ログインChapter 19The boutique smelled like expensive perfume and new fabric. Soft music played overhead while salespeople glided around in all black, their smiles polite and practiced.Lyn was in her element, practically bouncing between racks of evening gowns. "Okay, okay, listen," she said, pulling out a deep emerald dress with a plunging neckline. "This one screams 'I'm the chief secretary and I run this company.' What do you think?"Tiana touched the fabric, smooth and cool under her fingers. "It's nice.""Nice? Girl, it's gorgeous!" Lyn hung it back with dramatic flair and moved to the next rack. "We need something that makes Ryan Lancaster forget his own name. Something that makes every man in that ballroom…""Jesus Lyn, it's just a work event. Ryan Lancaster is our boss, keep some boundaries.""Just a work event? The 25th anniversary gala?" Lyn spun around, eyes wide. "Tiana, this is THE event of the year for Lancaster Group. Clients, investors, board members, everyone who's anyone w
Chapter 18Tiana woke up with guilt, she hadn’t slept properly all night judging herself for using the dildo when Pascal isn’t away from the house for holiday and Nikolai, her legal husband in the house, it was awkward and condemning.She also felt guilty for sneaking out on Pascal yesterday morning to work because she didn’t want to be late, and he had slept yesterday without seeing her. So he practically didn’t see her all through yesterday and she felt that wasn’t fair to him.So this morning she was determined to make it right.She slipped into Pascal’s room while he was tangled in his blankets, dinosaur half kicked to the floor. She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed his curls back.“Sweetheart,” she whispered. “Time to wake up.”Pascal blinked sleepy eyes at her, then smiled the smile that always melted her. “Mommy!”She embraced him and asked him to meet her in the bathroom, she was going to bath him herself today. Pascal was excited about it.After bathing, she dressed him
Chapter 17Tiana’s eyes flung open the instant the door slammed.Her heart slammed harder against her ribs, the last tremors of her orgasm still fluttering low in her belly, the toy still warm and slick in her trembling hand. The music was suddenly deafening, obscene. She lurched forward, fingers clumsy with panic, and killed the speaker with one frantic swipe. Silence rushed in, cold and accusing.Was that… her door?Or Pascal’s?She sat frozen on the rumpled sheets, chest heaving, skin flushed hot, the scent of her own arousal thick in the air. No. It had to be imagination. Maryann never came upstairs this late. Pascal was supposed to be with Indy and Nikolai. But the bang had been too close, too sharp, too real.She scrambled off the bed, legs shaky, and snatched her silk night-robe with the hem barely brushing mid-thigh from the velvet armchair. The fabric whispered against her overheated skin as she yanked it on, tying the belt with fingers that refused to stop shaking. The mi
Chapter 16Nikolai had dropped Indy off first at the penthouse he’d bought her just a few days ago, the same week she finally agreed to leave her modeling contracts in Springfield and settle with him here in Velmore. The building was all sleek glass and warm lights, the kind of place that screamed money and taste. She had leaned over the console, red lips brushing the corner of his mouth, her perfume clinging to his collar like a signature.“Drive safe, babe,” she’d murmured, fingers sliding along his jaw, nails grazing the stubble there. “Tell Pascal I’ll see him this weekend. I already miss my little buddy.”From the backseat Pascal had whined, sleepy but stubborn. “Can’t I stay longer? Indy said she’d let me play her new PlayStation… she has the Spider-Man game…”“It’s late,” Nikolai had answered, voice firm but soft, the tone he only ever used with his son. “You have school tomorrow. Mommy’s waiting at home.”Pascal had pouted, arms crossed over the giant stuffed dinosaur, but th
Chapter 15Tiana still lay on the bed, her chest rising and falling slowly, the ache in her heart refusing to fade. The house was too quiet, just like it had always been whenever Pascal left for those long school holidays in Springfield. Nikolai would send the driver, and her little boy would wave goodbye with that bright smile, unaware of how the silence swallowed her whole the moment the gates closed.Those years… she remembered them too clearly.Tiana had locked herself in this very room, night after night. She buried the loneliness in online classes first (finance, coding, blockchain), her eyes burning from crying now burning from screens instead. That was how she made her billions. Quietly. Cold wallets under fake names, coins that multiplied while she slept alone in a king-sized bed that had never truly been shared. Money no one knew about. Money that kept her safe, even if it couldn’t keep her warm.When the numbers got too cold, she turned to Netflix. K-dramas on loop, movies
Chapter 14"Did everything go well in there?" Lyn asked curiously.Tiana shook her head. "Not really. Mr. Lancaster didn't like the idea Mr. Toriaga gave, and Mr. Toriaga wanted his idea executed before they could partner. So it was futile.""Hmm." Lyn's eyes narrowed, her journalist instincts kicking in. "Why do I smell a rat here? Maybe they know each other? What's with all that tension?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should do my research."Before Tiana could respond, Lyn walked off, already pulling out her phone.***The rest of the day dragged. Tiana tried to focus on her work but her mind kept wandering back to the boardroom.How long had Nikolai and Indy been together? Long enough that he'd come all the way to Lancaster Group just to secure her a modeling contract. Long enough that he'd risk losing a business partnership for her sake.Tiana hated that she cared even after eight years of cold indifference from Nikolai, seeing him treat Indy with such attention mad







