Chapter: 5. Who is She?!Anne woke up to sunlight on her face. The ceiling was unfamiliar…tis wasn't her apartment. She thought darkly.She sat up quickly. Her head pounded. She looked down at herself. Still wearing the black dress from last night. Even her shoes were on.The bedroom was huge. Where was she?Anne stood up slowly. Her legs shook but they worked. She remembered pieces of last night. The club! The man who drugged her and stranger who saved her…and the car!Her face burned hot. She remembered climbing into his lap. Trying to unbuckle his belt.“I could die of embarrassment right now” she muttered to herself.She walked out into a massive living room. The penthouse was empty. On the kitchen counter was a note in sharp handwriting.(You deserve better.)Her purse was there too. Her phone was inside with a cracked screen and seventeen missed calls from Donald.The phone rang in her hand showing Donald’s name in the caller ID.Anne answered."Anne! Oh thank God. Where have you been? I've been calling
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-26
Chapter: 4. The Hot StrangerSophie Laurent showed up at Anne's apartment three days later with a bottle of tequila and a plan."We're going out," Sophie said.Anne was on the couch in sweatpants. She'd been there since the engagement dinner. Her phone was still lost. She hadn't bothered to replace it."I don't want to go out," Anne said."I don't care what you want," Sophie said. She pulled Anne off the couch. "You've been crying for three days over a man who isn't worth your tears. Tonight, we forget Donald Ashford exists.""Sophie…""No arguments. Come on babe…wear something hot."Anne didn't have the energy to fight so she agreed in the end.She showered and put on a black dress that Sophie pulled from her closet. It was tight and short."Perfect," Sophie said. "Now let's go."The club they went to was called VIBE. The place was packed with extremely loud music.Sophie ordered shots at the bar."To being single," Sophie said, raising her glass."I'm not single yet," Anne said. "Technically.""Your father call
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-26
Chapter: 3. The Engagement DinnerAnne woke up in the hotel room at noon.Her body ached. Her eyes were swollen from crying. Her cheek still hurt where Donald had slapped her.She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looked terrible. Her hair was tangled and her eyes were red with a faint mark on her left cheek.She splashed water on her face and tried to remember what she was supposed to do today.Then it dawned on her that today was her engagement dinner. Her father had made her plan months ago. It would be a formal dinner to celebrate the engagement with both families before the wedding next month. Also, to reveal who she truly was to Donald because he hated the secrecy.Anne's stomach dropped.She had no phone. No way to cancel. No way to call Donald and tell him not to come.Not that she wanted him there anymore.But her father didn't know what happened. He didn't know about the slap or Hannah or any of it.Anne sat on the edge of the bed.She could skip it. Just not show up.But her father would worry.
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-26
Chapter: 2. A Loud SlapAnne looked at the message for a long time before getting up and leaving the restaurant.She knew where Hannah lived. It was the biggest apartment in the best area with the expensive view that her dad paid for. She was halfway there when it started to rain. At first, it was only a light drizzle, but then it got worse. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up, but she didn't care. She just sped up. She finally got outside of Hannah's building. She went straight to the elevator after she found a place to park.“Miss you can't go in there!”“Stop, miss!”The doorman tried to stop her but she walked past him. Coming face to face to the door she knocked so hard her knuckles threatened to crack and after a few seconds it opened up.Donald stood there with his shirt wrinkled up. His eyes went wide when he saw her."Anne? What are you…""Move!" Anne said.She pushed past him into the apartment.Hannah was on the couch. She was still in those pajamas from the photo. Her hair was down. She looke
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-26
Chapter: 1. Happy Sad Birthday!Anne woke up at six in the morning even though today was her twenty sixth birthday.She slipped out of the bed quietly so she would not wake Donald. The house was silent except for the sound of her footsteps on the cold tiles as she made her way to the kitchen.Anne always made him breakfast every morning. Today she was making it extra fancy. She added candles to the plate of the toast. In the process of putting the finishing touches, she heard the door open and Donald walked in."Good morning," Anne said, smiling sweetly. "I made your favorite."Donald walked past her to the coffee machine. He was already on his phone, scrolling through something. His hair was still wet from the shower."Morning," he said, not sparing her a single glance.Anne watched him pour coffee into his mug. He hadn't touched the breakfast nor had he seen the candles yet."Donald," she said softly. "It's my birthday."He glanced at her briefly, stopping to stare at her for a brief second. Then his eyes went bac
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-01-26
Chapter: 124 SweetJett’s grandfather had rented an entire luxury motor yacht for the weekend, insisting to anyone within earshot that it was just going to be a small, casual family gathering.Naturally, the Mercer definition of a "small, casual gathering" turned out to mean a hundred-and-twenty-foot triple-deck vessel, twelve full-time crew members, and a private executive chef plating pan-seared scallops on the aft deck before we even set sail from the marina."This is not small, Mercer," I said, standing near the teak wood railing, taking in the mahogany accents, the shaded sun loungers, and the white-gloved staff moving effortlessly around us."He doesn't understand the word," Jett said, stepping up beside me in a crisp linen shirt and dark sunglasses, holding two tall glasses of sparkling water with lemon. "It's genuinely not in his vocabulary. If he orders a light sandwich, three catering trays arrive."Sophia materialized at my right shoulder like a beautiful, champagne-toting ghost, already
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Chapter: 123. The Insurance money arrivesARDENThe lawyer called on a Tuesday morning at half past nine, his voice formal, dry, and entirely devoid of drama."The policy's ready to be claimed, Ms. Steele. All the verification checks have cleared with the underwriter. Whenever you can come in, we can finalize the paperwork."I gripped my coffee mug a little tighter, looking across the kitchen island at Jett, who was reading through a sheaf of financial documents while sipping his tea."This afternoon works," I told the lawyer. "I can be at your office by two.""Perfect. I'll have the transfer authorization documents set out."I hung up and set my phone on the granite counter. Jett looked up instantly, his dark eyes taking in my expression before I even had a chance to speak."Was that the estate attorney?" he asked gently."Yes. The policy payouts are ready to be executed," I said, letting out a small breath. "I'm going over to sign the final releases this afternoon."Jett set his pen down without hesitation. "I'm co
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Chapter: 122. The Rooftop Date IICHAPTER 121: THE ROOFTOP DATEARDENMy breath hitched in my throat. I reached up, resting my palms against his wet, solid chest, feeling the heavy, steady thud of his heart under my fingertips. "Jett..."He didn't kiss me—not yet. He just leaned down, pressing a lingering, warm kiss to the sensitive junction where my neck met my shoulder, making a soft sigh escape my lips before he gently took my hand and led me back toward the dry sand.We collapsed onto our oversized beach towels, breathless, salt-dried, and completely unbothered by anything in the world beyond that stretch of sand.By mid-afternoon, we walked up the stone path to the private cliffside villa Jett had booked for the night. The property was breath-taking—an open-concept timber and glass villa perched over the ocean, surrounded by lush hibiscus and private infinity pools.We showered off the salt water, changed into comfortable linen clothes, and spent the late afternoon playing cards on the shaded wrap-around po
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Chapter: 121. The Rooftop DateARDEN"Pack a bag," Jett said over the phone late Friday night. His voice was low, smooth, and laced with that quiet, late-night gravel that always sent a subtle shiver down my spine.I leaned back against my pillows, twisting a strand of hair around my finger. "Something light? Or am I dressing for corporate survival?""Something light," he murmured. "We're not staying in the city tomorrow.""Where are we going, Jett?""You'll see."He picked me up at precisely seven the next morning. I stepped out of my apartment building in a simple summer dress and a light cardigan, carrying a small weekender bag. But instead of turning toward the highway or taking the familiar coastal road out of town, his black town car took the expressway straight toward a private airfield on the northern edge of the city.The car rolled smoothly onto the tarmac, coming to a stop beside a sleek, white mid-sized private jet. A flight crew of two was already waiting near the base of the stairs, crisp in th
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Chapter: 120. Lucas Starts RealizingLUCASRita was lazily scrolling through her phone on the couch while Lucas worked on his laptop at the coffee table, when she suddenly sat up straight. Her eyes widened, her manicured fingers freezing on the screen."Oh my god," she breathed out. "Lucas, look at this.""What?" Lucas asked without looking up from his spreadsheet, his mind buried in work. "Another startup investment?""No," Rita said, her voice rising with a strange, breathless intensity. She turned the glowing screen toward him. "Look at this right now."It was a social media post from a high-profile business news page—a crisp, high-resolution photograph of Jett Mercer at a lavish corporate gala. He was wearing a impeccably tailored dark suit, standing amidst the city’s top elite, with a glowing caption below celebrating him as the youngest chairman in Mercer Industries' history."I knew it," Rita muttered, her thumb rapidly scrolling down through the comment section, then tapping over to a related post in the
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Chapter: 119. A Karmic CircleLUCASRita’s crypto token had doubled in value yet again by the time she finally sold off her holdings, transferring the entire sum straight into private equity shares for an early-stage tech startup her anonymous contact had flagged months ago.Lucas had asked about buying into the deal himself once—just a modest amount from his own savings to catch a piece of the momentum—and Rita had shut him down instantly. She told him the company had already closed its investment window to new buyers. Only the early investors who were already inside the loop, like her, were permitted to keep adding to their existing position.So he was forced to watch from the outside.Every evening, the number in her portfolio app kept climbing, flashing green, and there wasn't a single thing Lucas could personally do about it except sit beside her and watch her grow richer by the day while his own financial standing remained completely stagnant."It went up another eight percent this week," Rita said one
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-31
Masuk
