Lahat ng Kabanata ng Abandoned by Ex, Married to His CEO Brother: Kabanata 211 - Kabanata 220

AbigailAs I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me, I looked up at Alexander’s apartment complex with a small, wistful smile tugging at the corners of my lips. It had been a while since I’d come here. Last time, I hadn’t been in the best shape. With how drunk I had gotten, I could barely remember what I'd done the next morning. I shook the image of the memory away, firmly tucking it back into the recesses of my mind. I promised myself I would drink in moderation now if Alexander offered me a glass today, no matter how back breaking the office had been. The workday had drained me. I had been buried under a mountain of reports when Alexander’s text had come in. “We need to talk. Can you come by tonight?” It was unexpected and simple, but the effect it had on me was like watching sunlight break through heavy clouds. I had stared at the message for a full minute, rereading it with a small flutter of something that felt like pleasure bouncing in my chest. Then I texted back

AlexanderThe bold and certain look Abigail gave me, complete with that small grin, made my chest ache with something I couldn’t name. It was the kind of grin that always made me want to respond with one of mine, even now, when I was trying to be serious and trying to keep my worry from bleeding too openly into my expression.I didn’t like how eager she was to offer herself as Liliana’s bait. To anyone else, such a suggestion would sound reckless, but I knew the fire I saw in her eyes wasn’t recklessness but resolve. Seeing how firm it was did nothing to shake the dread her suggestion swirling around in my chest. I didn’t doubt Abigail’s strength for a second; she was stronger than most people I knew. More resilient, more relentless, more... alive. But she was also human, and I had seen how much pain she’d been through. I didn’t want her walking into the fire again just because she could.As if she had just read my mind, Abigail tilted her head, that grin that slowed my reason still

SusannaThe effect was immediate. It was like watching a bird take a bullet mid-flight. The flinch in her eyes, the way her body froze for the briefest second before her spine straightened… it was delicious. Her mouth parted just slightly, a sharp breath escaping before she clamped it shut again. Her expression hardened almost instantly, snapping into place like armor.But I had seen the crack. I had caused the crack. Even with half my face wrapped in sterile gauze, even with the sting of scar tissue under it, I met her cold stare with pure smugness. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, tilting my head just slightly, my voice dipped in mock innocence. “Surely you know you’re not some stunning beauty.”That was the trick, wasn’t it? Wrap the cruelty in enough softness and people didn’t know what

SusannaAfter Conrad left, I didn’t move from the bed. I couldn’t find it in myself to get up, even to go after. I looked around the room, it was a disaster and it was seeing a reflection of how I felt inside. My pillows were on the floor with overturned trays, and the torn papers from the magazines I had torn apart were scattered near the edge of the bed. The curtain by the window hung askew, and I think I had knocked over a chair earlier in my fit. None of it mattered when the image of Conrad walking out the door kept replaying in my head like a broken reel.I didn’t know how many hour I lay in that position, lost in my thoughts.I could still hear my own voice calling out for him and feel the way the silence answered me back.I curled up on the bed, and pulled the blanket over myself. I wished the world would disappear. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to stay. He was supposed to hold me, and tell me it was all okay. He had been doing it all this time, hadn’t h

SusannaNothing but sheer, grinding self control held me back from lunging at Marceline. My fingers curled tightly into the fabric of my hospital gown, twitching with the urge to wrap around her throat and shake her until the smugness drained from her face. How dare she? How dare she come in here, stand over me like she always did, and speak to me as if I was some deluded child?I took a step forward to bring me close enough to her that I could smell the faint trace of her expensive perfume. I could feel I was close to breaking. One more sentence out of her mouth, and I might do something I knew I would regret.Instead of giving in to my anger, I dragged in a breath, sharp and thin like I was breathing through a slit in my throat. My silence only made Marceline bolder, and her gaze lit up with cruel amusement. Her voice was low as she asked, “Has the thought truly never crossed your mind, Susanna?”My chest tightened, but I didn’t look away.She tilted her head slightly, her eyes glea