All Chapters of OFF LIMIT: FOURTEEN NIGHTS WITH MY HUSBAND'S BEST FRIENDS : Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

238 Chapters

NONE OF THEM

Chapter 101ElowenMy phone was on the nightstand where I'd left it earlier, still displaying photos from the trip with Kian, still showing evidence of three days that apparently meant nothing to anyone except me.I should delete them, I thought distantly, I should erase every reminder of how stupid I'd been, how easily I'd believed that someone could actually want me.But I didn't reach for the phone, didn't do anything except close my eyes and try to find sleep in the wreckage of this catastrophic night.Tomorrow I'd figure out what to do, tomorrow I'd make plans and be strong and find a way out of this mess that didn't require help from men who saw me as pathetic.Tomorrow I'd remember that I didn't need them, didn't need anyone, that I could survive this on my own.But tonight, tonight I just let myself feel the weight of everything that had happened, let myself acknowledge how much it hurt to be rejected twice in one night, let myself grieve for the connection I thought I'd had w

EVER REALLY WANTED ME

Chapter 102Elowen None of them had ever really wanted me here in the first place.I was just convenient, just available, just a warm body they could use when they felt like it before discarding me again.I slipped out of my room and moved through the quiet villa like a ghost, my footsteps silent on the tiles, my breathing carefully controlled so I wouldn't make noise.I passed Matteo's room and felt my chest constrict, felt the urge to check on him, to make sure his fever had broken, to see if he was okay.But I kept walking because he didn't need me, had made that abundantly clear when he'd said I love you to someone who wasn't me.I passed Kian's room and felt anger flare hot and sharp, remembered the cold dismissal in his eyes when he'd called me cheap, when he'd told me everything had been an act.Good, I thought viciously, let him wake up and find me gone, let him realize too late that I wasn't going to stick around to be his pity project.I passed the hallway that led to Adria

CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE

Chapter 103Elowen Tried not to think about three days with Kain that had felt like paradise before revealing themselves as just another layer of hell.Tried not to think about anything except surviving the next minute, then the next hour, then the next day.When we finally landed I grabbed my phone and turned it back on, ignoring the notifications that immediately started flooding in, not ready to face whatever messages or calls might be waiting.I made my way through the airport on autopilot, following signs for ground transportation, and before I could second-guess myself I was in another taxi giving my best friend's address.Not Adrian's apartment, not the place we'd shared before Italy, but Caroline's place because Caroline was the only person in the world who'd ever actually cared about me without wanting something in return.The city looked different than I remembered, or maybe I was different, changed by everything that had happened in Italy, marked by rejection and humiliati

THAT'S TOO MUCH

Chapter 104Elowen"Okay," Caroline said softly, her voice steady despite the shock that must have been coursing through her. "Okay, El, but why? What happened? You need to tell me why."I shook my head frantically, unable to put into words the humiliation and the pain and the way I'd been passed around like I was nothing, unable to explain how thoroughly I'd been broken by three men who were supposed to care about me."I can't," I whispered, my voice cracking. "I can't talk about it, Carl, I just can't."She studied my face for a long moment, her eyes searching mine with the kind of understanding that came from years of friendship, and then she nodded slowly."No problem," she said, squeezing my hand. "No problem, El."I looked at her in surprise, expecting more questions, expecting her to push for explanations the way everyone always did.But she just pulled me closer and brushed the hair back from my face with a gentleness that made my throat tight."For you to decide this," she co

WE'RE SISTERS

Chapter 105"Stop," Caroline interrupted, holding up her hand. "We're not just friends, Elowen, we're sisters, and it's both of us for life, I'm never leaving you."I felt my eyes start to sting again with fresh tears but Caroline wasn't done."Let me spell it out for you," she said, leaning forward with that fierce expression I knew meant she wouldn't take no for an answer. "I don't care what you think but we're doing this friendship for life, I'll always have your back till my last breath, so stop trying to push me away and just accept that you're stuck with me."I reached for her, to hug her again but she jumped up from the couch with a laugh, dancing out of reach."Oh no you don't," she said, grinning. "If you hug me again we'll both end up crying and I need to make food before we both waste away from hunger."Despite everything, despite the pain and the exhaustion and the weight of what I was facing, I found myself laughing, actually laughing, and it felt like the first genuine

ONE THING AT A TIME

Chapter 106 ElowenI woke up to the smell of coffee and sunlight streaming through unfamiliar curtains, and for a disorienting moment I couldn't remember where I was or why my chest felt so heavy.Then it all came rushing back—the villa, Kian's cruel words, Matteo's fever, the flight, Caroline's couch—and I pressed my face into the pillow with a groan."Good, you're awake," Caroline's voice called from somewhere outside the bedroom. "Get dressed, we're going out."I lifted my head, confused, and glanced at the clock on her nightstand that showed it was barely nine in the morning."Going out?" I called back, my voice still rough from yesterday's crying. "Don't you have work?"There was a pause, then Caroline appeared in the doorway with two mugs of coffee, already dressed in jeans and a bright yellow sweater that somehow only she could pull off."Called in sick," she said casually, handing me one of the mugs.I stared at her in shock, nearly spilling coffee on the sheets."You what?"

I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND

Chapter 107Elowen "Nonsense," she said again, adding a bright red blouse to the collection. "You need variety, you need options, you need to rebuild your wardrobe from scratch."She steered me toward the fitting rooms and I realized with a start that none of the clothes she'd picked were things I would normally wear.My wardrobe with Adrian had been muted and conservative, lots of beiges and grays and nothing that drew attention, clothes designed to help me blend into the background.But Caroline had chosen colors—reds and blues and greens and even a very short sunshine yellow dress that made me nervous just looking at it."I don't know about these," I said hesitantly, holding up the yellow dress. "This isn't really my style."Caroline turned to look at me with an expression that was surprisingly serious."That's the point," she said. "Your old style was about making yourself small, about not being noticed, about being whatever Adrian wanted you to be, and that version of Elowen is

KNOCK 'EM DEAD, BOSS LADY

Chapter 108Elowen"You didn't get this work because you're my friend, you got it because you're good at what you do, Damien wouldn't hire you just as a favor to me, he's too professional for that.""I..." I started, but couldn't finish because I was suddenly crying again, overwhelmed by the kindness and the opportunity and the feeling that maybe, just maybe, things could actually be okay."Which company?" I finally managed to ask through the tears. "Where would I be working?"Caroline's expression shifted to something almost sheepish."It's just a small business that he's starting up," she said quickly. "Nothing huge or fancy, just a new venture that needs someone with vision and talent."She was downplaying it, I could tell, probably worried I'd think it wasn't prestigious enough or would be disappointed.But I didn't care if it was small or new or completely unknown, it was mine, it was something I'd earned with my actual skills, and it was a chance to rebuild my life on my own ter

I CAN START RIGHT NOW

Chapter 109Elowen I smiled and got ready with more care than I'd taken in months, doing my makeup properly, styling my hair, looking at myself in the mirror and seeing someone I almost didn't recognize.Someone who looked confident and professional and capable.Someone who looked like she deserved respect.Caroline had already left for her own job but there was coffee waiting and a packed lunch in the fridge with another note that just said "Eat. Love you."I grabbed everything and checked the address she'd sent, calling a taxi because I didn't trust myself to navigate public transportation while this nervous.The drive seemed to take forever and no time at all, my stomach doing flips as I rehearsed what I might say, how I should act, trying to remember how to be professional when I felt so utterly lost.When the taxi pulled up outside the building I nearly asked the driver to turn around.My jaw literally dropped as I stared up at the gleaming glass and steel structure that rose at

WANT TO JOIN US?

Chapter 110Elowen The rest of the morning passed in a whirlwind of contracts and orientation, and by lunchtime I had my own office—small but with a window and a door that closed—and a company laptop and business cards with my name and title.Head of Interior Design.I stared at the cards for a long moment, trying to make it feel real, trying to believe this was actually happening.Marcus took me around to meet the team and I noticed immediately that people seemed careful around me, their smiles just a bit too polite, their questions just a bit too measured.Like they knew something I didn't.Like they'd been told to handle me delicately.It should have bothered me more than it did, but after everything I'd been through with Adrian and his friends, a little workplace awkwardness barely registered.Only one person seemed genuinely friendly—a woman named Jessica who worked in project management and immediately invited me to lunch."Don't worry about everyone being weird," she said as w

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