LOGIN“What were you doing alone with her?” she asked, her face contoured in rage.“Autumn, she was just dropping off some files,” he replied back defensively, grabbing a fresh shirt from the wardrobe to put on.“You must take me for a fool, huh?” she asked, staring at him with a glare.“I never said you were a fool. I only told you the exact truth,” he sighed exasperatedly. “Sophia was only here to hand over the files I need for my New York trip tonight,” he answered her.“How convenient,” she let out a mocking laugh. “She could only hand them over to you directly in your bedroom while you were half-dressed.”“Correction—our bedroom. And she was the one who walked in on me like this,” he stated, his fingers quickly buttoning up the front of his shirt.“Yes, our bedroom. God knows how many other women you have fucked in it!” She let out a broken laugh at the thought. “You disgust me,” she said flatly.“I am going to let that comment go, solely because you are pregnant and I see it as your h
The low purr of an engine coming to a halt resonated through the courtyard, and a pair of designer stilettos stepped out of the vehicle. The woman exuded a calm, unperturbed aura, her posture rigid with confidence.Her heels clicked softly against the pavement as she made her way into the main building, her objective already crystal clear in her mind.“Miss Sophia? What are you doing here?” a familiar voice called out, causing her to turn around.“Chloe, my dear! It is so good to see you,” Sophia replied smoothly, feigning perfect civility. “I am just here to drop off some important documents for your uncle,” she added, answering the earlier question with an easy smile.“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other,” Chloe said, moving forward to hug her, kissing her cheeks lightly as she did so.“Yeah, it really has been since I moved out,” Sophia murmured, though the underlying ambiguity in her tone was loud and clear. “I have just been swamped with work lately.”“Well, I will leav
The sound of footsteps echoed through the grand estate as a figure walked down the stairs. Autumn was dressed simply in jeans, a plain t-shirt, a soft scarf, and a heavy woolly coat, yet she looked every bit the mistress of the estate. Her footsteps were light and unhurried as she neared the foyer.“Where are you headed off to?”Eric’s deep voice cut through the silence of the room, halting every single thought she had. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweatpants, looking relaxed and easygoing.‘Shit,’ Autumn thought, her heart skipping a beat. Outside, she quickly smoothed her expression. “I was going to the bank. I wanted to properly document the jewelry under my custodianship,” she answered, doing her best to remove any hint of suspicion from her tone.“Okay,” he replied smoothly.Autumn mentally let out a sigh of relief at his easy answer, but her victory was short-lived.“I am coming with you,” he added.Autumn tensed up all over again, her muscles freezing. “Th-there...
Late that evening, Autumn finally stood up from the armchair after spending the entire day sorting out her competition portfolio. Her body ached all over from sitting for so long, but her mind was more focused than ever before.Hiding this from Eric will do me no good; the least he would say if he found out later is 'I told you so,' she thought, gently rubbing her sore lower back as she contemplated her options. ‘But telling him out of nowhere that I was secretly looking into his deceased mother’s death would make me look unhinged and psychotic.’ She sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ears.“But I still need to tell him about Sebastian,” she whispered to the empty room, letting out a breath. “I will just gather concrete evidence of the attempts before I tell him anything about it.”“Gather evidence before telling who about what?”Eric’s deep voice cut through her rambling, stopping her train of thought dead in its tracks.Autumn stiffened slightly before quickly masking
Stepping into the Nexus Corp building, Autumn’s nerves were on edge. She was here to transition some of the files she needed for her independent competition worksheet. But what put her on edge wasn’t the intense stares from the other employees; rather, the thought of accidentally running into Sebastian was the one that weighed on her the most.“Hi there, Gracie,” somebody said to her politely as she walked past the cubicles.“How is it going?”“Good to see you again,” someone else added.She just hugged her bag a bit tighter to her chest as she walked past them all, giving only brief nods.Finally making it to her old office space, she stepped into the room just to catch her breath and get some air. “Ugh, Rosaria... why did you have to push me this far?” she muttered to herself. “I hate having this much attention on me. It’s so infuriating.”She sat down at the desk and began quickly organizing the files she might need—sticking strictly to the authorized files, of course. She had to b
Sophia was furious at the recent turn of events. She had heard the new developments. Initially, when she first heard the news of Autumn being suspended following suspected corporate espionage, she had been ecstatic. That wonderful news was the exact reason she had gone out shopping today, but now she was fumbling blindly between rows of designer outfits, fuming under her breath.She had just received the terrible news: Autumn had been cleared by both the Ministry she was working with and Nexus Corp. To make matters worse, she had also heard from the workplace gossip channels that Autumn had even gone as far as to have a woman arrested right out of the building.Furious, she grabbed the luxury items she had picked out and marched over to the cash register. She barked an order at the sales associate, snapping her fingers. “Wrap this up.”Her mood had already soured from this horrific update, and the boutique associates were only getting further on her nerves with how slow they were bein
It had been a few days since the incident at the bistro, and a heavy, suffocating silence had settled between Eric and me. We moved around the estate like two planets in a dangerous orbit—close enough to feel the pull of gravity, but terrified of a collision. I had managed to sneak a text to Marco
The grip Eric had on my waist was bruising. He didn't lead me out of the bistro; he practically hauled me. I could feel the eyes of every single person in the diner on my back, their whispers following us like a funeral procession."Eric, stop! You’re hurting me," I hissed, trying to pry his finger
Autumn stood before the ornate mirror in the foyer, checking her reflection one last time. She adjusted the strap of her bag, her fingers lingering on the leather. She felt like herself again.Chloe, ever the observant shadow, wandered into the foyer with a bowl of sliced fruit, munching slowly. Sh
The car pulled up to the Seta by Antonio Guida, and we were led through the sleek, turquoise-accented halls of the hotel to Seta by Antonio Guida. Eric had reserved a private section, a secluded nook that felt worlds away from the bustling streets of Milan. The lighting was low, the air filled with







