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CLOSE QUARTERS, SPARKS IN THE DARK

Penulis: ABY
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-09-23 22:46:41

Ariana’s POV

The first camera flash goes off before I’ve even unlocked my apartment building door.

By the time the second one blinds me, the swarm has descended.

Reporters shove microphones in my face, voices rising like a pack of wolves circling prey.

“Ariana! Did Damian leave Vanessa for you?”

“Is the baby really his?”

“Are you after the Cole fortune?”

I stumble back, clutching my grocery bag to my chest. My pulse races, throat dry. I try to push forward, but the crowd presses tighter.

“Leave me alone!” My voice cracks.

A hand yanks at my arm. Another tugs at my sweater, someone shouting my name. Panic surges. The bag slips, apples scattering across the pavement.

Then ,a sharp voice cuts through the chaos.

“Move.”

Damian.

He’s suddenly there, tall and unshakable in a tailored suit, his security detail flanking him. Cameras flash wildly, but his presence silences the mob more effectively than the bodyguards ever could.

He grabs my arm, firm but steady, pulling me against him. “Don’t
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    Damian’s POVI’ve built my life on control. Discipline. Routine.I wake at six, work until midnight, and bury myself in contracts and lawsuits because it’s easier than thinking about the things I can’t control. Like my brother. Like my family’s shame.Like Ariana.But control has been slipping ever since she stormed into that restaurant, fire in her eyes, daring me to acknowledge her. And after that kiss — Christ — I haven’t been the same.Two nights, and I still feel her mouth against mine. The softness of it. The way she clutched at me like she hated me and wanted me at the same time.Two nights, and I still hear her voice whispering, We can’t.I’ve told myself I could ignore it. That I could lock it away like every other weakness in my life. But when it comes to her, discipline doesn’t mean a damn thing.This afternoon, I’m supposed to be reviewing a merger proposal. Instead, I find myself driving across the city, pulling up in front of her workplace — a converted warehouse turned

  • THE WRONG MAN'S BABY   THE AFTERMATH AND THE BOND

    Ariana’s POVThe moment Adrian’s shadow disappears behind the elevator doors, the room doesn’t breathe again.The guests fidget, avoiding my eyes, pretending to study the untouched cake or the glittery tablecloths. Whispers hiss under their breath, but the silence between them is louder than any rumor.Damian straightens slowly, like he’s been carved out of stone, and then his voice slices through the tension. Cold. Controlled. Final.“Thank you for coming. The event is over. Leave your gifts. My assistant will see you out.”No one argues. No one dares. They file out like obedient soldiers, heads bowed, heels clicking against the marble floor. Maya shoots me a worried look, but Damian’s assistant is already guiding her toward the door. She mouths, Call me, before slipping out with the others.And then it’s just us.Me. Damian. The wreckage of what was supposed to be my day.I’m still sitting, my palm pressed to my belly like I can shield the baby from everything ugly in this world. My

  • THE WRONG MAN'S BABY   THE BABY SHOWER TWIST

    Ariana’s POVI should feel happy.That’s what everyone expects , the glowing mom-to-be, surrounded by pastel balloons and polite laughter. But as I stand in Damian’s sleek penthouse, staring at a table covered with baby-blue decorations and silver confetti that looks like stars, all I feel is dread.I keep telling myself it’s just nerves. That it’s normal to feel weird when people are celebrating something that still feels too fragile to touch. But deep down, I know the truth.Peace doesn’t last long in Damian’s world.“Stop frowning,” my best friend murmurs at my side. “You look like you’re about to face a firing squad, not cut a cake.”I force a weak smile. “Feels about the same.”She squeezes my arm. “It’s just us. No paparazzi, no drama. Damian swore, didn’t he?”My eyes flick across the room. Damian is standing near the bar, phone in hand, suit jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up like he’s hosting a board meeting instead of a baby shower. He looks up just then, as if sensing my g

  • THE WRONG MAN'S BABY   THE TWIN STRIKES BACK

    Ariana’s POVI wake to a buzzing phone and a hollow ache in my chest.For a few seconds, I pretend it’s a normal morning. Sunlight glints off the skyline, coffee smells drift faintly from the kitchen. But the moment I reach for my phone, the illusion shatters.Notifications spill across the screen like a flood. Headlines. Tags. DMs. My name trending again.I tap one link, heart hammering.“Gold-Digger or Victim? Exclusive Photos Raise Questions About Ariana Blake.”Below it, a collage of images:Me leaving the clinic yesterday, hand over my belly. Me stepping out of Damian’s car, his arm around me. An old photo from my social media of me laughing with a male coworker — cropped and twisted with a new caption: “The real father?”My stomach turns. I scroll faster. The comments are worse.She’s disgusting. Playing both brothers.That baby isn’t even Damian’s.Classic scammer move.My throat tightens until I can barely breathe. “No… oh God, no…”Another headline hits harder than the rest:

  • THE WRONG MAN'S BABY   FIRST CRACKS

    Ariana’s POVThe city beyond the penthouse windows feels colder than usual, its glittering skyline more like knives than stars. I curl on the couch, blanket wrapped around me, but the chill isn’t in the air.It’s in me.Today should have been perfect. The heartbeat. The little kicks I imagined. The word boy echoing in my head like music. It should have been joy.Instead, the moment was ripped apart by flashing cameras, cruel whispers, and Adrian’s smug voice claiming what he never wanted to begin with.And Damian, always Damian with that damn mask of his.He doesn’t break. He doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t show.Except… in the car, I thought I saw something. Just for a second, when he said the baby already owned him. His voice cracked, his eyes softened. Then it was gone, sealed away again like it had never happened.I close my eyes, trying to block it out. But the memory clings to me, louder than the noise outside.The floor creaks faintly. I open my eyes. Damian strides past, tie loosen

  • THE WRONG MAN'S BABY   THE DOCTOR'S NEWS

    Damian’s POVThe word nothing has a strange taste in my mouth.That’s what I walked away with yesterday—no inheritance, no empire waiting in the wings, no parents to fall back on. Nothing.And yet when I watch Ariana pacing the penthouse this morning, chewing at her bottom lip, phone clutched in her hand like a lifeline, the word doesn’t feel like a loss.It feels like freedom.“Stop staring,” she mutters without looking at me.“I’m not.”“You are.” She shoots me a sharp look, eyes flashing, cheeks flushed with nerves. “You’ve been standing there like some kind of bodyguard since six a.m. It’s creepy.”I lean against the doorway, folding my arms. “Then stop being nervous.”Her laugh is brittle. “Oh, sure. Let me just switch off my brain. Easy.”She grabs her purse, shoves her phone inside, and heads for the door. Her shoulders are stiff, her chin tilted high, but her hands tremble.It’s the first doctor’s appointment since the headlines, since Vanessa’s venom. Since my parents’ ultima

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