Semua Bab Fated By One Night: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The world around her was spinning. Colors bled into one another, and the pounding bass of the music warped into a distorted hum in her ears. Danielle Chloe Carter barely recognized her own body—it burned, a feverish heat spreading under her skin, consuming her from the inside out.Her breath came in short, labored gasps as she reached out blindly, fingertips scraping against the cool marble walls of the dimly lit hallway. Her legs wobbled, refusing to obey her, and she staggered forward.Something’s wrong.She wasn’t drunk—no, this was different. The unnatural heat flooding her veins, the way her thoughts slipped from her grasp like water through her fingers… she had been drugged.Panic surged through her muddled mind, but she had no time to process it. A door appeared before her, and she clutched the handle with trembling fingers, pushing it open in desperation.Cold air rushed against her fevered skin, and she stumbled forward, crashing onto something solid—no, someone.A deep, shar

Three Years AgoThe fluorescent lights above flickered with a soft hum, casting a pale glow over the hospital corridor. The air was cold—too cold—and it reeked of antiseptic. A nurse emerged quietly from the maternity wing, her arms cradling a tightly bundled infant. Her eyes were uncertain, her steps hesitant as if every footfall added to the weight she carried.“Is it done?” Vivian Carter’s voice was low, her arms folded neatly over her designer coat.The nurse didn’t answer immediately. She looked over her shoulder, back toward the room she’d just left. Her expression faltered. “Yes… but are you absolutely sure about this? The baby—”“She’ll never know.” Vivian’s tone sharpened. “That child is the product of disgrace. A stain on this family.”“She wanted to keep him,” the nurse whispered.Vivian scoffed, her painted lips curling in disdain. “Danielle doesn’t get to want anything. She made her choice when she disobeyed me. Now she’ll face the consequences.”With a final glance, Vivi

“Daddy.”Alexander Sterling didn’t look up from his laptop. “Hm?”Theo stood by the door of the home office, his tiny hands gripping the hem of his shirt, his lips forming a tight line.“I want to see her.”Alexander finally looked up. “See who?”“The pretty lady from the hotel,” Theo said, more determined this time. “I miss her.”Alexander leaned back in his chair, arms crossing slowly. “Theo, you just met her.”“But she held my hand,” Theo argued, walking closer. “She said I was safe with her. And she smiled like Mama in my dreams.”Alexander stilled.That word. Mama.He rarely heard Theo use it. And certainly never like this.Theo’s gray eyes, so like his father’s, stared up with silent insistence. “Please, Daddy.”Alexander sighed, closing the laptop. “What do you even think she is? A fairy godmother?”Theo didn’t smile. He meant it. “She smelled like sunshine. I just want to see her again. Please?”Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t fond of unexpected connections

Danielle woke to the soft hum of rain against the windows, her lashes fluttering open slowly as the dim morning light crept into her bedroom.Silence.She blinked, disoriented for a second. The events of last night rushed back—Theo falling asleep on her lap, Alexander quiet but watchful, the storm forcing them to stay. For a moment, it had almost felt like family. Almost.Quickly, she threw off her covers and padded into the hallway. The living room was empty. No sign of the blanket Theo had been wrapped in, no coat on the rack, no shoes by the door.Gone.Her heart sank slightly as she looked around. Not even a note. Just absence.She told herself it didn’t matter. They were strangers. It had been a temporary situation—an accident. But the stillness in her apartment felt heavier than usual, like something important had come and gone without warning.She pressed a hand to her chest, then shook her head, willing the feeling away. It was just another moment of softness mistaken for sign

Two Days LaterThe first thing Danielle noticed when she stepped into the Carter Enterprises building was the silence.It wasn’t the usual polished hush of a successful corporation. This was different—taut, watchful. As though the walls themselves had learned to listen, too used to the tension that came with power struggles and fragile alliances.Danielle walked with her head high, heels clicking smartly on the marble floors. Her presentation folder was tucked under one arm, the edge slightly bent from where she had clutched it too tightly earlier.Bianca had seen to it that this meeting would feel like a trap.But Danielle Carter never ran from wolves. She had learned to bare her teeth when it counted.Her assistant met her near the conference room. “They’re inside already. Mr. Carter is with the Sterling representatives. Bianca’s heading the pitch.”Danielle’s jaw twitched. “Of course she is.”Although her stepsister might appear crude and birdbrained sometimes, there was no denying