Semua Bab Ruthless Desire : Bab 1 - Bab 5

Elena PovGrief has a soundFor me, it’s the steady hum of a plane engine slicing through clouds soft but sharp enough to drown out everything else.I press my forehead to the cold window and stare down at the Atlantic. It stretches like a silver ribbon beneath us.This is about peace, I tell myself. Not running. Not hiding. Just breathing.But even I, don’t believe that.Nora booked the trip without asking. Typical.“You need to remember what it feels like to be alive,” she’d said, handing me the ticket like a prescription.She doesn’t get it.Feeling alive terrifies me more than feeling nothing at all.When the plane finally touches down in Santorini, sunlight pours into the cabin, warm and blinding. It hits my skin like something holy and cruel.The island is stunning too stunning. White cliffs stacked like bone, blue domes gleaming under the sun, laughter floating in a language I don’t understand. It’s all too much for someone who still feels like a ghost.At the resort, I don’t

Elena POV The sound of my alarm tears through the quiet room, sharp and annoying at six in the morning.I groan, roll over, and slap the screen until it stops ringing.For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling.New York.Not Santorini.Not sunlight or blue water.Just my small apartment, my soft grey sheets, and the familiar hum of traffic outside.This is realityYesterday’s sunlight, Santorini’s sea breeze, that hotel room with him, it all feels like a dream someone else lived.But the soreness in my body isn’t a dream.It’s a reminder I can’t erase.I sigh and sit up slowly, rubbing my face with both hands.Julian.His name slips into my mind like it owns space there.I shake my head and push away the thought. Today is supposed to be a fresh start, my first day at Stone Corporation. A job I need, a job I fought for after everything fell apart.“Great,” I whisper. “First day of work and I already feel like I’m falling apart again.”I swing my legs off the bed and pus

Elena POV I barely sleep.Every time I close my eyes, I see the bar, I see julian’s face.The way he stood at my table like he owned the ground beneath us, the way he said my name, low and demanding, the way I turned him down.My heart jumps every time I remember it, a mix of pride and fear.Because I something in my mind tells me Julian Stone isn’t the type of man who forgets things easily.Especially not defiance.Especially not mine.When my alarm rings, I sit on my bed for a long moment, my hands pressed to my face.“Just survive today,” I whisper to myself.I get dressed, fix my hair, and go to work like I didn’t challenge a man who could destroy me with a sentence.At work, the lobby feels colder this morning.Maybe it’s me.Maybe it’s the dread crawling up my spine.When I take the elevator to the last floor, my palms are already sweating.I reach my desk and sit down carefully, placing my bag beside me.His office door is closed.Good.Maybe he’s not in yet.I turn on my comp