[The First Lie]The silence in the penthouse was no longer the heavy, erotic stillness of their shared bed; it was the pressurized quiet of a bomb about to detonate. Ivy stood in the center of the room, the silk of her dress a mockery of the raw, jagged sensation cutting through her chest. She looked at Dante—his back still turned, his shoulders corded like iron—and felt the "Body Betrayal" turn into a sickening, cold poison."Say it again," Ivy whispered, her voice trembling with a lethal fragility. "Say you opened the door. Say you watched me run through the rain, terrified and hopeful, just so you could watch me fail."Dante turned slowly. The golden fire in his eyes hadn't dimmed, but it was now tempered by a dark, bruising honesty that was more sadistic than any physical blow. He didn't reach for her. He didn't offer a plea. He stood in his own truth, a king among ruins."I didn't just watch you fail, Ivy," he said, his voice a low, terrifying rasp. "I curated the failure. I made
Last Updated : 2026-01-21 Read more