BOOK 3: Claimed By Winter - the golden ticket

Chapter 1 - the golden ticketRosie pov “Mom!”I groaned, quickening my pace to keep up with my mother. She was practically vibrating with excitement, a wide, ear-to-ear grin plastered on her face as we pushed through the entrance of the Lawson mansion. I didn’t know why we were here. We didn’t belong here. Mr. Lawson was one of the most influential men in this town, and the lavish ball he was throwing was the event where the rich came to bask in their excess. I had been shocked when my mother came home with an invitation, acting like it was a golden ticket. I’d eyed her suspiciously the time, telling her it wasn’t possible for people like us—from the lower side of town—to be invited to a Lawson party, but she’d shut me off and told me harshly to behave.I knew my mother better than anyone. She always had a desperate thing for the wealthy, nursing this deep-seated, simmering jealousy toward them, always looking for a way to claw her way into their circles. But a lower-class life alw

Last Updated : 2026-07-17

With a stranger

Chapter 2 -with a strangerRosie povI had been walking for what felt like hours now. I didn't even know where I was going. My legs felt like a wobbly mess, struggling to keep my balance against the carpet. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake the haze clouding my head, but the effort only made my skull throb worse. The music from the party downstairs had faded into a faint, distant vibration, but my head was pounding in rhythm with my frantic heartbeat.I didn't even know the way back. It felt like the corridor was never-ending, the doors blurring side to side, swaying and confusing in my vision. I just wanted the spinning to stop. My mother had said the second floor, yeah, the second floor. I held up my hands to count my fingers, but I started giggling because the numbers didn't seem to stay still — they were dancing right in front of my face."Calm down," I muttered to myself, forcing my hands to stop shaking as I stretched my fingers out to count again, but the numbers wouldn't follo

Last Updated : 2026-07-17

Interlude I

Interlude IJude's POV“Bang!”The sound of a gun cracked through the late-night air, and the man in front of me groaned in agony, his body hitting the ground with a thud. He began to beg, babbling apologies that meant nothing to me. I stalked towards him, head tilted, my eyes tracing the blood trailing from his wound. He tried to scramble away, his hands clawing at the concrete, but I brought my heel down hard on his leg. A sickening pop echoed as bone shattered beneath my boot, and the man’s scream ripped through the silence.I lowered my head, yanking his hair back so I could stare into his fear-stricken face. It was the look they all wore when they finally realised who they were dealing with—The Frost. Unforgiving. Ruthless.“Betrayal is unforgivable. That is the first rule,” I enunciated, my voice cold and detached, my face blank. I could never tolerate betrayal, no matter how they begged for mercy. He had betrayed the Umbra organisation, intercepting a shipment worth millions be

Last Updated : 2026-07-18

Damaged Good

Chapter 3 - Damaged GoodRosie povTwo months later.I paced the cramped floor of my room, my heart hammering against my ribs while I waited for the pregnancy test to prove me wrong. I had missed two months of my period, and the constant fatigue had been affecting my daily life until a coworker joked that I was pregnant, and that was when everything clicked.I had never been with a man except for that one night at the Lawson party, but I couldn't remember anything past the haze. I didn't even know his face: I had just run away, terrified, and scrubbed my skin raw the second I got home, desperate to wash away the feeling of him. I had convinced myself that if I never spoke of it, the night would eventually cease to exist. But when the reminder I’d set on my phone finally rang, my body jolted as I stared at the plastic stick on my bed. Two lines. A sickening dread settled in my gut.No, that couldn’t be. I couldn’t be pregnant by a man whose name and face I didn’t know. A drunk mistak

Last Updated : 2026-07-18

Red Wedding.

Chapter 4 - Red Wedding. Rosie povToday was my wedding day. I was getting married against my will.I swallowed hard, keeping my head tilted back to ensure the tears wouldn’t split and stain the thick layer of makeup they’d plastered onto my face or the emotions choking me, but I couldn't let them out—not with the team of women parading around me, watching my every move and correcting me to be an ‘obedient wife to her husband’. They had been here for a week, fitting me into dresses and bathing me in products I’d never thought I would ever use in my life.I didn't think I could go along with this arrangement. My mother was a force to be reckoned with. I had tried to run away twice, but Mr. Lawson’s men had dragged me back home before I could even run far, and I let out a humorless laugh, remembering how easy it was to catch me. And my mother, worried about losing her ticket to a higher class, had slapped me hard before locking me in my room for a full day.After the final touch of mak

Last Updated : 2026-07-19

To the Island.

Chapter 5 - To the Island.Rosie povI don’t know how the wedding ceremony went, but I knew I got married to the man that crashed my wedding and killed my groom in a blurry haze. I got stuck with a man I knew not, the man who had just painted the church floor red while I was whisked away to a helicopter. After he had gestured to the priest, who had fumbled for a moment, his hands shaking as he held the bible to his chest, before he regained his composure and finished the vows as if he had experienced something like this a dozen times before. The crowd remained seated, the air thick with muffled, terrified noise, but no one dared to protest. I couldn't even recall if I had said "I do" or if my voice had failed me again. I just stared at the spot where Mr. Lawson had been standing, haunted by how quickly life had left him—how his face had opened in a silent "oh" before his lively, predatory eyes turned dull and vacant in a heartbeat. The memory made me heave, my stomach clenching as if