บททั้งหมดของ Fool Me Once, and I Never Forgive: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 9

“Yep, Mr. Mercer dropped him off two days ago.” The owner sounded perfectly normal.“Please don’t let anyone take him. I’m on my way right now.” He agreed without hesitation.I took a shortcut and floored it to the boarding place. I ran inside. The kennel door was open and there was no sign of the owner.“You haven’t changed a bit, have you? Still the same gullible little girl.”Ashley’s voice made my whole body go rigid.My face was different, my name was different, and yet she’d still found me.“Does this dog remind you of the one you lost when you were ten?”“I had Lucas find him for you. As a gift.”She had Buddy in a death grip and he was trembling all over. I spotted the macadamia nuts in her hand and lunged.When Buddy was two months old, he’d almost died after eating nuts.The second I had him, she leaned in close and whispered, “The dog you lost when you were ten, the way it screamed when it died? That sound was something else.” While I was still reeling, she kicked me into th

Eight o’clock. Half an hour until the announcement ceremony.The ballroom was packed. I scanned the room. Every major East Coast family was represented, including the four from the afternoon. I walked in on Ethan White’s arm, all in black.The crowd converged immediately. One by one they produced business cards, careful and deferential, extending them to the White heir, the man who rarely showed his face despite the family’s standing alongside the Harlows.“Sofia. The hell are you doing here?” Lucas’s voice was low and tense. He was rattled until his eyes landed on the man beside me, and a flicker of excitement replaced it.“She’s with me,” said Ethan White quietly.Lucas pivoted smoothly to full warmth. “Mr. White, she’s my ex. She’s been running a scheme and she’ll drag your name into it if you let her. She threatened to kill herself to force me to marry her. She hurt a dog. It’s everywhere online, take ten seconds and look. Please don’t let her ruin this evening or taint the White n

The next day, clips from the Harlow family ceremony swept across Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Lucas Mercer became a meme, and the internet was dragging him from every angle. People showed up at his office and his apartment throwing paint and dumping trash. Security blocked wave after wave and still couldn’t stop them all.Meanwhile, Ashley’s story was being kept off the front page. Before the verdict, I wasn’t going to let the press anywhere near it. Nothing could go sideways.The best news was that Buddy woke up. He couldn’t run yet, but his eyes were bright. He nudged his nose into my palm the way he always had, small and warm and persistent.The fake dog abuse video was confirmed as a deepfake, and cease and desist letters were already in Lucas’s inbox. Once I’d cleared the loose ends, I walked toward the conference room. Today was my first company-wide meeting as head of the Harlow Group.The MC finished the introduction and applause came from the floor. I was reaching for the

I got out of the car.Ethan White held out a single white page. “Jay and I got married in Iceland last month. Until I become head of the White family, I’d rather not make it complicated.”His voice was formal. His grip on Jay’s hand was not.I photographed the marriage certificate and gave a small nod. “Thank you for being straight with me. No issues on my end. Looking forward to the partnership.”I extended my hand. Jay took it first. A brief, startled silence, and then Jay smiled and said in slightly accented English: “Pleasure working with you!”The two of them exchanged a few low words. Ethan White’s ears went red. I made a tactful retreat to my car, and something tight in my chest let go.After this, the Calloway family would never recover. Ashley’s father had escaped for now, but I hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to my mother’s family. That account was still open.I pressed the gas and headed back to the office. Today was the rescheduled all-hands meeting. I got out of the elevat