LOGINArielle Oh fuck. Shit. Damn. I blinked at the screen, disappointment sinking through me like cold water. “What home is he talking about?” Emris asked. I couldn’t answer. My mind was still trying to process the worst possible text arriving at the worst possible moment. “Darius,” he said again, slower this time. “As in Rothwell Darius?” My throat tightened. I should’ve taken my phone with me to the restroom. “The same guy, powerful enough to get his hands on your project? Your files? Your work?” My head snapped toward him. How did he know about that? “What do you mean?” His expression hardened. “I made my findings, and I heard he was always coming there.” Oh dear. I sat down slowly, as if the chair might collapse beneath me. “It’s not what you think,” I said weakly. “Things just got…messed up.” “What got messed up?” He asked. “What does he want from you exactly?” That was the same question I’d been asking myself for weeks. Darius could have anyone. Anyth
Arielle Emris kept glancing into the rearview mirror, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out which car had been tailing us. “Hold on,” he muttered. Without warning, he took a sharp turn and looped back into another lane. A second later, he spotted it. The same car Nathan had been driving. Emris let out a low breath. “I think it’s your boyfriend.” I turned sharply. “What?” He smirked. “Guess he doesn’t want to let you go.” I ignored the teasing and looked through the back window. Damn it. It really was Nathan. What was he thinking? Maybe he hadn’t believed me when I said I’d speak to Darius. Or maybe he’d already called Joel, and Joel had told him to follow me. “Can you lose him?” I asked. Emris glanced at me once. “You two fighting?” “Oh my God, stop with the boyfriend fantasy,” I snapped. “Just lose him.” He studied my face for a second, then nodded. “Okay.” Traffic was thick enough to help us. Cars poured through every lane, horns blaring, an
Arielle Since Darius had indirectly told me to shower, I decided I was wearing one of his shirts. Petty? Maybe. Deserved? Absolutely. I opened his closet, grabbed a crisp white shirt, and slipped it on. It hung loose over my body and stopped high on my thighs. Shorter than I expected. But good enough. I brushed my hair back with my fingers, took one look in the mirror, and headed upstairs. The third door on my right, as he said. I opened it and walked in. Joel was already seated with a file in front of him. He looked up and nearly choked. Darius…Well. He sat across from him. His expression was harder to read. Shock. Annoyance. Something else. I ignored both of them and pulled out a chair. The room looked like a private office, smaller than the downstairs spaces, quieter, arranged differently. Of course it was. I sat. Darius’s eyes stayed fixed on the shirt I was wearing. I lowered mine immediately. “Can we start?” I asked. Joel cleared his throat and reached for the
Arielle And I promise, I wasn’t jealous. I just liked the dress. That’s all. Darius stepped out of the closet a few seconds later, his eyes fixed on me with that unreadable expression he wore when he was deciding whether to insult me or ignore me. “As you said,” he said calmly. “We need to set boundaries.” Then he walked out. “Shit,” I mumbled, rubbing my face in embarrassment. What a start to the morning. I wondered what the rest of the day would look like. Better than yesterday? Worse? At this point, both felt possible. I couldn’t go to class. I couldn’t meet with Emris. I couldn’t even call Tessa without wondering who might overhear. God, I wish she were here. This whole arrangement was suffocating already. And I absolutely could not stay trapped in this room. Darius had stepped out more than twice. I hadn’t. I opened the door and headed downstairs. Only then did I really take in the house. Yesterday had been chaos. Panic. Tears. Shock. No
Arielle “Ava died.” Those words kept echoing inside my skull. Memories crashed into me all at once. I never finished telling you about Ava DeLuca. She died when she was eight years old. Fifteen years ago. I saw it with my own eyes. I should have told Emris the truth long ago, but my father made me swear silence. I was terrified back then. Too terrified and little to know what to do. The day she died, I wished time could rewind, so I’d never met her. I would have stayed with Emris as my only friend. Because in my mind, Ava died because of me. I brought her into my life. And that guilt followed me ever since. Tears slid down my cheeks before I realized I was crying. “A–Ari–Arielle,” Emris’s voice cracked through the phone. “Are you there?” I ended the call. Then I crumpled to the floor. I hadn’t even noticed I was already in the house. Joel turned immediately, rushing toward me, but I couldn’t bear anyone touching me. I deserved worse than comfort. The sobs
Arielle I still couldn’t believe I was hearing her voice. They kept talking like people who hadn’t seen each other in years. “Where’s Amber?” My mother asked brightly. “Did she come with you?” Great. She knew about Amber, too. “Amber and I broke up weeks ago," Emris replied. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” I’d forgotten how much she adored him. Like the son she never had. I couldn’t listen anymore. I leaned back in Darius’s chair and ended the call. I had heard enough. I just hoped Emris wouldn’t tell her about me. I dropped my head into the desk, then banged my fist against the table in frustration. I hadn’t expected any of that. And Emris– He could easily tell her everything. Because he didn’t know what happened. He didn’t know why I left. I wasn’t safe anymore. Next thing I heard— The click of a door unlocking. I looked up sharply. Darius. I jumped out of this chair immediately. “What were you doing?” He asked, glancing at the desk. I lo
Arielle Blake. The same Blake who kidnapped her. The same Blake who tried to kill me. I wiped my eyes, seriously wishing I hadn’t seen that name. How could she still be in contact with him after everything he did? Oh dear. That must have been why she hid her phone two days ago. I wanted to c
Arielle “Arielle, I can’t let you do this,” Tiffany said firmly. “You’re not accepting that son of a bitch’s deal just because he’s forcing you to.”Tessa clearly didn’t want me to either. She handed the letter back to me slowly. “I have no choice," I said quietly. Tiffany hesitated, still not c
Arielle Darius's eyes stayed on me, unblinking, as if he was waiting for something to fall from my lips. The silence between us stretched, thick and heavy, broken by only the hum of the engine and the faint rush of the wind against the windows. I folded my hands in my lap, staring s
Arielle “Who’s Emris?” He asked suddenly, eyes fixed on the road. I glanced at him. “What?” “I heard Tessa mention some guy named Emris,” he said, gripping the steering wheel. “Care to tell me who that is?” “No. Why?” “No?” “Let me worry about that.”







