I hated the heroine. Now I am her. When nineteen-year-old Ashley slips in the bathroom and dies with popcorn in her hair and a love letter unsent, she wakes up inside the worst romance novel she’s ever read as Arianna Salvatore, the pathetic, weepy female lead she couldn’t stand. The catch? Everyone thinks she faked a suicide attempt to win back Damian, her cruel, emotionally unavailable husband. And her sister? She’s gunning for him next. Ashley wants out. But the book has other plans and if she’s going to survive this twisted love triangle, she’ll have to rewrite the story herself. Goodbye, tragic heroine. Hello, chaos.
View MoreThen the door to the studio swung open.A shadow fell over me. A voice, deep and smooth, rolled across the room.“Is this the new hire?”My neck stiffened. My body knew the voice before my brain processed it.I turned.And froze.Dark suit. Sharp jaw. Eyes like he ate the sun for breakfast.Who eats the sun, forgive my description. I’m just smitten by his amber eyes.Caden.Oh, of course. The universe couldn’t give me a break.He strode closer, the confident rhythm of a man who owned this building, this city, probably the air we were breathing.“Mrs. Salvatore,” he said lightly, a smirk tugging at his lips.I snapped my head toward the receptionist like she might suddenly produce a gun so I could end it all. “Ssshhh!” I hissed, throwing a hand over his arm. “We do not say that name here. I’m Arianna. Just Arianna. Don’t attach me to that scumbag.”Caden’s smirk deepened, but his voice stayed all-business. “So…you’re the new employee.”I muttered in my head, Why is he acting like we di
The smoke thickened. Heat crawled up my spine like an animal with claws.Why can’t I fucking moveMy chest tightened as if invisible fingers were crushing my lungs. “Move!” I growled at myself, my hands shaking violently.Vivian’s voice sliced through the haze. “You’re pathetic,” she said, pushing at the door that refused to budge. Her nails clawed at the handle. “If we die, I’m blaming you. Come here and help me.”Her fake composure cracked for the first time. She was scared. And seeing her panic almost woke something feral in me.I staggered forward, grabbing the walls for support “I’m not dying here. I don’t know about you.”A loud boom sounded outside the hall, and flames licked at the bottom of the door. The heat seared. I coughed, my throat raw, my eyes stinging as smoke clouded everything.Then—“Arianna! Vivian!”Damian’s voice.“Damian!” Vivian screamed, her voice shrill with terror. “Help me! I’m trapped! I don’t want to die please.”“Damian, I’m here!” I yelled, coughing ha
“Surprised?” I said with a soft smile, letting the pen drop with a deliberate clink.Of course, Arianna only knew how to be a housewife and a puppy to Damian, always tail-wagging, dinner-cooking, emotionally starving. But me? I was the best in my art major. And unlike my sweet predecessor, I knew how to draw blood without ever raising my voice.Vivian opened her mouth, then closed it again. Cat caught her tongue. Then she finally sputtered, “You… you couldn’t have possibly drawn that. It’s… impossible.”Oh, sweet denial.“Impossible?” I tilted my head, feigning innocence while amusement curled in my chest like mischief. “What are you saying, sister? Don’t you like the gift? I thought, since everyone else is drowning you with expensive jewelry and designer bags which you already have closets full of, God knows you already own everything. I thought I’d give you something unique. Something close to my heart.”Her lips twisted. “This is fake!” she suddenly yelled, her voice sharp enough t
“You’re not supposed to be here.”The voice slithered into the room like an accusation dipped in disbelief. I froze mid-bend, the whip still dangling from my hand like a crime scene prop. Damian stood in the doorway, face unreadable but that sharp judgmental eyebrow of his doing enough talking for both of us.Oh, he was alone.“I… this isn’t what it looks like,” I said, hastily shoving the whip behind me like I was hiding a cucumber in church.Damian stepped in.The room shrunk.The muffled moans of the gagged waiter tied to a chair in front of me didn’t exactly help my case. Nor did the vibrator lying innocently on the table beside a bowl of whipped cream and regret.“Is that a ball gag in his mouth?” Damian asked dryly.“...No.”“It is.”“Okay, fine,” I snapped. “Yes. But listen, I wasn’t enjoying it. This is an interrogation, not a kink dungeon.”The waiter moaned again, as if to say ma’am please define the difference.Damian’s eye twitched. “Is this how you choose to uphold the S
We found the waiter.That was the text. Short. Sweet. Suspiciously convenient.I was already halfway to the door, purse in hand, hoodie halfway on, ready to interrogate this man like an unhinged FBI dropout when—“Where are you going?” Damian’s voice slid in like a cold slap.I paused mid-step, my fake Gucci boot hovering in dramatic defiance. “Out.”He narrowed his eyes. “Out where?”“None of your business.” I smiled like a cat with blood on its whiskers. “Last I checked, we were about three gasps away from divorce.”His jaw ticked. “Was that a message you got just now?”I arched a brow. “And if it was?”He folded his arms. “Are you seeing someone?”I snorted. Loud. “What is it to you? Feeling territorial, husband?”He didn’t answer. Just stared like I was a locked vault he’d forgotten the code to. “It’s late. I won’t let you drag the family name through the mud—especially not with Grandma in the house.”“You’re the one who offered me fifty million to stay. Not to stay put.”“I didn’
As I sat across from Caden, clinking glasses in a restaurant that smelled faintly of rosemary and rich people problems, I had to admit it he was annoyingly easy to admire.That relaxed jawline. That watch that could probably pay off a mortgage. That voice, smooth like coffee laced with secrets.And unlike Damian, he actually asked me how I was doing without glaring first.“I have to say,” I said, tracing the rim of my glass with my finger, “you’re quite the charmer.”Caden gave a small smile. “You say that like you were expecting me not to.”“I wasn’t sure. You give off ‘tech billionaire who forgets to comb his hair’ vibes.”He laughed. “And you give off ‘I stabbed my ex and would do it again’ energy.”I grinned. “I get that a lot.”He chuckled, his amber eyes locked on me like I was both an inside joke and a puzzle he wanted to solve. “Remind me again why you asked me here?”I took a slow sip. “Maybe I was hoping you’d help me escape my emotionally constipated husband. Or maybe I jus
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