Lahat ng Kabanata ng Tastes Like Damn Chocolate : Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

Chapter 42Tiana hadn't seen Nikolai all through Sunday. She'd stayed in her room most of the morning, nursing her devastation from the night before, then forced herself to spend the afternoon with Pascal. They'd played video games, built a massive fort out of blankets in the living room, and watched his favorite cartoons until dinner.Every moment with him felt precious now, weighted with the possibility that Nikolai might actually try to take him away. She found herself memorizing small details of the way Pascal's nose crinkled when he laughed, the gap in his smile where he'd lost a tooth last month, the way he still reached for her hand when he was tired.She fell in love with him all over again, even as the thought of losing him threatened to break her completely.Monday morning came too quickly.Tiana arrived at Lancaster Group early, her laptop bag over her shoulder, mentally preparing for the Hartwell Corporation meeting. She'd barely slept, spending most of the night reviewing

Chapter 44 Tiana stood there, frozen, staring at Ryan as his words echoed in her mind. I love you. Love? What even was love? She'd loved Nikolai for years, desperately, hopelessly and had been treated like garbage for it. Ignored, dismissed, used when convenient and discarded when not. Love had brought her nothing but pain and loneliness and eight years of wondering what was wrong with her that made her so unlovable. Love didn't exist. Love was a scam. A pretty lie people told themselves to justify staying in situations that hurt them. Love wasn't real. "Ryan," she said, her voice hollow. "Love doesn't exist. What you feel is just... pity." Ryan opened his mouth to protest, but she kept going, the words spilling out faster now. "I know you know about my life. My marriage. Everything. But you just feel guilty that all this happened because you invited me to that graduation party. The one I was reluctant to go to in the first place." She shook her head. "And I've told you count

Chapter 46 Gerald didn't pick up the call. It went straight to voicemail, his professional greeting playing before the beep. Tiana hung up without leaving a message. What was she supposed to say anyway? "Help, I'm drowning and I don't know how to save myself"? She stared at her phone for a long moment, then set it face-down on her desk and forced herself to focus on work. There were emails to respond to, reports to review, contracts to file. Busy work that kept her hands moving and her mind from spiraling into complete panic. The hours crawled by with agonizing slowness. Around four PM, Lyn appeared in her doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and an expression that was half-concerned, half-amused. "So," Lyn said, drawing out the word. "Interesting day?" Tiana looked up from her computer. "What?" "There's a rumor going around." Lyn stepped fully into the office and closed the door behind her. "About you and Mr. Lancaster." Tiana's stomach dropped. "What kind

Chapter 48 In as much as the sex kept replaying in her head—flashes of memory that came at the most inconvenient times, making her cheeks flush and her stomach flip—Tiana tried desperately not to pay attention to it. It was just her mind and body messing with her. That's all it was. She'd been touched so rarely in the past eight years, had gone so long without any physical intimacy with a human man, that of course her traitorous body would cling to those memories. It was a biological response, nothing more. Muscle memory mixed with deprivation. Besides, she'd loved Nikolai for so long—had wasted so many years pining for him—that her heart was still betraying her. Still acting like it had a say in things. Still fluttering stupidly whenever he was near, like it hadn't learned its lesson about loving people who would never love you back. She pushed the thoughts away and tried to focus on Pascal's voice as he chattered from the backseat. "And then at recess, Tommy said his dad c

Chapter 50 Tiana followed the others into the dining room, her footsteps measured and deliberate. The room was exactly as she remembered a long table that could seat twenty people, crystal chandeliers hanging overhead, walls lined with portraits of Toriaga ancestors who stared down with judgment from their gilded frames. She'd always hated this room. It felt like a courtroom where she was perpetually on trial. Tonight, she walked in with her head high, her shoulders back, looking every bit like she belonged there. The family took their usual seats. Eva at one head of the table where George used to sit, claiming her position as matriarch now that he was gone. Martha and Elena on one side with their husbands. Sandy across from them. Tiana took the seat George had always insisted she occupy. The one right beside Nikolai at the other end of the table. The seat of honor that she'd never felt she deserved but had been forced to fill anyway. Nikolai sat down beside her, his presence a