What Is The Ending Of 'Hooked: How To Build Habit-Forming Products' About?

"I can make Elias crawl to you and beg for forgiveness. But to do that, I need to become your family. Marry me, Sophia." ............. Three years ago, Sophia Adams thought she had married the love of her life. But her perfect world shattered when Elias betrayed her—getting her best friend pregnant and forcing her to sign divorce papers. Yet, when she finally did, his fury knew no bounds. Instead of letting her go, he made her a prisoner. Escaping his grasp, she runs straight into Lucas—her childhood friend, the one man who has always loved her from the shadows. But there’s a twist: Lucas is Elias’s uncle. He left when she chose Elias, but now he's back, offering her a way to take revenge. His proposal? Marriage. A calculated partnership to bring Elias to his knees. But Lucas isn’t just offering vengeance—he’s determined to make Sophia his, in every way that matters.

After I accidentally uploaded a rant post instead of my resignation letter, the messages went like this. Me: [Did you see the file I submitted?] He: [Mm… yeah. I saw it.] Me: [Then why didn't you reply? You don't approve?] He went quiet. I lost my patience and typed back, [If you're not saying anything, I'll take that as a yes. I'll come by your office this afternoon.] He replied almost instantly. [That fast?] Me: [Fast? How is that fast?] He: [I need some time to think.] Two seconds later, another message came in. [Is that okay?] I said yes. He ended up leaving work early and even gave the entire company three days off. Sitting at my desk, I thought about it for a long time. He was the owner of the company, yet there he was, acting like he was afraid I might leave. Was he really that desperate to keep me?

After a grueling year of training abroad on the company's dime, I came home holding an OEM certification for our high-end production line. Only three people in the country had it. I couldn't wait to cash in my stock options and finally give my girlfriend, Nora, a home of our own. But when I got back to the office, there was no celebration waiting. Just three notices. [Finance: $50,000 travel reimbursement rejected. $20,000 in salary frozen as a performance hold, to be released after your review is passed.] [HR: Your sponsored training carries a mentoring obligation. You must train three qualified technicians within one month of returning, as your assessment. Fail, and your travel costs will not be reimbursed and your frozen salary will be forfeited.] [Direct Manager, Kevin: Turn over all core technical documentation. Effective tomorrow, you're reassigned to the factory floor for mentoring.] I gripped the three notices and headed for the manager's office to demand an explanation. I pushed the door open and froze. Nora, my girlfriend of three years, was sitting on Kevin's lap, her clothes half undone. Our eyes met. All she gave me was one cold line. "Ethan, since you've already seen it, let's just break up." I backed out of the office without a word. I walked past all the eager faces waiting for a show, went back to my desk, and finally answered the email that had been sitting in my inbox for a week. [I've decided to accept your offer. I can start in a month.] One month. Everything this company owed me, I was going to take back myself.

I cleared my throat and picked up the menu, pretending to study it. “So,” I said after a moment, “before we start pretending this is something serious, you should know… I’m not exactly the settling-down type.” He arched his brow but said nothing. “I do hookups,” I continued, keeping my tone casual. “That night at the hotel? I was supposed to meet someone else. I went into the wrong room. You were literally a mistake.” He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. Just smirked faintly and reached for his glass of whisky, taking a slow sip. My fake confidence wavered. “Did you hear what I said?” “Every word,” he said quietly. “And?” “And I’m still here.” I stared at him with disbelief. “Wow. You’re not even mad? You’re supposed to call off the wedding and storm out or something.” He chuckled in a low tone, resting his elbow on the table. “You’re really trying hard to get rid of me, aren’t you?” ******* I caught my fiancé cheating with the woman he called his “sister.” Broken, drunk, and reckless, I stumbled into the wrong hotel room, and into the arms of a stranger. By morning, he was gone, leaving only a note: Wrong room, but you taste good. I wanted to forget him. Weeks later, my best friend begged me to meet the man her father had arranged for her to marry and make him call off the wedding. I went there in her place, only to discover he was the same man from that night. He called off the wedding with her. Then he asked me to marry him, but I refused. But refusing a billionaire with an obsession is never that simple… especially when he shows up as my new boss.

At the end of the year, the company made employees vote on who would be laid off. In front of the boss, the votes were read aloud one by one. Natalie Reed. One vote. Natalie. Two votes. Natalie... thirty votes. All thirty people on my team had voted me out. I clenched my fists and looked around at my coworkers. Every single one of them avoided my eyes. Maggie Turner was the oldest on the team. I knew she had to pick up her kid, so whenever she could not finish her work and had to rush to her kid’s school, I stayed behind and cleaned up after her. Dylan joined last year. He was losing sleep every night over money for his wedding. I squeezed time out of my own schedule, helped him complete his project, and got him a two-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus. And the trainee closest to me started trembling the moment I looked at her. She looked just as timid as she had when her hands shook and spilled wine all over a client. Back then, to fix the mess for her, I apologized to the client and drank until I had a stomach hemorrhage. Only then did she pass probation. I could not help feeling hurt. The boss looked at the result and asked if I had anything to say. I took a deep breath and asked everyone on the team, “Why did you vote for me?” My timid trainee suddenly found her courage. “Because you always pretend to help people, then steal our credit.” “Otherwise, how could someone as useless as you become the top salesperson?” I laughed, took off my employee badge, and placed it on the table. A week later, my boss was kneeling outside my door, begging me, the so-called useless one, to come back to the company.

sʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ɴᴀɪᴠᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ sʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴘᴏsᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴄʀᴜsʜ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴅᴀʏ ᴏғ sᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀʀʀᴏɢᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ɪɴsᴜʟᴛ ʜᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ. ʜᴇʀ ʟɪғᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴇᴀʀs ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ sʜᴇ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ʜᴇʀsᴇʟғ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɪsʟᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴡɪʟʟ.