MasukVALERIE Back then this place felt suffocating; giant hallways, emotionless workers, Dominic’s terrifying existence lurking around every corner like some ridiculously attractive threat. Now I wandered around barefoot, stole food from the kitchen at midnight, annoyed Hawthorne for fun, and spent entire nights laughing or arguing or—No.Temporary.I swallowed slowly.Mrs Whitmore noticed the shift immediately and softened. “You deserve comfort too, My lady.” Before I could respond, a loud dramatic voice suddenly echoed through the mansion.“Oh. My. God. GIRLLLLL!”I barely had time to turn before Cassie practically exploded into the room looking like walking designer chaos. Sparkly sunglasses sat on top of her perfectly curled hair despite the fact we were indoors, huge shopping bags already hanging from one arm while she strutted toward me like she owned the place.“Cass!” I laughed immediately. “Girl, look at you.”“No no no,” she gasped dramatically, stopping directly in front of me
VALERIE A tiny laugh escaped me despite everything and she immediately pointed at me triumphantly. “There! That’s the face. Keep that face tonight.”The drive to the venue felt surreal. Outside the windows the city lights blurred softly while my hands twisted nervously in my lap the entire time. Cassie kept talking beside me trying to distract me but honestly I barely heard half of it because my heart was beating too loudly in my ears. The second the car slowed outside the venue though everything became painfully real.There were people everywhere.Cameras. Fans. Posters of my damn characters.Huge digital screens displaying panels from the manga while crowds gathered outside barriers screaming excitedly. I physically recoiled deeper into my seat. “Absolutely not.”Cassie snorted. “Get out of the car.”“I’d rather die.”“Then I drag your dead ass out there.”“There are humans out there.”“Yes Valerie. That tends to happen at public events.”I glared weakly at her while one of the sta
ETHANShe huffed dramatically again and leaned back in her chair while I looked back toward Valerie. She was signing another copy now, tongue peeking slightly against the corner of her lips in concentration while she listened to a nervous fan ramble excitedly about theories surrounding Fabian.Fabian.Jesus Christ.The internet had gone absolutely feral over the fact that Valerie practically admitted the character was inspired by Dominic. They’d compared screenshots, side profiles, eye shapes, jawlines, expressions. Some people even recreated scenes using actual pictures of Dominic beside manga panels and honestly? The resemblance was insane.Dominic acted annoyed about it. But I knew him. He loved every second of it. “You’re staring again,” Madeline said flatly.“Hm?”“At Valerie.”“I’m literally watching the signing event.”“No.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re watching her.” I blinked once, then looked away from Valerie completely just to prove a point. “Maddy.”“What?”“You’re overthin
VALERIE A tiny laugh escaped me despite everything and she immediately pointed at me triumphantly. “There! That’s the face. Keep that face tonight.”The drive to the venue felt surreal. Outside the windows the city lights blurred softly while my hands twisted nervously in my lap the entire time. Cassie kept talking beside me trying to distract me but honestly I barely heard half of it because my heart was beating too loudly in my ears. The second the car slowed outside the venue though everything became painfully real.There were people everywhere.Cameras. Fans. Posters of my damn characters.Huge digital screens displaying panels from the manga while crowds gathered outside barriers screaming excitedly. I physically recoiled deeper into my seat. “Absolutely not.”Cassie snorted. “Get out of the car.”“I’d rather die.”“Then I drag your dead ass out there.”“There are humans out there.”“Yes Valerie. That tends to happen at public events.”I glared weakly at her while one of the sta
VALERIEThe week after that moved frighteningly fast; faster than I wanted. Every morning I woke up to more notifications, more theories, more edits online of Fabian beside blurry paparazzi pictures of Dominic looking murderous in expensive suits. People became obsessed with finding similarities between them and honestly? They weren’t completely wrong which was deeply unfortunate for my peace of mind. Fan pages started appearing everywhere, clips dissecting dialogue, readers screaming over scenes I wrote at three in the morning while sleep deprived and emotional. Even worse; people loved Fabian. Like genuinely loved him. They loved his coldness, his hidden softness, the way he looked at the second lead like he wanted to both protect and ruin him at the same time. Every comment section became a war zone.“Fabian is literally Dominic Cantrell.”“Mrs Cantrell would not appreciate people sexualising her man like this. Poor her.”“No because the yearning is INSANE.”“Who hurt this autho
VALERIE Back then this place felt suffocating; giant hallways, emotionless workers, Dominic’s terrifying existence lurking around every corner like some ridiculously attractive threat. Now I wandered around barefoot, stole food from the kitchen at midnight, annoyed Hawthorne for fun, and spent entire nights laughing or arguing or—No.Temporary.I swallowed slowly.Mrs Whitmore noticed the shift immediately and softened. “You deserve comfort too, My lady.” Before I could respond, a loud dramatic voice suddenly echoed through the mansion.“Oh. My. God. GIRLLLLL!”I barely had time to turn before Cassie practically exploded into the room looking like walking designer chaos. Sparkly sunglasses sat on top of her perfectly curled hair despite the fact we were indoors, huge shopping bags already hanging from one arm while she strutted toward me like she owned the place.“Cass!” I laughed immediately. “Girl, look at you.”“No no no,” she gasped dramatically, stopping directly in front of me
VALERIE I was still staring at the drawer like it had personally offended my ancestors when a sharp knock exploded against the bedroom door and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My hand slammed the cupboard shut so fast the wood cracked loudly and I whipped around like I’d just been caught committi
VALERIE If it wasn’t for one of the maids spotting me wandering like a confused tourist I probably would’ve gotten lost for an hour. “Dining room is this way, my lady,” the maid said kindly, guiding me down another hallway.“Thank you,” I said honestly. “I would’ve ended up in the basement at this
VALERIEMy body woke up before my brain did.And the first thing my body did was complain.Every muscle hurt. Not the normal kind of sore either, not the kind you get after cleaning floors all day or carrying too many grocery bags. No. This was a deeper ache. A slow burn in places I refused to thin
VALERIE I could barely form words, my chest heaving. “I… I’m not—” I tried, but the sharp bite against my neck stole the rest of my sentence, replaced by a mix of frustration and heat that left me trembling.“You like testing my limits,” he murmured low, his lips brushing the sensitive spot behind







