I did it. I told someone about my relationship with Callan. I had to fight off my embarrassment and guilt, but voicing it out freed me from the poisonous load that had been crushing me for a very long time. Yes, I let him manipulate me. Yes, I was the one who let Callan take control over me. And yes, I'd been struggling to forgive myself. I knew what was going on. I couldn't use the excuse of temporary insanity because everything inside me screamed that this wasn't right. Callan's so-called love was highly toxic. Nonetheless, I ended up blaming myself for letting that man smash me like a bug.When did I become so defenseless? It was the moment I decided that I was in love with him. He used that against me. He cut me off from all the friends I had at the university so that he could be the only person I talked to. He kept telling me that no one could ever love me as he would. He told me that I could only be happy with him and with no one else, and I believed him. I believed in his lie s
I wasn't entirely sure how I ended up in Aren's black Porsche, heading to the private airport. I must have been slightly bewildered after picturing the two of us together, alone in his villa. I felt as if he wasn't planning to have any serious conversation with me at all, but was seducing me instead. But the worst part was that each time his seduction came to my mind, my body desperately shouted, "Let's let him!"I must have been truly desperate since I kept biting my lip while observing his hands on the wheel, gracefully and confidently maneuvering the car. Why did he have to be so sexy while driving?!"Do I turn you on?" he asked suddenly, making me blush.Hysteric laughter left my throat. "W-what?"He smirked. "You squeeze those thighs a bit too much. I can help you relax if you want me to…"My face became blazing red in a second. "No, thank you," I grunted, turning my head to stare the rest of the way through the side window.We weren't even in the air, and I had already managed t
It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day. As I stepped outside on the terrace, the beach and ocean view instantly placed a smile on my face. The wind waved my loose hair, and I couldn't wait until I tossed the sandals off my feet and stepped on the beach sand, but I needed to fill my stomach first. Aren stepped toward me and grabbed my hand, tangling his fingers with mine."You look astonishing in that dress," he said, his eyes scanning my length."Thank you..." I responded, feeling heat flooding my cheeks, and then squeezed out a comment, "You look good in casual clothes.""Really?" His lips formed a wicked grin. "You don't like me when I wear suits then?""No... You look good in everything," I admitted, flustered like a dumb teenager.He leaned over me, his body close enough for me to feel his warmth. "So you do find me attractive?" he teased.I pushed him away, frowning. "You know damn well that I find you insanely handsome."He raised his eyebrows, looking at me genuinely surprised
I pull in one shallow breath after another. I remembered Neil saying that Aren had a lot of enemies, but I used to think of them as business competitors, not people who literally wanted him dead! "I thought that your mother committed suicide," I said nervously, feeling my body start to tremble. "They made it look that way." A painful grimace surfaced on his face. I raised my eyebrows, processing his words. "They?" He locked his eyes on me. "There were at least a few people involved in it. My father might be one of them." I gasped. The deadliest form of crime that I'd had contact with was hacking and stealing data, but Aren lived in a world full of killing, conspiracy, and true wickedness. Only now did I realize that compared to Aren's, my computer world was angelically safe. "My head starts to spin..." I muttered, my body shivering even more. Aren corrected his grip on my hand and pulled me close, his arms wrapping around my body. "You're trembling. You should have taken a scarf
Aren didn't question my decision. He only smirked and called Marcus. Thirty minutes later, we were in the car on our way to the airport, dressed in hurriedly chosen dry clothes."Here, wear this. Your hair is still damp." Aren handed me a baseball cap."Thank you," I replied with a faint smile.Those little things that proved that he cared made my heart warm. I used to dream about lovers' connection that I read about in romance books; a naïve dream of a freshman taking her first step into the land of relationships. I ended up giving my all and receiving little to nothing in return. I wanted to protect my heart against Aren, but at the same time, I had a feeling that Aren appreciated me more than my asshole ex-boyfriend ever did. I kept wondering whether I could remove the romantic feelings from the equation and accept Aren's offer. Was it a matter of my immaturity to think that I could fall in love and be loved? Perhaps it was time for a calculated compromise. Perhaps it was safer tha
The commotion filled the entire room. People looked at me as if I was some kind of witch, casting a spell over their innocent souls."I disagree!" the IT specialist who reported the situation exclaimed. "Someone definitely attacked our system from the outside! If the files were copied or deleted during work hours, we would have noticed it almost immediately! It couldn't be an inside job!"His sudden agitation startled me. He was all tense, glaring at me with his grey deep-set eyes while nervously combing his ginger hair with his fingers. I wondered if I accidentally stepped on his ego…"Yes, Davies is right!" A young man sitting next to him patted his shoulder in encouragement.I sighed, exhaling my growing annoyance, and glanced at Aren. My husband-to-be looked back at me with a hint of a smirk, urging me to prove my point."I never said that the files were stolen by someone while he or she was in the company, but the hacker needed an accomplice, someone who put a bug into the system
I had to admit that eating pizza with Aren in his super-fancy office was a peculiar experience. If anyone could ever look glamorous and captivating while shoving a pizza triangle in their mouth, it would be Aren. I had no idea how he pulled that off, but I should have expected that much. After all, his aura of dominance was as strong as ever, even when he was wearing a pair of jeans and a casual shirt instead of his elegant suit.He insisted that I go home, but I said that I wanted to stay in the company and go through the surveillance footage with him and Mr. Clark. I was swaying on my feet, but it was also the most exciting and challenging event I had ever been a part of. There was no way in hell that I would have missed it. Of course, I couldn't say it in front of Aren. I bet that he found nothing exciting about dealing with the huge number of problems that this hacker attack had caused...After I firmly stated that I wasn't going anywhere, Aren finally agreed for me to join the mo
I couldn't believe the luck I had! If Davies had used any other computer, no camera would have been able to catch him. Of course, Davies could deny that he had anything to do with the hacker's attack, but the facts spoke for themselves—he was the mole. I was certain that knowing which computer had gotten infected first, I could match the exact second the spyware had been downloaded, and I bet it would match the time mark on the video footage. I couldn't help but be crazily excited. For the first time in my life, I was using my skills and my intelligence for something that mattered. I loved that feeling of being useful...I strode through the Lan Diamond Corporation's entrance like a general going home after a victorious battle. I was armed with my laptop and tablet, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them against the one trying to steal from my contract fiancé. Neil greeted me as I passed the sliding glass door and stepped into the corridor. He led me to the back of the interrogation room