LOGINShare
The Cost of Telling the Truth
Last Updated:
2025-07-08 05:48:41
Latest chapter
Surrendered Desires Let the Fire Speak
Ariana’s POVThe day the court finally reopened the case, the city smelled like heat. Not summer heat — but old tension rising from the ground. The kind of heat that made people restless, made the air feel heavy even before the sky darkened. Luca drove me in silence.His hand was on my thigh the entire way. Not moving. Not trembling. Just there — like an anchor. The documents Jordan gave us were in my bag, printed, marked, and protected. Evelyn had reviewed every single page.Her words that morning were short: “We don’t need to scream. The evidence will.” Still, my body was a quiet riot.I kept hearing Daniel’s voice in my head — not the one from memory. The one from the recording. The one that said I was “spiraling,” “unfocused,” “unpredictable.”And the worst part? He’d said it like a compliment wrapped in concern.*********The courtroom wasn’t full — not like the movies, but it didn’t need to be. Just Daniel, his legal team, Evelyn, me, and the judge. I didn’t look at him right a
Surrendered Desires The Man Who Spoke in Headlines
Ariana’s POVThe meeting with Jordan Reece was set for 2:00 p.m. at a discreet executive lounge uptown — the kind of place you don’t enter unless someone buzzes you in by name. I arrived five minutes early, dressed in black slacks, a silk blouse, and no makeup.I didn’t come to impress. I came to remember who I was when no one was watching. Evelyn was already waiting inside, phone tucked into her blazer, jaw sharp enough to cut through glass. She nodded once when she saw me.“He’s here,” she said.“He nervous?”“No,” she replied, “but he should be.”*******Jordan stood when I walked in, like we were old friends. He was dressed like a man who still believed in polish. Tailored blue suit. Expensive shoes. Rolex too tight on his wrist. His smile flickered when our eyes met.“Ariana,” he said, reaching out.I didn’t take his hand. I sat across from him. Evelyn took the seat beside me. There were no greetings. No pleasantries. Just space. And then silence. The kind of silence you don’t in
Surrendered Desires The Ones Who Believed Me Quiet
Ariana’s POVThe letter came on a Thursday. A sleek envelope. No sender name. Just a crest embossed into the paper: the Luxe Group logo. Again. It had a scent—faintly perfumed, like money trying to be soft. I didn’t open it right away.I held it, standing in the doorway with the wind pushing against my back like a warning.Luca looked up from the couch when I stepped inside.He saw the envelope and didn’t speak. Didn’t need to. We both knew what it meant. Luxe wasn’t done with me yet. ********When I finally tore it open, the letter was cold and professional.// We are requesting, under advisory counsel, that all defamatory statements against Luxe Group cease immediately. Failure to comply may result in extended litigation, internal audits, and the reconsideration of your separation benefits. Separation benefits. I almost laughed. They were still pretending this was a polite divorce. Still pretending this was business. Not war.I brought the letter to Evelyn the next morning. She rea
Surrendered Desires Burn the Old Script
Ariana’s POVI didn’t expect the silence after Episode Six to feel so loud. It wasn’t the absence of messages or comments — those came in droves. It was the pause. The breath the world took. As if people were finally realizing this wasn’t just a podcast or a woman venting through grief. This was a woman saying what they had all swallowed for years. And they didn’t know what to do with that kind of honesty.*******By noon, the media was circling again. My name was back in headlines — half celebratory, half dissecting.// “The Wife Who Refused to Be Graceful.”“Ariana Cole’s Fire and the Fragile Masculinity That Feared It.”“Too Emotional or Finally Free?”Evelyn called me while I was chopping apples in the kitchen.“You burned the internet down,” she said.“I didn’t mean to.”“Yes, you did.”She paused. Then added, “Daniel’s lawyers have gone quiet.” That got my attention.“What does that mean?”“They’re regrouping. Maybe waiting for the court to push the date again. Maybe hoping you’
Surrendered Desires Let Them Watch
Ariana’s POVThe next morning, I didn’t open my email. I didn’t check social media. I didn’t look at Evelyn’s messages or news alerts or trending hashtags with my name stitched into them. Instead, I stood in the mirror and took a long look at myself. Not the curated version. No makeup, no lighting trick, no caption-ready smile.Just me. Still here. Still whole. Somehow. I had survived worse than silence. I had survived being watched while I broke — and being applauded for how elegant the breaking looked. Now, they could watch me heal.*********The coffee shop down the street was nearly empty. I walked there alone, wrapped in an old coat and soft scarf, the kind Daniel used to complain looked “too lived in.”Good. Let it look lived in. Let it look real. I sat by the window with my laptop, the hum of the city beyond the glass sounding distant. I opened my draft folder. There was a blinking cursor in the center of the screen. It almost looked like it was waiting for permission, but I was
Surrendered Desires The Words I Never Said in Court
Ariana’s POVThey postponed the court hearing. Again. It was the third time in six weeks.Evelyn called to tell me while I was cleaning out the top drawer of my old work desk — the one filled with forgotten receipts, highlighters without ink, and old name tags from brand launch events. I wasn’t angry when she told me. Not anymore. I had run out of anger.Now I just felt… suspended. Like a truth waiting on a shelf that no one wanted to open yet.“They’re stalling to exhaust you,” Evelyn said. “It’s psychological.”“Do they think I’ll quit?”She sighed. “No. They’re just hoping you’ll lose momentum.”I stared at a bent photo paper wedged between dusty notebooks. I pulled it out. It was me and Daniel. Three years ago. At the Luxe Group summer gala. I was wearing a silver silk dress. Hair slicked back. Daniel had his hand on the small of my back. We looked beautiful. But I remember that night too clearly.The fake smile on my lips. The way Daniel squeezed my waist every time I drifted too
You may also like
Her Accidental Billionaire Husband
Lexusstar writes664.0K viewsDivorced My Cheating Husband, Married A Billionaire
LiLhyz685.7K viewsBound to the CEO
wandering jedi675.1K viewsA Life Debt Repaid
Cheng Xiaocheng1.1M viewsTHE DEVIL’S CHOKEHOLD
Siemuri Daniella1.0K viewsFILTHY DREAMS
Antonia.Rovayo408 viewsFalling for My Ex-Husband’s Billionaire Brother
Heavenly Dove146 viewsThe Devil Alpha's Captive Mate.
Sweet Vixen 113 views
