Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

An hour later, Mike pulled into the private garage of the lounge. He rushed to the trunk,retrieved the wheelchair, and positioned it carefully. With steady efficiency, he helped Tardrain out of the car.The lounge felt unnervingly calm. Only a handful of people moved around, and even they did so quietly, as if this location didn't truly exist in the world. The place was undeniably classy, every corner was neat, and deliberate. The building itself stood magnificent, modern lines blended with understated luxury.Ivana slowly scanned the surrounding ‘Why are we here?’ She wondered. ‘Is he having some kind of secret meeting?’Tardrain turned slightly towards Mike. “You can wait here and await my orders,” he muttered.“Okay, sir,” Mike replied, bowing slightly before returning to the car as instructed..Moments later, Diego emerged hurriedly from the entrance, clearly expecting them. He rushed forward, then slowed abruptly when his eyes landed on Ivana. His gaze narrowed with suspicion as

.The room was transformed, and everything was red. Red petals were scattered across the floor, and the curtains had been changed to deep crimson silk that draped elegantly from the ceiling to floor. Even the bed duvet had been replaced with a rich red spread, carefully arranged with a heart shaped petals at the center.On the bed lay several neatly wrapped gift boxes of different sizes, each tied with ribbons. And in the corner of the room, there was a small round table with two chairs facing each other. On the table there were plates of her favorite dishes, white rice and chicken.Ivana stood frozen at the doorway.Her eyes slowly scanned everywhere. The flower petals, the gifts, the effort. She was completely speechless.“Is he….celebrating something?’ she wondered silently, stepping further into the room, her heels stepping softly on the petals. Her gaze drifted to the tv, that was when she saw it.Two couples were passionately making out on the screen, the volume was turned up

“Ehm… mhmm.” He cleared his throat, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I have cleared just two people.”“Just two?” Her eyes slowly widened, voice rising in shock. It sounded insane. Like..after all the money she’d been sending, huge amounts and just only two people had been paid?Davis nodded, casually. “Yeah, babe. The money didn’t go far. It was too little.”“Little?” Her voice dropped, almost a whisper, full of disbelief. “What happened to all the money Lilico gave the first time she came to see me?” she asked, finally voicing out the question that had been eating at her for days now.Davis swallowed hard. His eyes darted away for a second, nervously. “I used some of it to clear our rent… and I bought a few new clothes for myself.”Ivana let out a short, bitter scoff. Her boyfriend never stopped surprising her, and not in a good way this time. “Paying rent is understandable… but new clothes? That wouldn’t even cost much. So where’s the rest of the money?”Davis shot up from h

Ivana walked up the staircase that led to Tardrain’s room, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her sweatpants. Each step felt heavier than the last. When she finally reached the top, she stopped right in front of his door, heart thudding loud.She stood there, frozen, running every possible scenario in her head. So many thoughts crashed together at once.‘Will he be furious that I left the restaurant and never came back home?’ The question looped, sharp and guilty. She shook her head quickly, side to side, trying to push it away, but her mind was already a complete jumbled mess, exhaustion, hurt from Davis, dread about Tardrain all tangled up.She pulled her phone out of her pocket, glanced at the screen and saw that it was 10 p.m. Tardrain was probably asleep by now. Part of her hoped he was, while another part of her dreaded facing him even more if he wasn’t.She didn’t knock. Instead she reached for the handle, twisted it gently, slow, careful, trying not to make a single sound.

Mrs. Gladdis stepped fully into the room, the door clicking shut behind her. Her fists were clenched so tight, as she crossed the space in three deliberate strides and stopped onto the edge of the bed. She fixed her eyes on Tardrain.She stared at him down, from his hair, over the loose white shirt still clinging slightly from the shower, all the way to his bare feet resting on the wheelchair footrests. Hate rolled off her in waves, thick and suffocating. Every second she looked at him, the anguish in her chest swelled bigger, hotter. It was getting harder, so fucking hard, to wake up every day knowing he was still breathing under her roof.The fake-marriage lie had worked like a charm so far. Everyone believed Ivana was his wife, the perfect shield to keep the Tardrain away from the inheritance. But this man? He wouldn’t stop. Even when everyone thought he didn't care, his eyes still tracked every property, every account, every piece of his father’s empire like it still belonged to