All Chapters of DOUBLE HEIR ; A LOVE IN DISGUISE : Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

ELENA'S POVI stumbled out of the bar, the dimly lit hallway spinning around me like a broken carousel that refused to slow down. The music from the party still echoed in my ears, a wild cacophony of cheers, laughter, and the thump of bass that seemed to reverberate through every cell of my body. My coworkers had thrown me a birthday party right there in the hotel bar where I worked five nights a week, slinging drinks and smiling through the chaos for tips that barely covered my rent. Twenty-two years old today, and what a way to mark it—cheap champagne flowing like water, shots of tequila that burned all the way down, and a cake with my name misspelled in wobbly icing that everyone thought was hilarious. The night had started innocently enough. Sarah from housekeeping had hugged me too tight, whispering that I deserved better than this dead-end job. Jake, the bartender with the perpetual five-o’clock shadow, had kept my glass full, winking every time he slid another flute across t

ALEXANDER’S POVI woke up to an empty room, the silence a stark contrast to the chaos of the night before. The kind of silence that presses in on you after a storm, heavy and expectant, like the universe was holding its breath waiting for me to catch up. My head throbbed with the dull insistence of a hangover, the kind that comes from too much whiskey chased by even more bad decisions. The bottle of whiskey and soda still sat on the bedside table, half-empty, the ice long melted into a watery grave at the bottom of the glass. A faint ring of condensation marked where it had stood all night, a small monument to whatever the hell had happened in this suite. I rubbed my temples, trying to shake off the fog, but it clung stubbornly, fragments of sensation flickering at the edges of my mind, soft skin, breathy moans, the way the room had spun just right when I pulled her down beside me.As I sat up, the sheets pooled around my waist, cool against my bare skin. That’s when I noticed the s

ELENA'S POVI stood frozen behind the polished oak bar, the tray of freshly washed glasses trembling slightly in my hands. The clink of crystal against crystal seemed unnaturally loud in the sudden hush that had fallen over the hotel lounge. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, each beat echoing the name I hadn’t dared speak aloud. But then, his gaze swept over me as he approached. Cool, assessing, and utterly devoid of recognition. It was the kind of look one might give a potted plant or a perfectly ordinary piece of furniture: polite enough not to be rude, but completely uninterested. Those words slipped from his lips in that deep, velvet-smooth voice I still heard in my nightmares and my weakest moments. His tone was detached, professional, as if I were just another anonymous employee in this upscale hotel bar where I’d been scraping by for years.It was like the night had never happened.I could still feel the ghost of his fingers tracing my spine, the weight

ELENA'S POV Three weeks had blurred into routine. Three weeks leading up to this point had gradually merged together into one continuous flow of daily activities that felt almost automatic after a while. I'd pushed the night with Alexander to a corner of my mind, carefully placing those memories far away so they would not interfere with my daily life, focusing on work and bills and the small joys of living quietly that helped make each day manageableThe hotel was my haven, familiar and safe, providing a consistent and reliable space where I could perform my duties without complications or surprises interrupting the steady pace I had grown accustomed to maintaining. Every shift followed the same pattern, the same predictable rhythm that kept me grounded and hidden from the world outside. The days blended together in a steady stream of early mornings and late evenings, each one carefully structured to maintain the quiet life I had built. Work became the center of my focus, the bil