Lahat ng Kabanata ng BORROWED LOVE ON ICE : Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

XAVIER'S POVMelissa and I were having the time of our lives.That was the only way to describe it. For once in what felt like forever, things weren’t complicated. No hospital rooms, no paparazzi storms weighing on my chest, no guilt hanging over me. Just me and her, building something that felt real, steady, and unshakable.The lights from the studio were almost blinding as we sat side by side on the plush couch, the cameras fixed on us. Melissa’s hand rested on mine, her nails lightly brushing against my skin in slow, almost unconscious movements. I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at her, even with the host sitting directly across from us. She looked breathtaking—hair styled in soft waves, her dress hugging her in all the right places without screaming for attention. She was the picture of elegance, and yet still…….MelissaThe host leaned forward, smiling politely but eyes curious. “So, Ms. Brown, Mr Kesh, let’s talk about what everyone wants to know. Balancing your careers with you

MELISSA’S POV The buzz of my phone cut through the quiet of my apartment. I was sprawled on the couch with a heating pad pressed against my lower belly, groaning softly as another wave of cramps pulsed through me. My cycle had always been unpredictable, but this month felt worse than usual—like my body was staging a rebellion. And the worst of it was that my period hadn't even started yet. I reached for the phone with half-closed eyes, expecting maybe a text from Xavier or one of the girls I work with. But it wasn’t either of them. It was Marco.Marco: Got you a solo shoot. Out of town. Details later. You’ll need to travel a day early.I frowned at the message, reading it twice. A solo shoot? Out of town? That wasn’t unusual, but something about the shortness of his text unsettled me. Usually, Marco was all chirpy energy, exclamation points and winking emojis, always trying to make work sound exciting even when it wasn’t. This message was clipped. Cold.I dialed him right away.He

MARCO’S POV It had barely been an hour since Melissa checked into the hotel when my phone buzzed. The notification made my chest tighten before I even looked at the screen. I knew what it was.It was him—the guy Louis had arranged to “help stage” the shots.My thumb hesitated over the screen, but curiosity and dread forced me to open the message.There they were.The first photo was grainy, taken with the faint glow of the hotel room light. Melissa was sitting on the bed, her posture slumped, her hand reaching out toward the man like she was trying to steady herself. In her hazy state, it looked like she was… yearning for him.The second was worse—his arms angled around her, her cheek brushing against his chest. To the camera, it looked like an embrace. To me, it looked like a setup. Is it because i know it was?The third photo nearly made me curse out loud. Her head tilted back slightly, his face lowered dangerously close to hers. From that angle, it looked like they were kissing.

XAVIER'S POV According to Melissa’s flight schedule, she was supposed to have arrived hours ago. I had checked the airline tracker more times than I could count, refreshing the page like some obsessed teenager waiting for confirmation that his crush had landed safely. She had. The status updated to “Arrived – On Time.”But there was no call. No text. Not even the usual quick, “I’m here, baby. I’ll call you once I’m settled.”It wasn’t like her. Melissa wasn’t careless with communication, especially when it came to me. If she was running late, she always sent something—an emoji, a rushed text, a quick voice note. Silence wasn’t her style. And yet here I was, staring at my phone screen every five minutes, my thumb hovering over the refresh button like it could summon her presence.At first, I told myself not to be obsessive. She was probably tired from the flight, maybe she had gone straight to her hotel room and crashed. Maybe she’d forgotten to plug in her phone, or maybe she was i

MELLISA'S POV Hours later, I woke up with a pounding headache. It felt like my skull was caught in a vice, each throb echoing behind my eyes. For a moment, I lay still, staring at the ceiling of the hotel room, trying to piece together the fragments of last night.The last thing I remembered was the way my eyelids had grown heavy after room service. My body had sunk into the mattress as exhaustion, dizziness, and that strange haze clouded my senses. And then—someone had walked into the room. I could see it clearly in my mind’s eye. A tall figure, broad shoulders, the way he moved with quiet certainty. My brain, hazy as it was, had whispered Xavier.But now, hours later, I wasn’t so sure anymore.I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to make sense of it. If it had been Xavier, why hadn’t he said anything? Why hadn’t he woken me up or stayed by my side? Why did everything feel… wrong?With a groan, I sat up and reached for my phone. I hadn’t touched it since arriving in Ohio, whic