasped when he tore away fro
"What truth?"My head spun, my heart racing.Whatever was about to come to my knowledge, I knew I had to brace myself.My hand unknowingly sought something to keep my balance, holding on to the backrest of the couch."Remember the story I told you about? Cath's Paw. It was true. That was the very f
Did I make the right choice? Yes… and no.There was a sting of satisfaction knowing Jack must’ve been pacing back and forth after I ignored all his texts and calls.But there was also that tiny drop of guilt when I learned he never even left the parking lot. He waited for me there.When I decided t
Victoria didn’t let go of my arm until we were three stores away and hidden behind a wall of mannequins wearing office blazers more expensive than my self-esteem.“Okay,” she hissed. “Tell me you did not believe a single goddamn words that Botox Cinderella told you.”I blinked, still in shock. “I…







