Semua Bab Wedcuffed: Bab 251 - Bab 260

Sarah POVSaturday NightThe zipper scarcely made it past my ribs before I cursed under my breath.“God, why did I let you talk me into this?” I muttered, yanking the fabric back up again.“Because you’re hot,” Ester said, flopping onto my bed with a glass of wine in hand, smirking like she was the devil in silk. “And because it’s been a year, Sarah. A whole year since you went out and reminded the world you’re not just someone’s mother or ex-wife or ex-lover. You’re you.”I looked at my reflection.The black dress was a second skin. Silk, low cut, sleeveless, with a slit that flirted dangerously high on my thigh. The kind of dress I would’ve worn two years ago without blinking. Before Gabriel. Before my body changed. Before the marriage, the betrayal, the heartbreak.“You can breathe, right?” Ester teased.“Barely.”“Perfect.” She got up and fixed a strand of my hair behind my ear, her eyes softening.“You’re not hiding tonight. Not behind corporate armour, or mom jeans. No blazers. N

Alessandro POVSaturday Night:11:12 PMThe message came through on my secure line a subtle vibration against the polished mahogany of my desk. A single word lit up the encrypted notification: "Movement."I tapped to expand it.Sarah Darell. Location: Club LUX, Midtown Manhattan. Confirmed entry 10:36 PM.The picture that taken after wasn't gem clear, but it didn't have to be be. Her outline, indeed in a low-resolution capture, was unmistakable. Dark dress. Long legs. Hair down. I stared at the screen, my pulse beginning to thrum beneath the surface.She went out. To a club. Dressed like that.I should have deleted the message. I should have shut off the tracker, the one I swore I would only use to ensure her safety.But I didn’t.Instead, I grabbed my jacket and was out the door before the next breath finished leaving my lungs.The black car tore through Manhattan, my driver weaving through traffic like a man with a vendetta. I sat in the back seat, silent, seething.She was danci

Alessandro POVThe stillness in the vehicle was overwhelming. Sarah sank into the passenger seat next to me, her head resting on the window, the cool glass misting a bit from her breath. Her makeup was a bit smeared, the warmth of alcohol coloring her cheeks, and the subtle sparkle on her collarbones still reflected the dashboard lights with each streetlamp we passed beneath.She remained silent not a single word. Only the rare interruption of a breath, the soft whisper of silk as she moved. I held the wheel more firmly than needed, my knuckles pale against the leather.Ester was securely placed in the other vehicle behind us, with the driver directed to return her home I didn’t want Sarah to deal with any more tonight no questions, no judgment, no lectures from her best friend. She was spiraling and I couldn’t pretend I didn’t have something to do with it.The night kept replaying behind my eyes.The way she moved on the dance floor. The deliberate sway of her hips. The teasing glanc

Sarah POVMondayThe morning sun slanted through the city’s sharp skyline, casting long shadows across my bedroom floor. Despite the warmth in the light, I felt cold.Numb, even.I stood before the full-length reflect in my room, the early morning light sifting through gauzy window ornaments and portraying delicate lines over the floor. My robe hung freely off one bear, the silk scarcely protecting the repercussions of a night I hadn't, however, completely handled. I tilted my chin, eyes following the marks that trailed along my neck and collarbone, faint at to begin with look, but incomprehensible to disregard. The bruises had obscured overnight, blossoming into shades of quieted violet and shadowy blood red, as if my skin had retained the chaos of everything he made me feel.With a moderate breath, I uncapped the concealer and spotted it carefully over each stamp. My fingers moved with practised beauty, but my hands trembled marginally, deceiving the storm interior me. Each touch br

Adrian’s POVMonday AfternoonI closed the door behind me with a little more force than necessary.The folder I held was now creased, the edge folded from how firmly I had clenched it. I only became aware of it when I glanced down, searching for something else to concentrate on, anything apart from the picture still burned into my memory.Sarah.Her neck.Those marksGoddamn him.I paced the corridor just outside her office, the plush carpet doing nothing to absorb the heat rising through me. The logical part of my brain whispered that this wasn’t my business anymore. That she was free to do what she wanted, see who she wanted. We were divorced. She’d made that clear.But the other part, the one that still woke up in the middle of the night, half-reached toward her side of the bed before realising it was cold, that part of me was burning.Because I knew exactly who had left those marks.And worse than that, I could see it in her face. That flicker of something raw and wounded, the way