Mutual Unscramble

I gave up a vast fortune to be with my boyfriend Terrence. In our poorest days, we didn't even have a single grain of rice at home. Terrence went out to fight in underground rings, never surrendering once even when he was beaten black and blue. With his blood and sweat, he paved the path to our future brick by brick. In the present, his name was uttered with an undeniable tone of respect, while I was known far and wide as his missus, the woman he treasured above anyone or anything. One year, when I left the country because of a family emergency, I learned that he even started seeing a therapist due to separation anxiety. Everyone said that Terrence loved me more than life itself, and I had believed it too, wholeheartedly. Until I stood on our balcony, watching him tightly embracing another woman in the villa next door. "Even though Tanya is back, the very thought of losing you makes me lose control… I can't live without you, Mia… "If any other men ever appear by your side, I might just end up killing them…" His voice was a low rumble, tinged with a sort of unconscious madness. "B-But what about your wife? Didn't you say that she means more to you than your own life?" "Well, we just have to keep this hidden better, don't we? I want to always be with you…" My hand trembled, and I accidentally cut my hand with the fruit knife I was holding, but I felt no pain at all. To think that just one year apart was enough to shatter thirty years of love and mutual support… With trembling hands, I picked up my phone and called my mother. "Mom, I'm feeling homesick… Can you get me a new identity and a one-way ticket out of the country?"

“But listen to me.” His voice lower, filled with hunger. “When those six months are over, if he doesn’t choose you—if you realize he can’t love you the way I do—you’re mine. I won’t hold back anymore. I won’t watch you waste yourself on him. I’ll come for you with everything I have. Every weapon. Every ounce of desire. Every piece of me that already belongs to you.” My chest tightened. “And when that time comes,” he growled, his face so close I felt his breath on my lips, “I won’t let you run. I will never let you go because you’ll be mine, wholly down to your soul. There will be no escape. Six months, sweetheart. That’s all the freedom you get. After that—” His lips brushed my ear. “—you’re mine. Whether you like it or not.” **** Elise thought her life was finally falling into place. She turned down her father’s company to work as executive assistant to Marcus Grey—the boy she’s loved since childhood, now the powerful CEO she’s devoted her life to. But when Marcus proposes to another woman, Elise’s world crumbles. Then comes Sebastian Deluca, Marcus’s tattooed, ruthless, long-estranged brother. He’s everything Marcus isn’t: dangerous, magnetic, and determined to take back his place in New York. But, there's something odd about him. Something changed since he arrived. Tied by secrets and mutual desire to expose Marcus’s fiancée, Elise and Sebastian form an alliance. But as sparks ignite between them, Elise must choose: remain loyal to the boy she thought she loved, or risk everything for the man who sees her as more than a shadow. Some loves are safe. Others are consuming. Which one will she survive?