Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Party The Laurent family estate sat alone at the top of a private hill, like it thought it was too good to share real estate with the rest of us. The only way up was a winding mountain road that made my stomach do backflips. Lately,
Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Clean Slate After work, I crashed Yvaine’s shoot. She was wrapping up a final round of photos for some artsy indie boutique no one’s heard of but everyone pretends to love. When she finally changed out of a chainmail minidress and stilettos, we hit one of
Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Office Nemesis ‘A what now?’ My brain did a double take and tripped over its own feet. Savannah’s grin widened. ‘That necklace you designed? The one Eliza Black wore on the red carpet last week? It blew up. Press coverage, socials, even one of those trashy
Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Almost Said Yes I stood in the shower like a soggy pretzel, hoping the scalding water would burn the confusion out of my skull. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. Ashton’s words kept looping: ‘Let’s get married for real p> Excuse me? Was I concussed? Had I slipped
Chapter 18 Chapter 18 One Step Further ‘You alright p> His voice snapped me out of my mental spiral. ‘What?’ I blinked at him, brain still buffering. Ashton gave me a quick side glance. ‘Earlier. At the hospital. Did he… hurt you p> ‘You mean Rhys?’ I said. ‘No p>
Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Ashton’s POV: Cut the Pretence Ashton was scanning the hallway when the stairwell door flew open and Mirabelle barrelled out. She looked furious. Gorgeous, obviously-but furious. And then, like a nasty aftertaste, Rhys Granger followed her out. Ashton’s jaw tightened. He’d never met the guy in
Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Hare-brained Idea But instead of throwing a punch, Rhys took a deep breath and said, ‘We need to talk p> I relaxed fractionally and plonked myself down on a bench in the waiting area. I wasn’t going anywhere till Aunt Louisa came out of surgery. If
Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Emergency Room My head jerked up. I recognised Ashton. My ridiculously attractive neighbour. ‘I think… someone I know might’ve been in an accident.’ I swallowed my rising panic. ‘I need to get to the Grangers p> The second I got enough brain cells online to function,
Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Crash I answered the call. ‘Louisa…’ I sounded sheepish, even to myself. I could ghost Rhys with no regrets, but Louisa was a different story. She’d always treated me like family-sometimes more than my actual family did-and I couldn’t bring myself to be cruel to her.
Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Runaway Libido The hallway outside was still pitch black, so I used my phone’s torch to sweep the walls like I was on a ghost-hunting show. Eventually found the storage room, which was basically a hoarder’s fever dream. Tools, nails, screws, boxes-an entire DIY graveyard dumped
Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Blackout That stopped me. Just for a second. Louisa Granger. The only member of that genetically cursed family I’d actually liked. She used to call me her ‘darling girl’ and meant it. She remembered my birthday. She bought me books I actually read. She once told
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Evicted ‘Shut it, Rhys,’ I snapped. ‘You know damn well why I broke things off. So do us all a favour and back off p> He clocked the death grip I had on the wine bottle and caught the look in my eyes-the same look that
Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Fake Engagement ‘Fake, of course.’ I caught the faintest trace of a smile as he answered. ‘And arranged partnerships for mutual benefit happen more often than you think. We’re just skipping the dinner dates and going straight to the paperwork p> And then he gestured for
Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Let’s Make a Deal I stopped outside his door, took a deep breath like I was about to skydive without a parachute, and knocked. No going back now. Not unless I fancied throwing myself down the stairwell. The door swung open almost immediately, leaving me zero
Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Threats I blinked. Then snorted. ‘You’ve officially lost the plot. You’re pimping me out to a man who looks like he gets senior citizen discounts p> ‘Don’t be dramatic,’ Mum snapped, though her voice stayed polished and posh. ‘If you won’t marry Rhys, you’ll have to
Chapter 7 But it was decent. Stable. And for now—safe. Well… until it no longer existed. “Mira p> My boss, Benny, greeted me like I was his parole officer—nervous, sweaty, probably two seconds away from peeing his pants. He was in his forties, wore a man bun that did no
Chapter 6 I don’t even remember how I got out of that house. All I had was one single, sharp conclusion echoing through my head— I must not be their daughter. And I had to find out the truth. It was the only explanation I could cling to—because otherwise, how
Chapter 5 “We need to talk p> He stood in front of me, voice disturbingly calm—like he was announcing the fridge had broken, not that I had thrown him onto a bed the night before. Talk? My brain instantly began filtering keywords. Talk about what? A debrief? A review? Or
Chapter 4 As soon as they were gone, Ivanna dragged me out of the club. Damn it. I hated that Katherine had predicted every single thought running through my mind. Yes, I had still been considering salvaging my relationship with Rhys. But now? The truth was right there, unmistakable and
Chapter 3 “Is this really necessary?” I stood at the end of the line, shivering, tugging desperately at the hem of my tragically short skirt. I could practically feel it—if I opened my mouth to speak, my underwear would be on full display. “Sweetheart, we paid a fortune to get