LOGINHe leans forward, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial, deeply unsettling whisper as he stares directly into my green contact lenses. "In fact... you don't have to be a maid at all, Candy. I can make all of this manual labor disappear with a single phone call. If you can just agree to be my pri
"Look, Naomi, if Dennise catches you in here, she’s going to—" The distinct, heavy sound of the deadbolt locking echoes through the quiet kitchen. My entire body goes completely rigid. My instincts scream at me, a cold shock of adrenaline instantly shooting straight to my fingertips. That isn't th
I smooth down the front of my oversized, scratchy maid uniform, my fingers tracing the small bruise on my chest from where Caroline's finger violently ripped my dress open at the cemetery yesterday. My skin still feels raw from the humiliation, my eyes are burning from crying all night over Owen, a
The striking, facial structure. Sydney is an absolute, undeniable replica of the woman in the vintage photograph—Tobias’s mother. The almost psychotic protectiveness Tobias has shown toward Sydney from the very first moment he met her. The massive financial safety nets he threw under her, the fact
Before I can even open my mouth to apologize for breaking into his house, Tobias speaks. His voice is incredibly quiet, completely devoid of its usual sharp authority, yet it carries a heavy, haunting weight that pins me right to the carpet. "For years..." he murmurs, his finger continuing its slow
I stand frozen on the gravel path, the engine of Sydney’s departing car roaring in my ears. I watch the taillights of her vehicle bounce over the cemetery threshold, disappearing completely from sight, and with every inch of distance she puts between us, my heart shatters into a million jagged, irre
"Finally." I feel like a thief...or maybe a detective. Or maybe just a man who is about to have his entire world shifted on its axis. In my hand, I’m clutching a crumpled tissue I dug out of my office bin. Why? Well... because it's smudged with Sydney's blood. I was looking for a hair sample, a
The heavy doors to my office creak open, and for a second, I consider firing Miller again. I specifically told him I was in a meeting, which is corporate speak for 'I’m staring at my reflection in a glass of Scotch and wondering how my life became a tabloid headline.' But it’s not Miller. Owen s
I’m sitting at the massive dining table, feeling like a tiny, insignificant dot, when Owen comes into view. My heart does this annoying little leap at the sight of him, one that I try to control, and as he steadily approaches the table, I realize he’s actually going to sit down. Across from me.
"Are you kidding me? This is a joke, right?" I’m staring at the revised script pages in my hand, and honestly, if the ink weren't still wet, I’d think I’d accidentally picked up a piece of fanfiction. I look up at the scriptwriter and I can feel the vein in my temple starting to throb. "Arthur,







