เข้าสู่ระบบJasmine“She literally ran away, Jasmine. Tail tucked completely between her legs!” Laura threw her head back, bursting into another round of loud laughter as she tossed a shiny gold dress onto my bed.We were back at the mansion in my dressing room, surrounded by half a dozen garment bags, with a chilled bottle of white wine resting on the vanity.“I’m serious,” Laura continued, unzipping a dark blue silk gown. “My team and I stayed glued to her all afternoon. Every time she looked up from those dusty, outdated files, someone was standing over her desk, handing her another folder. Mrs. Stanley looked her straight in the eye and asked for financial summaries from a three-year-old audit record littered with mistakes. I don’t even have the financial summary from last week!”I took a sip of my wine, grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. “Did she even attempt to answer them?”“Are you kidding? She looked like she was about to burst into tears,” Laura giggled, holding the blue dress up against
JasmineThe moment the grand front doors closed behind Sebastian, my heart skipped a beat.Cassie was still standing near the edge of the sofa, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her jaw clenched so hard I thought her teeth might shatter. The sweet, innocent little sister act was completely gone. Now she was staring me down with eyes that could kill.I didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction. I didn’t scowl; I didn’t limp dramatically, and I certainly didn’t acknowledge the scowl on her face.Instead, I casually adjusted the strap of my shoulder bag, hummed a quiet tune under my breath, and walked right past her toward the kitchen as though she were nothing more than an invisible ghost. I knew she was raging with anger on the inside. She wanted a fight. She needed me to yell, snap, or throw a fit so she could whip out her phone, record it, and spin another sob story for her social media followers.Starving her of that drama was the sweetest form of torture.By the time I
SebastianHaving Jasmine back in my car, sitting right beside me in the passenger seat, felt like breathing real oxygen for the first time in weeks.My left hand rested on the center console, completely wrapped around hers. Every time my thumb brushed over her knuckles, or whenever she squeezed back, my heart skipped a beat, but in a good way.I kept my eyes on the road, but every few seconds, I couldn’t stop myself from darting a glance at her. Her face... I hadn’t realized how much I had missed staring at it. It didn’t help that, during all the time we were apart, I had spent hours drooling over her pictures.I didn’t turn on the radio because, even though we were quiet, I wanted to listen to her soft breathing. Her jasmine-and-lavender scent filled the car. God, I had missed her.I was completely, unapologetically obsessed with her, and being allowed to hold her again made the nightmare of the past few weeks almost worth it.As my driver pulled up the driveway of the Vance mansion,
JasonWhen Eleanor summoned me for a “family dinner,” I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting. I had spent time thinking about what the dinner could be about, and nothing came to mind.I walked into the private dining room of Eleanor’s mansion to find Victoria already seated. The moment I strolled in, she leaped from her chair, her face lighting up with a smile as if she hadn’t seen me in years. She smoothed her dress and took an eager step toward me to greet me.I pulled back slightly, dramatically clearing my throat as I adjusted my silk tie, giving Victoria a sharp warning look.Eleanor’s eyes darted toward us. I bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for a smart reply from her, but she didn’t say a word about it. In fact, she didn’t act as if she noticed us at all. She was sitting at the head of the long table, her face beaming with smiles.“That’s the best wine, yes?” she asked the waiter who was pouring her wine.He simply nodded politely.I stared at the scene in front of me fo
JasmineThe heavy silence of the hotel room was broken by the beep of the door keycard.I didn’t even sit up. I just kept staring at the ceiling, my arms spread out on the massive king-sized bed.“Jasmine?” Laura called out worriedly as she closed the door behind her. I heard her heels click loudly across the floor, stopping right at the edge of the bed. She looked down at me, her face pale and her brows knit with worry. “I’m so sorry, Jasmine. I know you didn’t want to see him right now, and I promised you I wouldn’t interfere. But he has been worried sick. Sebastian has been texting me every single day, checking—”Before she could even finish her sentence, a shadow fell across the doorway.I sat up.Sebastian was standing there. He looked tired, his usually sharp suit jacket gone, his black shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms. I looked into those chocolate-brown eyes, hoping to see a hint of anger because I had completely pushed him away weeks ago, but it wasn’t there. Instead,
JasmineI spent the entire drive home from the office staring out the window, my ankle throbbing lightly. I muttered my thanks to Marcus when he offered me his hand, then slowly limped into the house.The moment I walked in, I noticed something looked out of place. It took me a moment to realize the long burgundy velvet curtains had been taken down and replaced with beige ones.I let go of Marcus and walked farther into the formal living room. The second I stepped toward the mantel, my heart stopped.The silver-framed photograph of my father and me at my college graduation—the one that had sat in the exact center of the fireplace mantel since the day he passed—was gone.In its place sat a wooden frame. Inside was a glossy printed photograph of Cassandra as a teenager, smiling awkwardly in a crowded school hallway. Next to it was another framed photograph of my father.I noticed the picture of my father and me had been turned upside down. When I picked it up, I saw the frame was cracke
Jason“Smile, Jason,” Victoria hissed under her breath, her fingers digging into the sleeve of my tuxedo. “The cameras on the left are watching us.”I loosened my jaw, plastering a stiff, practiced smile across my face as we walked down the red carpet of the Grand Imperial Gala. Flashbulbs went off
Jason“Are you that dumb, Jason?” Eleanor screamed. This was the first time I had seen her in a state of disarray. She was always perfect, not a hair out of place. Now, her clothes were damp, and her hair was sticking to her forehead as she paced the marble floor of the foyer. The storm outside was
JasmineThe car was still on the inside, but outside, it was the complete opposite. The rain lashed against the bulletproof windows, blurring my view of the city.And then I finally broke.The cold mask I had worn in the penthouse and on the driveway crumbled. I pulled my knees to my chest, buried
JasmineThe background jazz music was soothing as it wafted through the large dining hall. I found myself humming along until…“Another glass of the Dom Pérignon, Madame Sterling?” the waiter asked in a thick French accent, tilting the bottle. “Mr. Sterling is delayed, but there is no reason the ni







