Novels by Tesslane

THE MOVEELENA'S POVSophia arrives at my old apartment at eight in the morning carrying two extra-large coffees and a box of croissants and wearing the expression she gets when she has several things to say and is deciding the order in which to say them.She sets everything on the kitchen counter, she looks at me. "You signed a contract marriage," she says. "With Lucien Blackwood.""Yes.""The man who is your ex-husband's uncle.""Yes.""The man who is also the father of the baby you are currently pregnant with.""Yes.""The same stranger from the hotel.""Yes."She picks up her coffee, she stares at me over the lid for a long moment. "Okay," she says."That's it? Okay?""Elena, I have been your best friend for eleven years." She tears a croissant in half with the focused energy of someone channeling strong feelings into pastry. "I watched Adrian Blackwood treat you like something he'd bought and wasn't happy with for three years while I tried very hard not to drive to that mansion a

THE CONTRACTELENA'S POVThe paper sits on the desk between us like a living thing, and I have read it three times now, which means I have read every word of it three times and I still cannot quite make it feel real.Gerald Marsh, my lawyer, has spread four pages of dense legal text across the polished mahogany surface of Lucien's dining room table. He is a neat man in his early sixties with silver reading glasses and the particular patient voice of someone who has spent a long career delivering complicated news to people who were not ready to hear it. He arrived forty minutes ago and has been walking me through clause by clause, which is the correct and professional thing to do, and which I deeply wish he would stop.Lucien stands at the window with his back to both of us, one hand resting in his trouser pocket, watching the city below. The afternoon light cuts across the room in long flat lines. He has barely spoken since Gerald arrived. He signed the draft last night and had it sen

The UncleElena’s POVI never thought I would step inside the Blackwood mansion again.Yet there I was, standing before the towering iron gates that had once welcomed me as Adrian Blackwood’s wife.Now they opened for me without warmth.The security guard barely looked at me before pressing the button.The gates slowly parted.I tightened my grip on my handbag and walked inside.Every step felt heavier than the last.For three years, I had called this place home.Now it felt like I was visiting the grave of my marriage.The butler met me at the front entrance. Unlike everyone else in the family, Mr. Harris had always been kind to me.“I’m sorry, Mrs…”He stopped himself.His face fell.“I’m sorry… Miss Vale.”I forced a smile.“It’s all right.”No.It wasn’t all right.Hearing my maiden name after three years felt strange.Painful.As if the last three years had never happened.“Mr. Adrian instructed us to allow you thirty minutes to collect your belongings.”Thirty minutes.Three yea

The Woman Who VanishedLucien’s POVSunlight spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, but I had already been awake for nearly an hour.Sleep had never come easily to me.Last night had been no different.I stood in front of the living room window with a cup of black coffee in my hand, staring at the city below. Cars filled the streets, people hurried to work, and life continued as though nothing had happened.As though one woman’s entire world hadn’t collapsed.My thoughts drifted to Elena.After our kiss, neither of us had spoken.She had looked as shocked as I felt.I had wanted to tell her it shouldn’t have happened.Instead, I had simply wished her goodnight.It had been safer that way.For both of us.The sound of footsteps pulled me from my thoughts.Damien walked into the suite carrying a tablet.“You’ve been awake all night again.”“I slept enough.”He gave me a look that clearly said he didn’t believe me.“You have a board meeting in an hour.”“Cancel it.”His eyebrows r

One Night of WeaknessElena’s POVFor a long moment, neither of us moved.The rain continued to fall, soaking the streets around us, while the reporters shouted questions from behind Lucien’s security team.“Mr. Blackwood! Are you involved with Mrs. Blackwood?”“Did you know about the divorce?”“Sir, please answer one question!”Lucien didn’t even glance at them.His eyes remained fixed on me.Impossible to read.I realized I was still clutching his suit jacket around my shoulders. It smelled faintly of cedarwood and something clean, something comforting. The warmth of it felt strange after the coldness I had endured all night.“I’m sorry,” I whispered again.“You’ve apologized enough.”His voice was calm, almost emotionless.“But I—”“You have nothing to apologize for.”No one had ever said those words to me before.Not after every argument with Adrian.Not after every cruel comment from Margaret.It was always my fault.I wasn’t patient enough.I wasn’t elegant enough.I wasn’t good

The Stranger Who Saved MeLucien’s POVI hated charity galas.They were nothing more than expensive lies wrapped in crystal chandeliers and designer suits. People smiled for cameras while stabbing each other in the back the moment those cameras turned away.The Blackwood family had perfected that art.I stood alone on the private balcony overlooking the ballroom, a glass of whiskey untouched in my hand. From up here, I could see everything without being seen.Exactly how I preferred it.I hadn’t attended a Blackwood event in nearly eight years.Tonight was an exception.Business had forced me here.Nothing more.I had no interest in speaking to my sister Margaret or her spoiled son, Adrian. The less I dealt with my family, the better my life remained.Then I saw her.Elena.She stood beside Adrian in a silver gown that caught the light every time she moved. She wasn’t the loudest woman in the room or the one trying hardest to be noticed.She never was.She simply stood quietly beside