Alle Kapitel von Ruin Me Once, Twice The Regret: Kapitel 11 – Kapitel 20

LAURAThe charity gala had been moving quite well. Greetings were exchanged across tables. Soft music, champagne and canapes helped me unwind after a busy day at work. But the whole time, I felt quite uncomfortable. Like someone was watching me. Harlan kept me entertained enough with his jokes to not have me paranoid. “Who wears a corset like that to an event and makes a face? I mean, you knew there’s no way you’d get comfortable!”I hid my chuckle behind my palms, because the woman he was shading was just a few tables away from ours. “You’re a menace, Harlan. Who would believe so with that face of yours?” He lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug, grinning. “It’s just a hilarious sight. I can't ignore it. Plus,” his gaze darkened as they burned into my lips, “I'm no angel.”He was beginning to make it more obvious, his interest in me. But that seemed to be as far as he was willing to go. Subtle-flirt with me until I lose my goddamn mind. It was not until the host mentioned a

LAURA“Tristan, what are you doing?” Madison’s harsh whisper was loud enough to get a few heads turning in our direction. Making the whole thing an actual scene. The uniformed staff placed the box in Tristan's hands and stepped forward, a forlorn expression on his face. “Laura, I want you to have this.”I stared at it for a long moment, too dumbfounded to speak. A number of emotions swirled in my chest. Anger, pain, confusion, excitement. But I did not take the box from him. Instead, I let out a nervous chuckle. “What is this? You can't just.. you don’t…”“I insist.” He thrust the box forward gently, no pressure, but the pressure was definitely there in his heated gaze. “You'll know when you open it. No one would know it better.”The last words set off a burning flame in my chest. Because suddenly…I knew what this ‘gift’ was. And maybe, Madison just figured it out too. Because she grew so red I feared she might explode into huge chunks of rage. “Tristan!” Ignoring her, Tristan t

LAURAIt was such a narrow escape. Tristan almost saw my son. What was he doing here, anyway?“What is this?” I demanded in a harsh voice as he got close. “Are you really stalking me?!”Something flashed in his eyes. Heat. Anger. Longing. I wasn't sure which. And i hated how it sent a thrill racing through my veins. “I was in the area for a business meeting. Then I saw you and I thought I'd say hello.”I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. “For goodness’ sake, Tristan! Just stop, okay?”His lips curved in the faintest hint of a smile. “See? It's not so hard to say my name.”“Just stop it!” I screamed so hard people around turned to look at us. I did not care in the moment. “You can't keep doing this. You can't say hello. You can't walk up to me and try to act like we're cool, because we're not!”He frowned and stepped closer. “Did something happen?” Was he daft or just persistent? I hated myself for being so vulnerable at the moment. It made it easy, losing my cool in front of hi

LAURAI was at Phoenix fashion house by the next two hours, struggling to unstrap my seatbelt when a vicious rap came down on my car window. Glancing up, Mara stood there with a scowl, looking fabulous in a teal silk shirt and glossy lips. Her honey blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun that still somehow looked attractive. It was the best thing I loved about her features. Her hair. Sometimes I wished I had it instead of my tangly ginger curls. As soon as I got out of the car, she pounced on me with her endless questions. “What happened? Why the hell did you not run away from him when you ‘bumped’ into him?” I rolled my eyes at her dramatic inverted comma gesture as I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat. “Let's not get into all that, Mara. We should be thinking about damage control. What's happening? Any real damages yet?” It was safe and necessary asking Mara this, because she was the Chief Operating Officer of my brand. It was her job to know these things, and heck, she did

TRISTANIt took the perseverance of building a multibillion dollar enterprise from scratch to not throw my fist in Mr. Steele’s face or give him a piece of my mind from how hot it boiled at the moment. I was not scared of the man. Neither was I scared of losing his investment. He was an asshole who was only good for yelling his nondescript opinions at board meetings and infusing chaos where not necessary. He was my fiancée’s father, and that was another reason why I wasn't walking him out of my office right now. “Answer me!” I leaned forward, eyes smarting. “I think you're getting the wrong idea here, Mr. Steele. No one’s threatening you.”“That better be right.” He snatched up the seat on the other end of the desk and sank into it. “Now tell me what this is.” He slid his phone across the desk, eyeing me closely. I ignored the phone and fixed my gaze on his face instead. “Respectfully, you have been absent from the recent board meetings. I can't expect you to know that we've been