All Chapters of A One Night Stand That Felt Like Revenge: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

Serene’s povThe alarm buzzed at six, and I woke with a jolt. My face felt strange, rough in a way it never had before. When my fingers brushed my cheek, I felt short, scratchy stubble. For a moment I stared blankly at the mirror across the room, confused, until the memory of last night came rushing back.“Oh no,” I muttered under my breath. “I actually went through with it.”I hurried to the bathroom and switched on the light. The reflection staring back did not look like me. My brows were thicker, my lips seemed thinner, and the shading along my jaw made my cheekbones look more defined. Only my blue eyes gave me away.Aveline had outdone herself.We had spent hours the night before turning Serene Carrow into someone entirely new. She had taught me how to stand differently, how to walk with less sway, how to rest my voice lower without straining it. She showed me how to wear a compression vest that flattened my chest, how to rest my weight on my heels, and how to let my gestures feel

Serene’s povThe following days were a trial by fire, the most grueling professional stretch of my life. The pace at Arden and Sons was relentless, a brutal marathon that made my tenure at Harry & Associates feel like a leisurely stroll. A constant stream of clients, a deluge of documents that multiplied on my desk, and the senior partners’ unyielding demand for flawless work defined every waking hour.Yet, beneath the sheer exhaustion, a cold dread had taken root. The encounter in the restroom haunted me. That voice, that intimate “Hey, Sereny”, it belonged to the man from the concert. He was the only person who had ever used that name for me. The true horror was in the implication: to find me at that company dinner, he knew exactly who I was. He was watching me. The thought was a fucking violation that made my skin prickle. Who was he, and what did he want from me? My gaze would sometimes drift suspiciously over my colleagues, but I knew the truth. I had first encountered this stran

Serene'S POVI stood rigid, my back to them, my heart battering against the constricting binder beneath my shirt. Every primal instinct screamed for me to flee, to pretend I had not heard his command, to run and never look back. But my legs had turned to stone.Slowly, with the grim resignation of someone walking a plank, I turned to face them.Max’s piercing green eyes swept over me with an intensity that felt like a physical touch, making my skin prickle beneath the heavy wool of my suit. He had not moved from his indolent pose, his legs still propped on Kaelon’s desk, but his relaxed posture was a lie. His gaze was pure, focused predation.“Mr. Carrow,” he said, his voice a smooth, annoyingly sensual baritone. “Do not let me interrupt. What did you need from Kaelon?”I opened my mouth, but my mind was a void, scoured clean by sheer panic. Kaelon and Max both watched me, their expectant silence stretching as I stood there, gaping like a fool.Kaelon was the one to break the unbearab

Serene’s povI slammed into our apartment, the door crashing against the wall. My lungs burned, my heart a frantic drum against my ribs. Four blocks had felt like a marathon in a panic.“Nola!” The name tore from my throat, a ragged sound caught between Russell’s manufactured baritone and my own rising terror. “Nola!”She appeared in the kitchen doorway, a half-eaten sandwich in her hand, her expression shifting from annoyance to immediate concern. “Seren? What’s…” Her eyes scanned me, taking in the wild hair, the crooked tie, the sheen of sweat making my prosthetic nose feel like a slipping mask. “Oh, God. What happened? Did someone figure you out?”I dropped onto the sofa, my face falling into my hands. The fabric of my suit felt like a cage. “It’s so much worse.”She abandoned her food and was beside me in an instant, her hand on my back. “Okay. Breathe. Just breathe, and then tell me.”“The CEO,” I managed, the words fighting their way out. “Arden and Sons. It is Dr. Lysander.”No

Serene’s povThe sobs tore from a place so deep inside me I did not recognize it. I cried until my throat was raw and my chest ached, the sound of my grief a private, ugly thing against the cold tile of the bathroom walls. I had been so certain I could do this, outmaneuver Maxwell Arden, prove my worth from the shadows. But he had not even finished his first day back as CEO, and my entire world was already cracking apart.When the storm inside me finally passed, a hollow silence remained. I sat in the sterile quiet of the stall, studying the violent tremor in my hands. My disguise was certainly a disaster, my composure shattered. I could not afford to look vulnerable. Not when I was already in so deep.With unsteady fingers, I retrieved my compact. The face in the mirror was a ruin of smeared mascara and streaked foundation. Yet, beneath the damage, the fundamental architecture of Russell Carrow held firm.I set about the meticulous work of reconstruction, dabbing away the evidence of