All Chapters of The True Heiress, His Worst Nightmare: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The slap landed hard.Tessa didn’t hesitate when she struck him. The moment his lips forced against hers, something in her reacted instinctively, violently rejecting him.Her palm connected with his cheek, sharp and clean.Curtis’s head snapped to the side from the impact, his body tilting slightly with the force. For a second, everything went still. The hallway, already quiet, seemed to grow even too quiet, as if the air itself had paused to witness the moment.Tessa took a step back immediately after, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to steady her breathing. Her lips trembled slightly from anger, from disgust, from the sheer audacity of what he had just done. Her eyes burned as she stared at him, her entire posture radiating resistance.Curtis remained still for a moment, his face turned away from her.Then slowly, he straightened.His hand came up to his cheek, brushing over the spot where her palm had struck him. The sting lingered, but it wasn’t the pain that hel

The conference room at Ecofel was filled with quiet anticipation.It was one of those sleek, glass-walled rooms that reflected power and ambition, the kind designed to impress both employees and visiting partners. The long polished table stretched across the center, surrounded by high-backed chairs occupied by members of the design and strategy team. All females. Files were neatly arranged, tablets lit up, and the large screen at the front displayed a presentation slide with bold letters.Lauren sat at the head of the table.Filled with confident. Poised.In control.“The international group BlueSky is seeking a partnership with a jewelry company,” she said, her voice steady but laced with excitement. Her eyes moved across the room, making sure she had everyone’s attention. “This is not just any opportunity. This is the kind of collaboration that can push Ecofel into a completely different level.”A few heads nodded around the room.The weight of her words was not lost on anyone.

"I've rented a place near the company," Tessa said over the phone as she stepped out of her bedroom, her voice calm and stead. She walked slowly across the hallway, one hand holding the phone. The apartment was quiet around her. "Don't worry, okay? I just need somewhere closer for now. I'll be fine." She paused briefly as the person on the other end spoke, listening with her eyes slightly lowered, then nodded even though they couldn't see her. "Alright. I'll call you later. Bye."She ended the call and lowered the phone from her ear, letting out a quiet breath as she moved forward and then her body stiffened completely.A figure stood directly in front of her.So close that she hadn't registered his presence until she was nearly walking into him.The space between them was barely a step.Tessa gasped slightly, her heart lurching as she lifted her head and found Curtis's face.His expression was dark. Angry. Arranged into something unreadable in a way that immediately made every pa

Tessa walked slowly toward her desk, her heels making soft, steady sounds against the polished office floor as she flipped through the official file in her hands. Her eyes were focused, scanning through the designs she had carefully put together the night before. Each sketch carried not just effort but intent, every line drawn with precision, every detail reflecting her growing determination to reclaim her place in a world that had once pushed her aside without a second thought. She had learned, painfully, how to stay locked into her own purpose.Behind her, Melina Perez approached with a cup of coffee in her hand, her steps light but deliberate. There was something calculated in the way she moved, something that didn’t quite match the careless expression on her face. As she drew closer, her hand tilted just slightly, and before Tessa could react, the hot liquid spilled directly onto the open file.Tessa gasped sharply, her body stiffening as she stared down at the soaked pages.

Curtis walked toward Tessa with slow, deliberate steps, his presence cutting through the already tense atmosphere of the break area. His hands were tucked casually into his pockets, but there was nothing casual about the look in his eyes. It was a mixture of control, irritation, and something else he refused to name. By the time he reached her, Zoe had already stormed off, leaving behind whispers and curious glances from staff who quickly pretended to mind their business.He stopped just a short distance from Tessa, his gaze fixed on her face as though trying to read something deeper beneath her calm expression.“You can’t handle the project alone,” he said, his voice steady, almost dismissive, as though he was stating a fact rather than offering an opinion. He shifted his weight slightly, maintaining that air of authority he always carried. “If you plead with me, I’ll help you.”There was a brief pause, one that stretched just long enough to make it uncomfortable. Tessa looked a