She shakes her head again, but it is meek, weak, just like she is beneath my touch. Until now, I have never noticed how small she actually is compared to me.How fragile.Actually, I did once. When she was pressed up against me with her lips on mine.But I should not be thinking about that. I should not be thinking about how small my best friend’s daughter is or how she feels in my hold when we’re in front of his hospital room.A muscle clenches in my jaw and I loosen my hold on her shoulders, starting to step away from her.I am unprepared for what she does, though.Completely and utterly taken off guard.Just like two fucking years ago.Genevieve lunges at me and wraps both arms around my waist. And as if that is not enough, she stuffs her face in my chest—her damp face.I can feel the moisture clinging to my shirt and seeping onto my skin. But it does not stop there, no. It is like acid, melting away the flesh and bones and reaching for an organ I thought only functioned to pump bl

GENEVIEVEhen I was a kid, I had a problem learning words. I do not know why. I have a high IQ, and I can figure out my way around things, but memorizingwords was a bit difficult.The professionals my dad took me to thought I had some form of dyslexia, but it is not like I couldn’t read or recognize words. It is not that they all appeared the same. They just appeared alive.You know that feeling when you are reading something and it nearly jumps off the page at you? For me, it was literal, and that is exactly how it felt. As if the words were coming after me.Turns out, I did not have a problem with all the words. Just the negative ones. The words that make my skin itchy and my vision turn hazy. The words that I felt instead of only reading them.Anxiety made my skin crawl and my nose tingle.Cruel turned my cheeks hot and my body tight with the need to defend the one who was subjugated to it.Fear made my teeth clench and my heart shrink in anticipation for what was to come.Sad era

DANIELecessity.I have never liked that word. It is because ofnecessity that my brother decided to leave the country, and that got him killed.It is because of necessity that people vote for the likes of my father to represent them in spite of the fact that he only cares about himself.In a way, necessity is the root of all evil. Decisions based on it are a bit impulsive and almost always have dire consequences down the line. Ones that could be dangerous, lethal even.Of all people, I am well aware of the dangerous repercussions of hasty actions. I never decide anything unless I have a 360-degree view of the entire situation as well as all of its possible results. This is the first time I have taken a step into territory that hasn’t been carefully plotted. It is like walking through a minefield with a blindfold on.But just like earlier, I do not think about the possible repercussions. I shove them to the back of my mind and focus on the now. On the present and its own sets of cause

“You do not get an opinion on this since you are his accomplice, Aspen. Hello? Conflict of interest, anyone?”“Then do you suggest we let go of our work and focus on Krew’s thousand pending cases instead? Do you want to lose your job at the firm, Sebastian? Right, that would not matter since you are a rich boy from a prestigious family and your senator grandpa can find you another job, maybe even help you open your own firm. But how about the hundred others whose living depends on us, huh? Do we send them to your granddaddy, too, or do we take the most logical route with less hassle? Come on, you are supposed to be smart. Which choice makes more sense?”Sebastian does not move a muscle at her calmly spoken words. It is like she’s delivering a closing argument. She’s always precise and to the point. Scathing, too. Which is the reason she’s a lonely soul; no one can handle her.I expect Sebastian to come back with his own retort, because my parents raised him to always have the last wor

I flinch, my heart hammering in my chest, but it is not because I am scared. Not even close. It is due to how he just spoke.How can someone pack so much command in one single word? In the simple way he says my name? And is it creepy that I want him to keep talking to me in that tone?For that reason alone, I contemplate disobeying him just to hear it again. But at the same time, I can not ignore the warning, the severity of it.So I slowly meet his gaze, and I wish I hadn’t, because he releases my elbow and I feel like I am drowning in nonexistent water.“Do you honestly believe that I chose to do this just to be there for you or because I am a knight in shining armor? I am not, Genevieve. Far from it.”“Then what are you?”“Whatever knights in shining armor fight. And that means there is not one noble, sacrificing bone in my body. The reason I am marrying you is not because I want to protect you or King’s legacy. I am protecting my firm. My own legacy. So the fact that you feel like