LOGINThe days that followed blurred together into a whirlwind of preparations. Ava barely recognized her own life anymore.From sunrise until evening, she was shuffled from one appointment to another by an army of planners, designers, caterers, and consultants who all seemed determined to create the perfect wedding.She tasted cakes until sugar coated the back of her throat, sampled wines she couldn't remember the names of, approved floral arrangements, rejected table settings.Selected invitations.Tried on gowns.Then tried on more gowns.And then even more gowns.At some point, the entire process stopped feeling real. It felt as though her body belonged to someone else.Someone who deserved a second wedding, who wasn't living beneath the crushing weight of a lie.Everywhere she looked, the estate buzzed with activity.Workers carried decorations.Designers rushed in and out.Staff members spoke excitedly about guest lists and seating arrangements.Everyone seemed happy except her.Becau
Dominic's jaw tightened almost immediately. The irritation of being interrupted was obvious on his face.Ava looked between him and the guard."What anomalies?" she asked.The guard shifted awkwardly."Nothing to worry about, ma'am."Dominic shot the man a warning look that seemed to say he'd already said too much. Then he looked back at Ava.For a brief moment neither of them spoke. The confession sat between them like a fragile glass sculpture waiting to shatter.Ava's stomach twisted painfully.She had imagined this moment dozens of times in her head, over and over again.Sometimes she imagined herself blurting everything out at once.Other times she imagined carefully explaining every mistake she'd made, every lie she'd told, every reason she'd convinced herself to keep going.None of those rehearsals had prepared her for the reality of sitting across from Dominic and seeing how completely he trusted her.That trust made the truth infinitely harder to tell.She knew exactly what t
#34.Walking out of the building he was set to rule over very soon, everything felt right for the first time in as long as he could remember. For the first time in a long while, everything in his life seemed to be headed in a great direction. He had the company, he had the perfect wife, and it seemed he had the perfect life.Dominic thought about the first step he needed to take before taking the mantle as CEO. Telling George he wanted to give Ava a proper wedding seemed to have shifted something fundamental between them. His father hadn’t said the words, George was never a man to waste breath on sentimentality but the look of approval that followed Dominic’s declaration spoke volumes. In that brief moment, Dominic hadn't just secured a corporate empire; he had finally earned the elusive respect of the man who built it.He was on top of the world. The sleek glass skyscraper of the family conglomerate glinted in the afternoon sun behind him, a monument to the legacy that was now rightf
The drive to his father’s corporate headquarters was a blur and simmering resentment. Dominic didn't slow down as he navigated the sterile, glass enclosed hallways of the executive floor. He reached the double doors of the primary office and shoved them open without a flicker of hesitation. Manners were for those who still had something to lose, and Dominic felt as though he were walking through the wreckage of his own life.Inside, George was huddled over a spread of architectural blueprints with three senior board members. The air in the room was thick with the scent of expensive floor wax and stale ambition.George looked up, his brow furrowing as he took in his son’s disheveled state and the cold, flat look in his eyes. He didn't need to be told that the atmosphere had changed. With a curt wave of his hand, he dismissed the men. They scurried out like mice, the door clicking shut behind them and leaving the father and son in a vacuum of silence."Sit down, Dominic," George said, h
Ava braced herself for the impact of Dominic’s fury. She waited for the door to fly open, for him to step out and roar the word "traitor" into the salt-heavy air until her lungs gave out. She imagined his hands, which had been so tender only hours ago, wrapping around her throat with a different kind of intensity.But the door didn't open. The silence of the docks was broken only by the lapping of the tide against the rotting wood and the distant, lonely cry of a gull.Then, the back door finally clicked open. A figure stepped out, but it wasn’t the broad, imposing silhouette of her husband. It was Silas.A sharp breath escaped Ava’s lips. It was a relief, but a shallow, bitter one. In many ways, Silas was the greater ghost to face; Dominic was a storm, but Silas was the rot beneath the floorboards. He straightened his designer suit, his movements languid and oozing a oily confidence.He didn't speak at first. He simply smirked, a slow, spreading expression that made Ava feel like she
Ava reached out, her fingers searching for the warmth of the man who had held her so possessively only hours before, but all she found was cool, smooth silk. Dominic was gone. A hollow ache blossomed in her chest—a sadness that felt dangerously like loss. She sat up, clutching the duvet to her skin, wondering if the intimacy of the night had been a bridge or merely a beautiful hallucination.She moved through the morning with the limbs of someone grieving. In the bathroom, she splashed cold water on her face, trying to scrub away the lingering sensation of his touch, but her reflection only showed a woman who looked more haunted than loved.The sudden, harsh vibration of her phone against the marble vanity made her jump. An unknown number flashed on the screen.Her pulse hammered against her ribs. In her world, an unknown number was never a friend; it was either Cain’s cold demands or Silas’s oily threats. She stared at the device, wanting to throw it against the wall, but she knew si
The silence of Dominic’s departure the following day had lingered for a full day, He had been absent, ava retreated to the velvet sofa, her mind looping through the man’s instructions.The sudden knock at the front door shattered the quiet. Before she could rise, a small procession of women entered
Ava stood frozen under the spray, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Then, she heard it, the distinct, heavy click of the bedroom door settling into its frame.She reached out with a trembling hand and wrenched the handle, killing the flow of water instantly. The sudden sile
Ava stiffened, her lungs seizing as she drew in a ragged, shallow breath. "You must be out of your mind!" she roared, the sound tearing from her throat in a rasp.She lunged for the door, her fingers clawing at the polished wood, desperate for the hallway, for the street, for anywhere that wasn't
The memory of their last encounter still burned against Ava’s lips, a phantom pressure that refused to fade. It wasn’t just the audacity of the kiss itself, it was the way Dominic had claimed it, as if it were a debt she hadn’t known she owed. She had walked away then, her heels clicking in an angr







