Chapter 21: Just Before The 'Rest In Peace.'

Damien's POV The rain outside had stopped hours ago, but the wind was still tapping gently against the glass. I stood there, shirt unbuttoned halfway, eyes fixed on the flickering streetlights below. The night was silent, too silent for comfort.Somewhere between the hum of the air conditioner and the faint ticking of the clock, guilt crept in. I hated that feeling. That small tug in my chest that whispered you were too harsh.But I shook it off. I wasn’t Ethan. I didn’t do gentle. I didn’t sugarcoat a woman just to get under her thighs. I didn’t comfort women just because they cried.I turned from the window, rubbing the back of my neck, when I heard her voice.“Damien,” she said...quick, tense, almost breathless. “We’re in trouble.”I frowned. “What now?”She took a few steps closer, her hair loose now, falling in messy curls over her face. “Can you, for once, not be an asshole? Just listen to me and do everything I say.”I raised a brow. “That sounds like the start of one of your

Last Updated : 2025-10-12

Chapter 22: Just when the storm is over.

Narrator's Pov The sound of heavy boots echoed through the corridor.One. Two. Three pairs. Then more.“Come on,” Lila whispered, grabbing Damien’s hand. Her pulse trembled against his. “Let’s go here.”They crawled fast, their knees brushing the cold marble floor as they slid back under the bed. The air beneath was damp and suffocating, the dust burning through her nostrils.The moment they ducked in, the door burst open.Five men in black leather coats stormed inside. Behind them, the receptionist stumbled in, pale, sweating, his tie loosened like a noose around his neck.The tall man at the front, the one with the snake tattoo spiraling up his neck walked with an air of quiet rage. His voice was low, sharp.“Why did you bring us to an empty room?”The receptionist stammered, his voice trembling. “S...sir, this is the room number you gave me. I... I swear it’s registered to the Blackwoods.”The tattooed man, Vance Python tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “So you mean to tell me…

Last Updated : 2025-11-20

Chapter 23: Who Is Serena Sinclair.

Lila's POV The door opened slower than I expected, like someone was savoring the moment before they ruined a life. For a breath I thought maybe we’d somehow bought a sliver of time... until the man stepped in and filled the frame.He was exactly the image my nightmares and rumors had stitched together: tall, leather that hugged the line of his shoulders, a snake tattoo coiling up the side of his throat. He had the look of a man accustomed to being obeyed without question. For a second the room narrowed to the distance between his eyes and mine.“Oh no. Fuck. Fuck,” slipped out of me before I could stop it.He didn’t flinch. He considered me like you consider an old photograph ..recognition working slow, then hard. “You look… familiar,” he said, voice rough, even. He was trying to place me.“Because I am,” I said, feeling the muscles in my jaw tighten. The name tasted like iron and edged certainty. It was the armor I’d forged when life had forced me to learn how to survive as more tha

Last Updated : 2025-11-20

Chapter 24: Dad Is A Bitch.

Ethan's POV “Dad, I’m off.”My voice came out calm, but my inside was a whole storm ripping apart the walls of my chest. I adjusted the strap of my bag and headed toward the door… until his voice dropped behind me, deep, rough, cold.“Off?” He turned slowly. “To where exactly, Ethan?”Here we go again.“To Lila,” I said. “Dad, I’m not letting go of her for any reason.”His jaw tightened. “Son, don’t piss me off this morning.”“I don’t care at this point.” I yelled.He narrowed his eyes at me like I had just slapped him. “Why… are you losing your senses over a woman?”I swallowed, stepped closer, and said it anyway. “Because this woman...Lila...is my woman.”He chuckled.Not the funny type.The dangerous type.“And yet,” he said, leaning forward, “you got another woman pregnant.”Something in me snapped.I dropped my bag and slammed my fist into the wall behind him.A sharp pain shot up my arm, but I didn’t care. I needed that pain. I needed something to burn away everything before I

Last Updated : 2025-11-21

Chapter 25: One Stepbrother, One Night Stand.

Lila's POV “Your dad trusts me.”The words left my mouth in a tone I didn’t even recognize...cold, commanding, dripping with a power I never dared to show in front of Damien before. It made him stop moving. His fingers tightened slightly on my arm as he pulled me closer, eyes narrowing like he was trying to read every hidden part of me.“What just happened?” he asked quietly.I lifted my chin. “Oh, that?” I shrugged, pretending my pulse wasn’t still racing from what just occurred. “What do you think it was?”“I don’t know,” he muttered. “But you act… off sometimes.”“Whatever,” I dismissed. “We need to prepare.”His eyes lingered on me, suspicious and slightly annoyed. “Prepare to do what exactly?”I turned fully, staring at him like he was a toddler asking why the sky is blue. “Really, Damien?”He sighed. “You can’t come with me.”“And why?” I challenged.“First,” he lifted a finger, “I don't know who the fuck you are... Second, I can’t afford to lose the tycoon’s daughter because o