Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE HOOKUP THAT RUINED ME: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

The night I caught my fiancé with my cousin, I was carrying the birthday cake I had made for him.I had decorated it after my shift at the perfume boutique in SoHo, piping careful white flowers around the edge because Daniel used to say I could make ordinary things beautiful. I had imagined him laughing when he saw it, pulling me into his arms, promising that the next year would be better than the last.I had not expected to find Vanessa in his apartment.The door stood half open. My cousin sat beside Daniel on the sofa, her fingers curled around his wrist and his mouth pressed to hers. Champagne waited on the coffee table beside a small velvet box.I knew that box. Two weeks earlier, Daniel had asked whether I preferred gold or silver. I had gone home that night and searched engagement rings until midnight, smiling at my phone like a fool.He kissed Vanessa again.The cake slipped in my hands. A little frosting smeared across the cardboard lid. I stared at that smear because it was e

He held my gaze after I told him I was staying. When the elevator doors opened, he led me down a quiet corridor to a suite overlooking the city. He unlocked the door and stepped aside so I could enter first. I was too aware of him standing behind me, waiting for me to decide whether the night would continue.No names. No promises. One night.He offered me his hand.The hours that followed belonged to us alone. He was patient when I grew quiet and drew me close when my nerves made me retreat. I had expected desire, not the comfort of being asked what I wanted.When he kissed me, he never treated my silence as permission. When I hesitated, he waited. I was not used to being given room to change my mind. With Daniel, even my smallest objections had become arguments I was expected to lose. Here, the silence held no demand. I could choose the next step without being punished for it, and that freedom made me brave enough to stay.Later, we lay beneath the sheets while Manhattan glittered th

I told myself I would not go to dinner.At six thirty, I stood before the cracked mirror in my Brooklyn apartment, choosing between two blouses. I settled on cream, then caught the faint scent of cedar on the fabric from the night before. One night, no names, no promises. Damian had already made those rules difficult to keep.My mother called while I searched for earrings."Elena, the hospital needs the surgery deposit by Friday," she said, with the familiar clatter of the bakery behind her. "I told them we are trying.""I got the job, Mama. Hart Group. Ninety thousand a year."Her delighted laugh warmed me. "My girl! I knew someone would see what you are worth.""I will make it work," I promised.At seven, I stood outside the penthouse, repeating that I had come because I wanted to see him. Not because he was rich. Not because he was my boss. Not because his message had made me smile all afternoon.Damian opened the door himself. No jacket, white shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows.

The next morning, I arrived at Hart Group determined to prove that a message had not changed anything.He was already in the office when I stepped out of the elevator. He looked up from a file, and his expression shifted when he saw me."Good morning, Elena.""Good morning.""I got your message last night.""That was not an invitation to discuss it in the hallway.""Understood. I will wait until you choose to discuss it."I buried myself in work, revising the presentation and sending updated figures to the team. Still, my attention kept drifting toward the man behind the glass.Around noon, Sade appeared beside my desk carrying two coffees and a paper bag.She opened the bag. The smell of warm pastry drifted between us. "Eat something before you turn into one of those people who survives on ambition and caffeine.""I had breakfast.""Coffee is not breakfast, Elena." She grinned. "Now, how was dinner?""How do you know about dinner?""My brother spent half the morning looking far too p

The morning we left for Boston, I told myself the trip was about work. I needed to prove I belonged at Hart Group for reasons beyond the night we had shared. Still, when Damian opened the passenger door for me, my heart reacted as if the gesture meant something. "You could have sent a driver," I said, settling my bag at my feet. "I could have." "But you came yourself." His eyes met mine. "Would you rather I had not?" "I would rather know what you want from me." "Then ask me when you are ready to hear the answer." We stopped once on the drive. Damian returned with coffee and a warm pastry from the bakery counter. He placed them beside me without a word. "You remembered," I said. "I remember what matters to you." For the first time, I wondered whether the man who controlled entire boardrooms could remember a small preference without expecting anything back. By noon, we were inside the Boston conference room. I had prepared the campaign presentation carefully, but the senior e