ANMELDENDays later, the entrance of Harlow's most exclusive dining club is suddenly shattered by a sharp voice."Luna Quinn! Can you stop shamelessly clinging to my brother? He is getting married!"Luna pauses mid-step, turning around to face a young woman she recognizes instantly.Julian's younger sister, Scarlett Hayes."Married?" Luna blinks, genuinely surprised.Over the past few days, she has been completely buried in finalizing the massive contract for Helena Smith. If Scarlett hadn't randomly ambushed her in public today, Luna would have entirely forgotten that Julian had flown back to Reston City over two weeks ago.She is actually at the dinning club today for business. An assistant to one of Ethan's friends had contacted her yesterday, offering a highly lucrative investment project.Luna is acutely aware that Ethan is secretly the one pulling the strings and feeding her these elite resources. However, since he is freely offering the power, she certainly isn't going to be hypocritica
The door of the first-floor guest room clicks shut. Michael steps out into the dimly lit hallway, his face tight with barely suppressed anger as he marches straight toward the living room.Ethan is sitting relaxed on the sofa, staring blankly into the distance. He merely casts a fleeting, icy glance in Michael's direction before looking away."If you drag this out any longer, she is going to die," Michael snaps, planting himself firmly in front of the billionaire. "No matter how much you despise her, Ethan, you shouldn't be playing reckless games with a human life."Ethan leans back, entirely unbothered.Fighting the urge to drag his lifelong friend out of the chair, Michael lowers his voice. "You have to look forward. Everyone in our social circle is trapped in a marriage of convenience. The Caldwell and Vane families are so deeply intertwined in corporate interests that tearing them apart is mutually assured destruction. What exactly do you gain by destroying her family?""It makes
CRASH!The violent impact throws Luna forcefully against her seatbelt. Her tires screech against the asphalt, and the steering wheel violently shakes in her trembling hands.Damn it. Lost in her swirling thoughts, she had completely run a red light.The door of the luxury sedan she just rear-ended swings open aggressively. A middle-aged man in a chauffeur's uniform marches up to her window, rapping his knuckles sharply against the glass."Are you blind?! Running a red light and slamming into us? Are you looking for a payout?"Luna vigorously shakes her head, forcing the lingering adrenaline from her system. Lowering the window, she answers calmly, "I apologize. I will completely cover the damages.""Do you have any idea whose car you just hit? My bosses do not care about your petty cash. You are delaying our schedule!" The driver hasn't truly looked at her face, he simply sees a beautiful young woman in a nice car and assumes she is just another gold-digger trying to manufacture a "me
The heavy silence in the freezing basement is broken only by the sharp click of the man's footsteps.Michael doesn't even spare a single glance in Luna's direction. Dropping his medical bag onto the concrete floor, he immediately kneels beside the shivering, half-conscious woman huddled in the corner."Ethan," Michael begins, his voice laced with a reprimanding chill as he swiftly checks Stella's vitals. "Regardless of what happened, Stella is still your wife. Pushing her to this absolute extreme just to appease an outsider...be careful you don't live to deeply regret this."Standing a few steps back, Luna's sharp eyes miss nothing.She clearly notices the fleeting, undeniable flash of profound heartache in Michael's eyes the moment the back of his hand brushes against Stella's burning forehead.She finds the entire display incredibly amusing.This was the very man who once swore, with agonizing sincerity, to be her eternal knight in shining armor. Yet, his loyalties have shifted rema
"I never realized you were the notoriously elusive heir to the Smith empire," Luna purrs, her tone dripping with an intimate familiarity. She knows how much Mrs. Smith already adores her, and she is acutely aware that in this particular household, the matriarch's word holds more weight than anyone else's."Wait, you two worked together on that new campaign?" Mrs. Smith's eyes light up with delight after her daughter whispers a quick explanation into her ear, eagerly leaning forward to ask about their time on set.Helena Smith, the notoriously strict corporate executive, simply shakes her head with a weary sigh.Playing the perfect guest, Luna stays for an extravagant lunch and chats amiably for another hour before finally rising to excuse herself."Ms. Smith."The moment they step out of the warm living room and into the foyer, Luna instantly drops the sweet, sisterly act, seamlessly shifting her title to something professional.Helena raises a sharp eyebrow, confirming her earlier su
Hours later, the mood in the Caldwell estate takes a terrifying shift.Ethan sits lazily on the center sofa. The fragile vulnerability he showed Luna is gone, replaced by a ruthless, predatory aura.Across the coffee table, Stella is forcefully held to her knees on the cold marble floor by two bodyguards.She is wearing nothing but a thin, silk nightgown."I am telling you, I didn't drug you!" Stella cries out, her teeth chattering uncontrollably as she bites her lower lip.Just an hour ago, she had stepped out of her own shower, only to be struck hard on the back of the head. She woke up shivering in Ethan's living room, immediately forced to her knees before she could even process her surroundings.His first words to her had been lethal. "Did I not warn you about trying this again? How dare you drug me a second time.""Your friend called me!" Stella pleads. "He said you were drunk and told me to pick you up. By the time I arrived at the private club, you were already compromised!""
The descent from the euphoric, breathless haze of intimacy into the suffocating reality of the master suite is as abrupt as plunging into a frozen lake.The sprawling bedroom falls deathly quiet, the heavy silence broken only by the ragged, uneven sound of Ethan's breathing.Luna leans back against
The suffocating tension inside the cramped changing stall finally breaks when Nathan abruptly abandons his quiet vigil in the dressing room.Luna escapes the stifling proximity of Marcus's chest, her pulse still thrumming with the dark, manic thrill of their secret, high-stakes game.The remainder
Luna's unapologetic rejection instantly ignites a dark, stubborn fire deep within Marcus's chest. The fiercely proud Vane family blood running through his veins refuses to accept defeat."Are you certain about that?" he challenges, his voice dropping an octave as he rises from the armchair, steppin
The heavy, intoxicating friction of their kiss is abruptly shattered by the sharp, metallic crack of the first assistant director's voice echoing through the megaphone."And...Cut! That is a wrap on this location, everyone!"The commanding shout instantly breaks the spell.Marcus slowly releases hi







