Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Romance / Stolen By His Rival / The Pattern

Share

The Pattern

Penulis: Ana Trips
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-16 13:41:18

The realization did not hit me all at once.

It crept in quietly, the way truths usually do when they have been waiting patiently to be noticed.

I was at my desk, coffee cooling beside me, scrolling through my schedule for the coming week. Meetings stacked neatly, colour coded, efficient. One entry made me pause.

Board of Directors Review. Thursday. Sebastian Cross attending.

I frowned.

Not because of him. Not because of the tension that now seemed to follow his name like a shadow. But because i
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya
Bab Terkunci

Bab terbaru

  • Stolen By His Rival   Allowed to Feel

    I left without ceremony.I told the coordinator I was feeling unwell, which was only half a lie. The room was too loud, my head too light, my skin still humming with everything I had not said. Chris barely looked up when I leaned in to tell him I was heading home. He nodded, distracted, already absorbed in another conversation.“Text me,” he said absently.“I will,” I replied.I did not.The drive home blurred past the windshield, city lights smearing softly at the edges. I kept the window cracked, cold air biting at my cheeks, grounding me just enough to stay present. My phone buzzed once. A generic message from the driver confirming arrival time. Nothing from Chris. Nothing from anyone else.At home, the silence wrapped around me like a familiar coat.I kicked off my heels by the door, not bothering to line them up. The house was dim, orderly, untouched. I moved through it slowly, shedding the night piece by piece. Earrings on the counter. Clutch on the chair. The dress came last.I

  • Stolen By His Rival   The Touch

    The dress arrived three days before the event.I did not open the box immediately. It sat on the edge of the bed like a dare, glossy black packaging edged in red foil. When I finally did lift the lid, my breath caught in a way that surprised me.Black silk, heavy and fluid, cut close to the body. Garnet embroidery threaded through the bodice and down one side, deep red catching light like crushed gemstones. The neckline was elegant, not obscene, but unapologetically bold. The back dipped lower than anything I had worn in years.It was not a dress meant to blend in.It was a dress meant to be seen.I told myself that made sense. I was co hosting the wrap up. The project had exceeded expectations. The board wanted spectacle. Presence. Proof of success.Still, when I tried it on the night of the event, the mirror reflected a woman I had not fully met before.My hair was swept up, soft tendrils framing my face. Minimal jewelry, all deliberate. The garnet accents glinted with every movemen

  • Stolen By His Rival   Intimate Attention

    The project expanded faster than expected.What had begun as a restructuring exercise became a full scale financial recalibration. Vendor contracts. Internal audits. Regional discrepancies that no one had wanted to untangle before. The board wanted precision, and they wanted it quietly.Which meant time.Long hours. Early mornings. Evenings that bled into night without anyone noticing.It also meant Sebastian.More accurately, it meant Sebastian alone with me far more often than the structure of my marriage had ever allowed before.We settled into an unspoken routine. I arrived early. Earlier than necessary, if I were honest. The building was quieter then, the corridors still half asleep. It gave me space to think.On the third morning in a row, I found a paper bag on my desk when I arrived.Coffee. Still warm. And a sealed container with neatly arranged greens, grains, and fruit.I stared at it for a moment, then looked toward the glass wall.Sebastian stood just outside my office, p

  • Stolen By His Rival   Hesitations and Alignments

    The project began the next morning.There was no dramatic announcement, no ceremonial handoff. Just an email from the board office with a subject line that carried weight through its restraint.Q4 Cost Control Initiative. Primary Lead: Mrs. Robinson. Secondary Lead: Mr. Cross.I read it twice, then once more, letting the reality settle. When I arrived at the office, my calendar had already been rearranged. Meetings cleared. Priorities shifted. Assistants notified. The structure moved around me instead of the other way around.That alone felt new.Sebastian was already in the designated project room when I arrived. He stood near the window, jacket off, sleeves rolled, reviewing figures on a tablet. He looked up as I entered, expression unreadable for half a second before professionalism slid neatly into place.“Good morning,” he said.“Morning.”No mention of yesterday. No commentary. No softened tone. Just respect. That, too, mattered.We sat across from each other at the long table,

  • Stolen By His Rival   The Difference

    After that, we walked toward our respective offices, the distance between us was filled with unspoken tension. Anger, protection, and a silent acknowledgment that this had changed everything between us. Yet outwardly, I remained calm. Professional. Controlled.Once inside my office, I leaned against the desk, closed my eyes for a moment, and let the adrenaline drain fully. My fingers lingered on the folder, and I thought of Sebastian’s fury, of the board director’s entitlement, of my own determination.I had been entrusted with responsibility because of my competence. I would not allow fear, guilt, or anyone else’s power to undermine that. Not now. Not ever.And even as my thoughts flickered to Chris, to the husband who still assumed he controlled every detail of my life, I knew one truth: this was mine. Every decision, every action, every consequence. And I would meet it all head-on.I exhaled again and opened the folder, letting the crisp pages and columns of numbers anchor me. Awar

  • Stolen By His Rival   The Project

    The meeting ran long, the kind that drained attention rather than demanded it. Projections were revised and revised again. By the time the last slide closed, most of the room looked relieved more than satisfied.I stayed focused.That apparently made all the difference.As chairs shifted and quiet conversations resumed, the board director cleared his throat. He was old in the way power aged men unevenly, posture stiff with authority, eyes still sharp with entitlement. He did not raise his voice, yet the room fell obediently silent.“Before we adjourn,” he said, glancing down at his notes, “there is a matter of restructuring the internal cost controls for Q4.”He paused, then looked directly at me.“I would like you to take this on, Mrs. Robinson.”The words landed heavier than I expected. A few heads turned. Chris did not. He was reviewing something on his tablet, already halfway gone from the room.I nodded once. “I can do that.”“This will be handled independently,” the director con

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status