LOGINIVY’S POV
"You really thought I wouldn't find out?" I said. Lisa slowly looked up from her phone. "Find out what?" she asked. I threw my phone onto the table between us. She stared at it for a split second before looking back up at me. A loud laugh escaped her throat before she got up and threw the phone to the ground. "How dare you accuse me with this bullshit?" she asked. "I am not accusing you of anything," I said. "There's plain evidence right there that you sent that man to attack me." She drove her black heel into my phone. The screen shattered beneath her shoe. "See?" she said. "Now what evidence do you have, you little bitch?" I grabbed her hair all of a sudden, pushing her to the ground. She reached for my legs, pulling me down as well. "You crazy bitch, let go of me!" she screamed out loud, but I couldn't let her go. This wench almost got me killed, all because of a man. Seconds turned into minutes, and Lisa and I were still pulling at each other until Adrian walked in. I paused for a moment, and Lisa separated herself from me, running to his side. "She hurt me!" she screamed out, showing Adrian the tiny bruise on her arm. "I told you this woman was extremely violent." I got up, and just as I was starting to explain myself, Adrian cut me off. "What the hell are you trying to do?" he asked. "How many times have I told you to know your place in this house? You don't belong here." "Please, let me explain," I said. "I saw her message on your phone, she was—" "So that's what you are doing now, huh?" he cut in. "Going through my phone, how low can you possibly go?" Lisa's sobs were already filling the room. Adrian made his way back to her. "I'm sorry you had to go through this," he said. "Let's get your hand treated." "No!" I screamed, and Adrian turned to look at me. "Your phone," I said to Adrian. "I need your phone. I am going to prove to you how much of a liar Lisa really is." "Did you just call her a liar?" he asked. I swallowed hard and could feel his gaze darken, anger rising in every heated movement as he brought out his phone from his back pocket. I grabbed it from his hand and scrolled through his messages, locating Lisa's chat. But it was gone. Every single conversation from last night was gone. "No, it can't be," I said. "I swear, I saw those messages last night." Adrian grabbed his phone angrily and said, "You not only accuse my girlfriend of lying, you also have no single evidence to prove your stupid claims." Lisa gave me a smile and returned to Adrian's arm. "I can't believe she would even do this to me, with how kind I have been to her," she said. "She's just been so cruel to me ever since she got here." I almost screamed at her. The urge to pull every single hair off her head filled me instantly. Of course Adrian would choose her over me. He would never believe a single word I said, and there was no way to prove this since the only piece of evidence I had was on my phone, and that had been destroyed, all thanks to Lisa. "Let's go, babe," Adrian said to Lisa, and just as they turned to leave, Lisa smirked at me and mouthed, You thought you could win? You're nothing. You'll always be nothing. *Later that evening* "Where are you taking me?" I asked as Adrian dragged me down the stairs, my feet scraping against the wooden floors. I had never been to this part of the house before; the walls were completely different from the rest of the house. He carried me down a long hall and stopped right in front of a door. "What are you doing, Adrian?" I said, but he didn't listen. Instead, he pushed the door open and threw me inside. He grabbed a key from his pocket and a phone from the other; he threw the phone at me. "If you need anything, call," he said. "Wait... what do you mean?" I stuttered, trying to make my way to the door before he slammed it shut. What? Did he just lock me up in here? And that is when I realized there was no handle on the inside. I hit my hand against the door. "Adrian, let me out now!" Tears started to roll down my cheeks. "You can't do this to me. I'm sorry for what I did to Lisa. Please let me out." Silence. The echo of his footsteps as he made his way back were the only thing my ears seemed to make out from behind the door. Shit. I took a look around the room. A tiny fridge sat in one corner, and a bed in the centre. The bathroom was really tiny, and dust covered almost every crevice of the room. I opened up the fridge. Empty. I didn't know how long I was going to be in here, but one thing was for sure: I might not make it out alive. The next morning, the door unlocked, and I ran towards it, hoping this time Adrian would let me out of here, but he didn't. Instead, he dropped a plate of bread and a cup of water, urging me to eat. "When are you letting me out of here?" I asked. "Until you know your place," he said. He gave me a wicked smile before slamming the door shut. I grabbed the phone Adrian had given me last night. 2%? This motherfucker couldn't even give me a charged phone. I quickly dialled my mother's number. Her voice blared through the speaker. "Hello. Who am I spe—" "Mum, it's me," I said in a whisper. "Ivy." "Ivy?" she asked. "Is that you? What happen—" "Mum, I don't have much time to talk right now. Is everything okay?" She paused. "I don't know what happened, Ivy, but the nurses refused to give me my medication this morning. They said I'd been cut off last night." "What?" "Ivy, they said—" The call suddenly went dead. "Mum?" I stared at my phone. "Mum!”IVY'S POV"I'm so sorry, ma'am. It appears your mother's medication dosage was altered." Doctor Grey spoke softly, flipping through his notepad with deliberate slowness."Altered?" I repeated, my voice climbing. "She was fine a few days ago. How could this—how could you let this happen?" My fingers raked through my hair as I fought to steady my spiraling thoughts.I reached for my mother's hand. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and she seemed far more fragile than when I had last sat beside her."We've been trying to trace where this error originated," Dr. Grey explained. "Thankfully, we caught it in time. Had we discovered it any later, I'm afraid the consequences could have been fatal."I glanced between Dr. Grey and my mother, my jaw tightening. "I want her transferred.""Excuse me?""You heard me." My voice was steel. "I want her moved out of this hospital. It's been nothing but chaos these past few weeks. We need to leave."Dr. Grey stuttered, pushing his glasses up the bri
IVY’S POV‘It's alright. I think I would like to make breakfast myself this time,’ I said to Martha.She raised her eyebrows. ‘Are you sure—’‘Yes, Martha.’She let out a quiet sigh. ‘I'm here if you want to talk.’I gave her a small nod and a smile. She left the kitchen without another word.The counter was cool under my palms. I reached for the pancake mix, measuring it into a bowl the way my mother used to when I was small. A pinch of sugar. A dusting of cinnamon. The scent rose as I stirred, warm and familiar, and for a second it almost worked. Almost.Then the memory of last night slid back in—Adrian’s voice, the weight of his words, the way the air had gone thin between us—and the spoon slowed in my hand.If my father was connected to the Sterlings, that would explain the marriage. But the question that kept circling was the same one that had kept me awake: why Elaina? And why did everyone treat the answer like something I was never meant to hear?I kept stirring.Footsteps came
ADRIAN’S POVI couldn’t remember if it was my third glass of whiskey or my tenth.At this point, it didn’t matter.I was still thinking about her."Another glass, please," I said, raising my empty tumbler in the air. "Something stronger this time.""Long day?" The bartender asked, sliding a fresh glass toward me."You could say that." I answered, downing almost half of it in one swallow."Lady problems?" A voice piped up from beside me. I turned to face the stranger."I'm Matthew." He raised his glass in greeting, and I gave him a small nod."Adrian.""You don't come around here often, do you?" He signaled to the bartender for a refill.He was right. The bar wasn't my usual refuge when I needed to clear my head, but tonight it seemed like my only option."First time in a long time. Bars aren't really my kind of place." I admitted."So it is lady problems, then. That's the one thing that brings fellas like you to places like this."I let out a heavy sigh and took another sip, the alcoho
IVY’S POV The Sterling mansion I felt like I was losing myself with every passing second. Being stuck in this mansion felt like a curse—one I had no way of escaping for the next three years. I splashed cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The dark roots at the center of my head were starting to show. I needed to keep up with the disguise. I applied another layer of dye, waited for it to settle, then rinsed it off. “Good,” I murmured to myself, letting out a long sigh. I was mentally exhausted, completely drained. The one thing I needed right then was an end to this horrific life. Adrian treated me like property, and now he had threatened the only person I wanted to seek comfort from. I punched the mirror. Tiny cracks spidered out from the point of impact. A thin trail of blood ran down my hand. He was going to pay for all of this torture. One day, I would burn Adrian Sterling to the ground. I cleaned up and stepped out of the bathroom, headin
ADRIAN’S POV “Tell me everything I need to know about him.” My PA slid a folder across the desk. My eyes caught on the only name that had been grinding against my nerves for weeks. Elliot Alexander Hayes. “Last son of the Hayes family. From what I’ve gathered, their fortune was built through private banking, luxury real estate, and investment firms.” I pursed my lips. Envy sat sharp in my chest. “Any dirt I can use?” He smiled and slid a second sheet toward me. “He was involved in some shady business with investors a few years back. Nothing new has surfaced recently.” Playing it smart. People like us—people who spent years building what we have—got our hands dirty when we needed to. That had never been a secret. I only needed this man to stay away from my wife. “Good,” I said. “I can use that.” I paused. “One more thing. I need him scared off a little. Nothing too extreme. Just get it done cleanly.” My PA nodded and left. If Elliot thought he could touch w
IVY'S POV"Your place is…""Gorgeous?" Elliot offered, flashing that boy-next-door smile."I was going to say predictable," I said, gesturing at the minimalist decor and the shelf of self-help books. "But sure, gorgeous works too."He laughed hard.Elliot had a certain vibe to him. Unlike Adrian, he was soft and gentle, like the kind of man you would see straight out of a rom-com."Coffee or tea?" he asked as he ran his hand through his hair."Tea," I said, and a few minutes later, Elliot appeared with a small cup of Arabian tea. I took a sip, and my eyes almost rolled to the back of my head.Arabian tea. Of course, he made Arabian tea. Elliot probably learned it from some influencer he met at a yoga retreat. Meanwhile, Adrian thought "tea" was what you drank when you were too weak for whiskey.I took another sip. God, it was good.The sweet taste of cinnamon danced on my tongue.Maybe that was the problem. Everything about Elliot was good. Too good. And I was so used to bad that good







