LOGINArielle As we stepped into his house, I could already tell from the lights glowing from outside that something was happening tonight.Something was definitely going on. And either way, we would definitely have sex tonight. I had tried. It had been days.“Are you ready?” Darius said, stretching out his hand.I snapped back to reality. “What—yeah. Of course, baby.”I took his hand and walked inside slowly. Not a single staff member was outside. “What’s going on?” I asked. “What’s with the lights?”“Nothing. Just hold my hand.”I trusted him. Then he pushed the front door open. The lights dimmed instantly. Not so dark that I couldn’t see anything, but the kind of darkness that made the entire room feel intimate. Almost like a bedroom when things were about to get heated. Soft chandelier lights glowed above us. Then, as we turned to our right beside the staircase, my mouth fell open. Small, beautiful candles lined the floor, while flowers were arranged around the grand staircase. P
Arielle “Right, where’s my phone?” Tessa asked, getting up even though she could barely feel her legs. I also stood, searching for mine. Finally, I found our phones further away, where Tiffany had left her bag. I checked the time. 8:30 p.m.“I’ll call Darius to come pick us up.” As I squinted at the screen, trying to search for his number with my tired eyes, Tessa suddenly snatched the phone from my hand. “Remember when you said you didn’t want to let him know your plans for tonight?”“What? I said that?” I raised my hair, trying to think.“An hour ago, you said he’s been acting weird around you, like he’s hiding something from you. So you said you didn’t want him to know your plans for tonight.”I rubbed my eyes slowly. “Right. Of course. Thank you, Tessa. You’re a lifesaver.”“I’ll call an Uber to take us home.”“Are you two fighting?” Summer asked while staring at the sky. “No, I wouldn’t call it a fight. It’s just…I can’t really tell what’s going on with him. He’s been dist
Arielle I was so mad. I wanted to pull her hair and kick her with my heels nonstop. How dare she blame me for all her mistakes?“You think I don’t know Tiffany’s alive?” Sylvia asked. I stopped. Then I stood. “So what if you know?”Sylvia chuckled. “What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t mean to kill her. Ryder just went out of hand.”“Okay. I’m done here.”I grabbed my purse and walked out of her office. I couldn’t keep listening to her excuses. She had never once blamed herself or even shown remorse. Such a cunning bitch!Darius joined me in the car shortly after Nathan drove out of the place. I was still furious when we got home, I didn’t even wait for Darius. I walked inside and straight upstairs. I pulled off my heels and bounced angrily onto the bed. I closed my eyes in complete frustration. Why had I gone to her place in the first place?Why did she have to mention the past she had with Darius? Did she still love him?Gosh. When Darius lowered his eyes earlier, I had st
Arielle “Would you still love me?” I asked again, my voice softer this time.Darius gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “At the end of the day…yes. It’s always going to be you.”“Hmm.”“I didn’t fall in love with Leonard Hills’ daughter,” he continued. “I fell in love with you.”A smile slowly spread across my face. Darius once loved me because I was Leonard’s daughter. But now, he loved me despite Leonard being my father. “Babe, have you seen yourself?” He asked, his voice turning playful. “Fucking gorgeous.”I laughed softly. I guess I’d finally corrupted him. “And to add to that,” he added. “I wouldn’t have existed if I were not meant for you.”“Hmmmm. Come here,” I pulled his face toward mine and kissed him tenderly. Oh, dear. We had forgotten that we were still in the car. And Nathan was still sitting in the driver's seat, listening to everything we had been saying.“That’s enough.” I tried to pull away, but Darius wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me bac
ArielleDarius’s eyes widened. “That’s what it says, right?”Somehow, I nodded. What the fuck?“Why does she want to apologize?” I asked. He shrugged. My thoughts spiraled. Why would she?I mean—she had kidnapped me. She had mistreated me since the day I started working at her diner. She had nearly killed me and landed both of my friends in the hospital simply because she couldn’t let things go.There was no forgiveness in that.Besides, Sylvia was never the type to suddenly change. She was definitely manipulating us. She thought she was. “I’ll just cancel—““No,” I cut him off sharply. “Tell her we agree.”His brows furrowed. “You sure?”“Yes,” I handed the phone back to him. “Tell her we’ll see her at her diner at six tomorrow.”His eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure? This is Sylvia. We can obviously tell she’s lying.”I nodded. “I know. But I just want to hear what she has to say.”She might know something I needed. And if Ryder heard about this, he might just piss himself.I
Arielle Ryder smiled at me before leaning forward. I was so ready to finally hear the truth. “If you want to know the details,” he said slowly. “Set up a meeting with your mother. Tell her you want to speak with her.”My face remained. My mother. “How..how did you know that?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. He sighed heavily and turned toward the window, the sunlight catching the faint smile on his face. “I was there with you and Darius’s mother at Cedar’s kitchen.”My eyes widened. “You saw my mother?”He nodded. Knowing Leo’s name was definitely easy for him, so knowing Darius’s mother was way easier. His parents partnered with my father. “I also saw how you reacted when she tried to touch you.”My jaw tightened. “Go easy on her,” he added. “She’s doing her best.”I looked away. Why was he defending Vivienne? “She’s entirely different from your father.”I swallowed hard. The silence that followed felt heavier than before. Why did every answer I wanted somehow lead back to my
Arielle Everyone turned to Joel. “Uhm…” he said nervously. “Is something wrong?” Tessa asked.“Are you going to be there with us?” I asked again. Was he leading us on? I thought he was on our side. “Joel?” Tiffany called. “Uhh…no,” he said quietly. “I can’t.”“Why?” I asked. “He…uhh…fired me
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 Tiffany turned back and went silent. “It’s me,” I tapped my chest. “Arielle”. “Oh”. She uttered flatly. “Yeah,” I sighed. “Tiffany, I swear I’m ready to tell you anything you want to know. I’m never hiding anything from–“ “Let’s not talk about that here.” She







