LOGINIVORY POV"What? Mom, you cannot be serious? He is literally my boyfriend!" My voice cracked as I shouted over the sound of the engine. The golden glow of the prom was fading, replaced by the harsh, clinical orange of the streetlights."What do you mean 'stay away from him'? You might as well tell us to break up!""Ivory, you have to listen to me! Just do as I say and everything will be fine," she snapped, her eyes fixed on the road, her knuckles white."Even when you are wrong? Even when you speak like you’re slowly losing your mind?" I felt the sting of hot tears. I couldn't wrap my head around it. "I can’t believe you are saying this after you treated Daniel like your literal favorite son! You beamed at him! You trusted him!"The argument didn't stop. It raged all the way to our front door....a bitter, ugly back-and-forth that felt like tearing a seam. I was desperate to defend the boy who had just crowned me his queen, and she was desperate to lock me in a cage built of ghost sto
IVORY POV"What? Mom, you cannot be serious? He is literally my boyfriend!" My voice cracked as I shouted over the sound of the engine. The golden glow of the prom was fading, replaced by the harsh, clinical orange of the streetlights. "What do you mean 'stay away from him'? You might as well tell us to break up!""Ivory, you have to listen to me! Just do as I say and everything will be fine," she snapped, her eyes fixed on the road, her knuckles white."Even when you are wrong? Even when you speak like you’re slowly losing your mind?" I felt the sting of hot tears. I couldn't wrap my head around it. "I can’t believe you are saying this after you treated Daniel like your literal favorite son! You beamed at him! You trusted him!"The argument didn't stop. It raged all the way to our front door....a bitter, ugly back-and-forth that felt like tearing a seam. I was desperate to defend the boy who had just crowned me his queen, and she was desperate to lock me in a cage built of ghost st
IVORY POVThe morning sun filtered through my curtains, stinging my eyes and pulling me out of a heavy, dreamless sleep. My hand instinctively reached for the empty space beside me before I remembered I was in my own room, not the sprawling, silk-covered bed at the Connor mansion. I groaned as I rolled over, feeling a sharp twinge in my lower back and a dull ache in my thighs.My phone buzzed on the nightstand a string of notifications that made my heart do a little somersault.𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍: 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝑴𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆?𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍: 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔.𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍: 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆? 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆.I bit my lip, a heat creeping up my neck that had nothing to do with the morning sun. I typed back a quick, “I’m perfectly fine, stop worrying,” but I wa
IVORY POVThe theater was a blur of shadows and the flickering blue light of the TV, but I couldn't have told you what was happening on the screen if my life depended on it. All I could feel was Daniel. He was a mountain of heat behind me, his breath fanning against the shell of my ear. The air in the mansion had grown heavy, thick with the scent of his expensive cologne and the raw, electric tension that had been humming between us since the night we met in that dark alleyway.His hand, large and calloused, slid slowly up the silk of my green dress. He didn't just touch me; he claimed me. His fingers traced the line of my thigh, hitching the fabric higher and higher, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake."You have no idea how long I have been wanting to do this, Ivory," he whispered, his voice dropping into a register so low it made my toes curl.I shivered, my head falling back against his shoulder. "Really... bad boy?" I asked in a tiny, breathless voice. I tried to sound
IVORY POVThe kitchen was a sprawling expanse of stainless steel and white marble, looking more like a set from a cooking show than a home. Before I could even find my footing, Daniel reached out. His hands found my waist, and with a strength that always caught me off guard, he carefully guided me to the center island and gently lifted me up, seating me right on the kitchen counter.I immediately panicked, my heart thudding against my ribs like a trapped bird. Being at eye level with him was dangerous; those deep blue eyes were peering right into mine, and his closeness was literally making me lose my senses."What are you doing?" I squeaked, my hands bracing against the cold marble."Relax, Ma belle," he murmured, his voice a low vibration that I felt in my bones. He reached behind me, grabbing something from a hook. "I just wanted to help you put on your apron. We wouldn't want your gorgeous dress stained, would we?"I cleared my throat, praying for my words to come out eloquent an
IVORY POVDaniel and I had been inseparable, even if it was only through a screen. We texted every single day, and our video calls would stretch for hours until my phone got hot against my ear. He kept telling me how exhausted he was because his dad was piling a mountain of tasks on him.When I pressed him for details, he got evasive, shifting his phone so I couldn't see the stress in his eyes. I went quiet, giving him a few seconds to just think and breathe. Finally, he admitted it, he was undergoing a brutal crash course in leadership.He was being molded to lead a billion-dollar business empire.A few days later, the text I had been waiting for finally popped up. “Come over to my place tonight. I want to show you something.”I was thrilled. I spent the next four hours raiding my closet, but nothing felt special enough. I ended up dipping into my savings to buy a new fit, some high end makeup, and a pair of heels that made me feel like I was walking on air.The moment I told Mom I w
Ivory POV I tried to drift back into the darkness, but the sharp smell of rubbing alcohol wouldn't let me. I slowly peeled my eyes open, only to find Dr. Lana….the school’s blunt, no-nonsense doctor standing over me. She was clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she checked the dark
Ivory POV I woke up expecting the world to still be on fire. I expected the whispers to follow me like a dark cloud and the laughter to ring in my ears the moment I stepped onto the school grounds.But as I walked through the front gates, something was... off.The atmosphere wasn't heavy or mockin
Ivory POV Only a total dumbass would voluntarily walk into a wolf’s den. Especially one who’s unarmed, wearing four inch heels, and wrapped in a dress that cost more than her mother’s car.Yeah, you guessed it. The dumbass is me.As Daniel led me toward the center of the dance floor, the air felt
Ivory POV I skipped my first class. I couldn't do it. I couldn't walk into a room full of people who had spent the last hour dissecting a photo of my tongue down the throat of the school’s most dangerous guy.I retreated to the only place I felt safe….a cramped, flickering stall in the third-floor







