Alle Kapitel von Mister Dream Man: Kapitel 51 – Kapitel 60

* Lawrence *The city greeted me with its usual noise, horns, hurried footsteps, the steel-gray press of skyscrapers. But after a night at Magnolia, everything felt sharper, harsher, like I'd traded air for smoke. The resort still lingered on my skin, the salt of the sea, the echo of her laughter when she thought I wasn't listening, the weight of her silence when she was remembering her mother.I walked through the glass doors of Dankworth & Co., the familiar scent of polished wood and paper contracts replacing the ocean breeze. My staff straightened at once, greetings whispered like ripples. I barely nodded. My mind wasn't on them."Lawrence."Her voice cut through the marble atrium like a blade. My mother, this early.Jullianne Dankworth stood by the reception desk, her figure as immaculate as the empire she ruled. Tailored suit, pearls gleaming at her throat, eyes sharper than the diamond-studded cufflinks on my wrists. She didn't come to the office often anymore, only when she wan

* Lawrence *I was back in the city, but my mind never left Magnolia. Reports piled on my desk, numbers that should have mattered, contracts waiting for signatures, but all I saw was her. Jana, sitting by the garden terrace, hair catching the morning light, eyes carrying shadows she didn't even try to hide.And then there was Dianne. I'd heard from the staff the moment I walked in, rumors going around about what happened. Magnolia resort was a place of discretion, but loyalty ran thicker than silence. They didn't give me details, not outright, but the way they glanced at each other told me enough. Dianne had gone there. She had gone to see Jana.My jaw tightened as I closed the last file without reading a word. Dianne always thought she could control the boardroom and the ballroom alike, but she had no business stepping into Magnolia resort uninvited. That resort wasn't just my family's legacy, it was mine. And she dared use it as her stage to attack Jana?I leaned back in my chair, f

* Lawrence *The noise of the city fell away the moment her voice reached me. Jana. She is fragile but determined, she is like a glass that had learned to hold fire without shattering. I sat back in my chair, the phone pressed close to my ears even after we spoke, her words threading into me heavier than any contract on my desk. Marta is an old employee. Her name alone carried years of Magnolia resort in it, the bones of the resort, the memory of linens folded tighter than secrets.She wouldn't talk to her. I could picture it too easily, the old woman with eyes dulled by fear, refusing to reopen wounds that had been scabbed over by silence. I didn't blame her for that. This island had always kept its ghosts carefully boxed away. But Jana, she wasn't built to leave things buried. She needs to know the truth and so am I.When she asked me not to bully Marta, not to use my ownership like a weapon, something in me tightened. She still didn't quite trust me, not all the way, and maybe she

* Lawrence *Her body swayed against mine as we stepped into the elevator, the golden glow of the Magnolia resort lights fading behind us. The doors slid shut, sealing us in a quiet, too heavy, too intimate atmosphere. Jana leaned into me, her breath warm with wine, her body soft and tempting, and her laughter fading into something softer, something that reached for me.She tilted her face up, eyes half-lidded, those lashes that hypnotized me, and then her lips parted. The attempt at a kiss was clumsy and impulsive, and my pulse thundered because for a heartbeat, I wanted nothing more than to close the distance and claim her moist mouth. Instead, I caught her chin gently, halting her from going further."Jana," I whispered, my voice strained with the weight of restraint. "Not like this, please."Her brows furrowed, almost pouting, and she leaned in again, stubborn in her haze. My breath hitched. Her determination, the way she pressed closer, the way her scent and warmth clouded every

* Lawrence *The whole day after was supposed to be quiet, wrapped in the warmth of her laughter still clinging to the air, the taste of breakfast, and the comfort of my stolen kisses. But it wasn't long before reality pushed through like a sharp crack in glass. I thought that the day would stay beautiful just like her but it didn't.By midday, the hotel manager came knocking on our door with a clipped politeness that told me something was wrong. Marta hadn't shown up for her shift, the old woman must have been afraid of another confrontation from us. At first, Jana brushed it off, maybe Marta had gone home to her family in the village, maybe she had fallen ill. But her voice trembled on that word as the hours passed by. I knew she was worried, and deep inside so am I. Even if she tried to hide it behind stubborn calm.We decided to go look for her when the sun was about to go down. I couldn't let her face this alone.The drive inland was a sharp contrast to the softness of our morni