LOGINBlake brought the car to a stop, his gaze turned toward Katrina, who immediately grabbed the door to get out. He swiftly stretched forth and pulled her back.“Stop playing hard to get. It’s not attractive despite what you girls say,” he snapped.Katrina pushed, snatching herself from his grip. “Get your filthy hands off of me,” she yelled and tried to get down again. She managed to slip out before he could stop her again, but he followed after her immediately.He grabbed her and pushed her against the car, forcefully gripping her. Horror flashed through Katrina’s eyes as she struggled with him. “Stop pretending. You’re just like every one of them who approaches people like us for money, wanting to climb the social ladder,” he spat angrily.His anger was fueled by Lexi’s outburst toward him days before. He could not contain his fury seeing her today and went after her the moment she walked out of the courtyard.“You can shove your disgusting money and yourself in the toilet. I don’t wa
Panic flashed through her gaze. The air around her felt too thin, and heat spread all over her body.She could not believe that the two were dating, yet Jace had kissed her…She pressed her lips together guiltily.When Lexi saw the reaction from Katrina, a wicked smile spread across her lips, and she continued.“I lost my favorite earring that night. You had to buy me another pair,” she said.“That’s because you pestered me to,” Jace replied without glancing at her. His gaze stayed on Katrina, who looked uncomfortable and awkward now. His gaze was so focused that it seemed like he was trying to read her mind and know the chaos going on there.“Well, you always give in to me,” Lexi replied. Her other hand tugged at his jacket, pulling him a little closer, and she leaned her face close, her eyes swiftly moving to Katrina and back to Jace in a second.Color drained completely from Katrina’s face, and she felt too hot. She tried to ease herself with her hands.“You okay?” Ray asked.She f
Katrina woke up with a dull ache pounding behind her eyes. She groaned and rolled onto her side, burying her face into the pillow. It took her a moment to force herself up from the bed and walk slowly down to make honey water to drink.Her mouth felt dry and her head felt heavy as she stirred the honey into the warm water.“What happened last night?” she asked herself. The last thing she remembered was taking the second sip of the alcohol and waking up this morning.“I’m never drinking again,” she stressed lazily and gulped the water down her throat. For a while, it didn’t cure her misery, so she placed her head on the kitchen cabinet, feeling too lazy to make the walk to the living room or back to her room.Her phone buzzed loudly, causing more aches, and she grunted as she picked it up. It was an unknown number.‘Hey, you alive?’Katrina blinked, her heartbeat racing anxiously, thinking she must have gotten herself into something serious last night. She typed back.‘Who is this? Hol
Katrina swayed slightly on her feet, a soft giggle slipping past her lips as she clutched her glass with both hands like it might float away without her. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the alcohol she had, her eyes were glossy, and her lashes fluttered too slowly.“I’m not drunk,” she declared, her words stretching lazily together as she leaned against the sofa, then slid down it a little before catching herself. “I’m just... very, very emotionally hydrated.”Holly burst out laughing. “Oh my gosh. You become even cuter when drunk,” she said.Katrina pointed at her, missing by a good few inches. “You’re very loud. I like you, can I adopt you?” she blinked. She then promptly leaned into Ray’s shoulder, looping her arm around him like a koala.Ray froze, panicked, and slowly took her arm off his body, afraid his shoulder might be chopped off if Jace found out about it.Across the room, Lexi’s smile tightened. Holly rested her chin in her hand, watching Katrina wobble in amused fascina
“Jace?” Katrina whispered.“Yes?” he replied, his gaze flicking down to her lips but returning to hold her gaze almost immediately.Katrina’s gaze searched his face, unsteady but sincere. The drunken haze faded into something fragile and raw. “If our parents hadn’t met first...” she murmured. “If you met me as just me, would you fall for me?” she asked.The room went quiet. Jace’s jaw tightened, his eyes darkening as they held hers. For a long moment, neither of them moved.Her lashes fluttered, and his gaze dropped to her lips, then back to her eyes.“You won’t. Got it,” she said after the long silence and moved to get off him, but Jace’s grip tightened around her waist, not letting her go. Katrina was forced to look at him again. He had pushed closer, leaving their faces too close now.“If you want to know the answer to that, then you need to answer me this,” Jace said to her, his voice barely a breath. “When was our first meet?” he asked, breaking their eye contact.As he let the q
Holly was the first to recognize Katrina. She tilted her head quickly in perplexity. She threw a hard glare at Ray. He was standing there, a flicker of horror crossing his face, followed by a tight, hollow look.Panic and regret washed over his face, seeing the four of them sitting there and staring at him. He gulped and scratched his hair, trying to think of a way to escape.But before he could come up with a way, Holly got up and walked to Katrina, who was gazing anxiously and cluelessly around, waiting for an introduction or explanation to be given.“You’re here,” Holly called casually, like they had been expecting her, and took her hand. She pulled her further in as Ray reached out to pull her back and took her to the rest of the group.“Welcome to the group. We’ve been dying to meet you,” she said. A slow, subdued smile tugged at her lips. Her gaze flicked to Lexi immediately.She wanted to enjoy the look on her face. “I believe you’ve all heard of her. Jace’s beloved stepsister,
“You’re not his girlfriend?” Blake said, his gaze raised to Yasmin, who was standing with her arms crossed angrily against her chest.Her expression froze for a second, but she quickly composed herself. “On what grounds do you say that? You’ve seen us together,” she said, putting on a pretense.Bla
The duvet rolled as Blake pushed the blanket off with an irritated grunt. He turned to see Yasmin sleeping beside him and hissed angrily.“Get the hell up,” he yelled.His voice woke Yasmin with a stir. She stared at him for a second before realizing where she was. She was about to open her mouth t
Jennifer sat waiting when Jace arrived, her posture straight and her fingers folded neatly atop the polished table. She didn’t let him sit down before lashing out.“You missed your official introduction meeting today,” she said, her eyes lifting slowly to meet his.“Do you have any idea what that m
After stalling for a long while, Ray finally appeared without Jace. The team seated in the room turned their eyes to him almost immediately, and their gazes carried the obvious question.“The new manager has been keeping us waiting for so long. Is he disregarding our team because he’s the heir?” Ri







