Novels by Cat Reed

I closed the door quietly so I wouldn't wake Sam, who was still sleeping inside. I made my way down the stairs and sighted the cab that I had ordered. I got in and gave the driver my location.I rested my back on the seat and sighed as I shut my eyes. It's been twelve days since Dylan and I had that talk and I had been seriously thinking about it because I didn't want to regret my actions.With Ryker's connection and all, Cassie got arrested. Olivia and Jasmine too, since they were accomplices. I was called to the station to give a statement of what happened. I didn't want to go at first but Sam and Dylan convinced me to go.Jasmine and Olivia had been released on bail but Cassie's case was more deeper than that. I knew her parents wouldn't allow her to go to prison. She even lied that I fell into the pool myself but the CCTV footage showed otherwise.Jasmine also came to apologize to me, I had forgiven her but it didn't mean we were going to continue being friends. I don't need frien

"Where are you taking me?" I asked when he guided me through the dance floor and started walking towards the entrance of the clubhouse. My vision was still blurry and I was still drunk."Somewhere I can talk to you." He answered. "But I don't wanna talk to you, remember?" I told him "I'm not going with you, Sam is still inside." I tried to free myself from his grip."She can go home by herself. I'm not letting you go until I talk to you." "And you think I'm just gonna follow you and listen to whatever you wanna say. I'm not Bruno. I don't wanna listen to anything you have to say. You are just going to lie to me again." I said. We were already outside the club house and I saw that his car was parked on the other side of the road.Ryker opened the door for me and made me enter the car. Then he buckled me up before shutting the door and walking to the other side of the car.He entered the car and started to drive. He took off his cap and mask and that was when I saw that Dylan did a re

The clubhouse was crowded as usual, loud music, sweaty bodies and people making out in dark corners. Sam and I made our way through the crowd and found a spot to sit in front of the bar, drinks weren’t free today. I guess someone paid for all the drinks the last time we came here. I had a shot of tequila but Sam didn’t drink anything, she said she was going to watch over me so I could drink as much as I liked.“Hey, let’s dance.” I told her as I pulled her to the dance floor, the alcohol was starting to kick in. I swung my body to the beat while Sam did the same.“Shea?” I heard someone call my name, I looked back and saw that it was Felix. Why the heck did he call me? Did Ryker send him to beg me?“Hey.” I said nonchalantly and continued to dance.“Look, Ryker didn’t mean what he did, he already called off the bet when he realized how he feels about you.” He shouted over the music.“Do you mind? I don’t wanna talk about that.” I said as I rolled my eyes at him.“Back off!” Sam said a

As I stepped into the bathtub filled with warm water, I sat down and let the water soothe my skin, I closed my eyes so I could relax but then it suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe, like something was blocking my nose, like I was drowning. The memory of myself, struggling in the pool flashed through my mind. It was traumatizing.I opened my eyes and gasped for breath. I got down from the bathtub. I couldn't do it. Cassie had scarred me for life, I would never be able to have baths again, or even learn how to swim.I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around myself and walked out of the bathroom. I went straight to my closet and grabbed a shirt and shorts to wear."Shea, you didn't stay long in the bathroom this time." I heard Sam say. I turned to her and saw that she looked excited. She was excited that I didn't stay long and cry in the bathroom this time. If she knew what happened to me there, she wouldn't smile like that.But I smiled at her and covered my fears up. "Yeah." I said as I w

“Holy shit! I can’t believe it.” Sam exclaimed as sat on my bed and rubbed my back. I had told her everything I encountered in school today and she regretted telling me to go out with Ryker.“I was just a bet, a stupid bet.” I sniffed. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out no matter how hard I squeezed my eyes. I guessed I had emptied my tear sac. I was tired, physically, emotionally and mentally tired.“And- and Jasmine, I don’t blame you for hating her. She was just a snitch for her psycho sister.” I said in a low voice.“I never liked that bitch. I knew there was something shady going on around her. And we should throw those people in jail.” Sam said as she rose from the bed and stood in front of me. I liked how she was taking this more seriously than I was.“I’ve actually thought about that on the way here. But Laurel told me her dad could easily bail her out, so it would be a waste of time.” I told her. Laurel also said that she had a huge fight with Cassie because of J

Ryker’s POVShit!I had been screwed by Cassie. She told Shea about the bet before I had the chance to tell her myself. I never wanted to hurt Shea. I just wanted to give her more time to heal from what she was going through. I had plans to take her out on another date, to tell her how much I loved and cherished her and then eventually tell her about the bet. But Cassie ruined everything.I ran out of the pool area to go after Shea, but she was already getting into a car. I knew it was Laurel’s car.I didn’t know what to do. Should I go after Laurel’s car so I could talk to Shea? Or should I give her some time? I honestly don’t know which is better.I slowly walked back to my car and got in. I hit my hands on the steering wheel multiple times and yelled my lungs out.“Fuck!” I yelled again. I groaned as pain soothed through my hands, but it was nothing compared to the pain Shea was going through right now. She called me a monster. She was right, I was a monster. I should have never ag

Azalea's POV At the sight of Noah Hale, Ciara's tears, which had stopped flowing when she was accusing me, suddenly came back, her loud wails was the only sound in the room as everybody silently observed.Ciara was by Noah's side before anyone could blink, crying and using his chest for support as her legs almost gave out. “Noah, I told you the woman is bad news. Would you believe that she stole my precious necklace and has been saying bad things about me to the others because of what happened yesterday, even though I apologized? I knew something was wrong with her when I fired her the moment I saw her." Noah rolled his eyes in annoyance, tuning to me for an explanation. “Miss Azalea, what do you have to say about this?" “I did no such thing, Mr Hale. She ordered me to get her handbag which she claimed she threw somewhere and I did so. Not even for once, did I check the contents of the bag. I gave her the bag the same way I picked it up. I am not a thief, Mr Hale. I might not be a

Azalea's POV I was given the rest of the day off by Mrs Drywoods who felt guilty for making me work with Ciara. She admitted that the only reason I was employed in the first place was because no one else wanted to work for her, given the ugly reputation she had made for herself over the few years she had been working with Ash Studios. Mrs Drywoods apologized multiple times for setting me up, claiming that it was desperation that forced her into doing such. I forgave her because unknowingly to her, she did me a huge favour. Even if I only work with Ash Studios for a month, other companies wouldn't think twice before employing me because I'd have enough experience to work with them. I just hoped I could put up with Ciara for at least one month. She reminded me so much of my sister. Seated on the couch in Lara's place, I watched my best friend pace around the living room, describing the one million ways she would make Ciara Cowell pay for what she did. “Once I get hold of that blon

Azalea’s POV “What…why?" My voice came out heavy with emotions. I was a few seconds away from bursting into tears. Again, another effect of the pregnancy hormones.“You are infected with those freakish things that destroy a woman's shape and beauty. You are shapeless. You are the most ugly thing I've ever seen. You have zero fashion sense so I wonder how the hell you will be dressing a high class one of a kind model like me.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “And lastly, the only difference between you and a homeless beggar is that you are the first to stand in front of an award winning beautiful model like me." She finished, fanning herself like she was on fire. My world felt like it had crumbled as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Ciara Cowell's interaction with me.“You can't fire me, you didn't hire me."My whole body began to shake under the intense stare of the other employees and Ciara Cowell. I have always hated attention. Whenever people stared

Azalea's POV A let out a shaky breath as my wary eyes stared at the building towering over me, the bold sign of ‘ASH STUDIOS' glaring at me and making me more intimidated than I already was. I felt out of place, in all honesty, and I find it funny since I haven't stepped foot into the building yet. If I'm this intimidated by the building's outside look, I wonder how I'd feel when I finally went inside. With a sigh, I walked into the skyscraper, breathing in deeply to gather up all the courage I could get. It's useless since apparently, air isn't polluted with leftover courage. Running my shaky hand through the hair that Lara had helped in curling, I walked across the lobby to the receptionist, bracing myself to talk to her. I cleared my voice before speaking, trying to avoid embarrassing myself by stuttering. “Hello!" The young lady blatantly ignored me as she furiously typed on her phone as if she was in a typing competition. “Humm…hello?" I greeted again, scratching my head i

“Lea, you need to set the lights” I heard Lara’s voice call out. “Please, do be mindful”“Yeah, uh huh. I can do that without risk of breaking my neck, can’t I?”She gave me a reply that sounded more like a grunt than a spoken word and I just laughed it off.She did that very often now, clamoring safety and how she wanted a healthy god-son. I did very little in her salon, but still got paid, enough for my bills, enough for feeding.Enough to make me stop thinking about the hell I would’ve sunk into if I didn’t have her as my back bone. But that didn’t mean I stopped looking for jobs. I can’t depend on her forever, even if she swears to me that her parents’ wealth is hers, and she’d be my husband and friend. I need to do more for when the baby comes, which isn’t so much time to prepare. She can spoil Pea as much as she wants when she’s here, but we won’t feed from her purse. It isn’t as if she’s living for me. I don’t want to think of how it’d be without her these past months.I pulle

Azalea's POV The lights in my house were all turned off when I got back home. I didn't have a key and unfortunately, the door was locked. I brought out my phone, dialed my mother's number, hoping she wasn't far into her beauty sleep to pick up. The phone rings a couple of times but she doesn't pick up. I tried my father's number too and got the exact same results. Having no other option, I knocked on the door as hard as I could but again, nobody showed up. After a while of fruitlessly trying to wake my parents from their sleep, I gave up, resting my exhausted body on the wall and slouching down. I raised my knees up, placing my hands and chin on it to get into a comfortable position. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I decided to call Lara to make sure she got home safe. My call went straight into voicemail and just when I'm about to dial her number again, the screen of my phone became blank. “Damn it, I forgot to plug it in earlier. Shit! Now everything is dark

Mia’s POVMy boots clicked on the ground as I slowly made my way out of the lecture hall along with the rest of the students. It had been a hectic day, I had been moving from one class to another. Going back to school and picking up from where I had dropped out hasn’t been easy, but I knew I made the right choice. My phone rang in my bag so I stopped to pick the call, it was Allen. I smiled as I picked the call and pressed the phone to my ear.“Hey, babe.” I said as I rested my back on the wall, inspecting the ring on my finger. Allen and I got married again a month after he proposed to me. Our lives had been a lot better than when we were still married by contract. “Baby, when will you be home?” his deep voice questioned through the phone. My smiled widened when I felt my heart leapt in my chest at the sound of his voice. Yeah, he still had that effect on me.“I’m done with my classes for today so I will be home anytime soon.” I informed him. I had texted Connor as soon as the lec

Mia’s POV”It was you this whole time?” I asked as I stood up slowly. I felt betrayed, I felt like my heart was being stabbed with a knife repeatedly and it was being torn to pieces.I was shocked that my best friend, the only person I fully trusted, was the one who posted the video and the pictures, she was also the one who had been threatening me with the contract.“I did it for you.” Kara responded as she buried her face in her palms.I gaped at her, “You did it for me? What the hell is that suppose to mean?” I yelled.“I did it because I started to feel lonely after Andrew and I broke up.” She explained as she started to cry.“That’s not an excuse to ruin my life or Allen’s!!”“You don’t understand the pain of someone you love breaking up with you because you’ve never been in any serious relationship. I found out Andrew has been cheating on me with Sophie the same day she went to seduce Allen, I visited her and saw her watching a video she recorded. I stole it because I didn’t wan

Mia’s POVI was anything but relaxed as we drove further away from Allen’s house. I looked back and there was no sight of him on the road. I collapsed on the seat and released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.“Thank you, Kara.” I muttered as I slowly shut my eyes.”Any time, boo.” Kara responded.My eyes snapped open as I thought of something, “How did you know I needed help and how did you even know this place.” I didn’t recall ever telling Kara the address of the new house I was staying in, and I didn’t remember telling her that I would eventually run away today, I only told her I was going to think about it, so how did she figure it out?Kara remained quiet for a while before she finally spoke, “Mia, Your husband is a billionaire and a business tycoon, everything about him is on the internet.”Oh! That was true. I nodded my head, agreeing with Kara.“The number of houses he has, his private jets, his net worth, and so many other things. I just searched for the one that has th

Mia’s POVI threw my purse on the bed and slammed the door shut. I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. That woman could have just told me the name of the person instead of going through corners with me. I tried my hair into a ponytail and tried to relax, but my phone started to ring, making me grab it hastily, thinking it was Sophie, but it was Kara calling me. I picked the call, put it on speaker and collapsed on the bed.“Hey, girl. What are you up to?” Her voice boomed through the speaker.“I just came back from seeing Sophie.” I informed her.“Wait, you went to meet Sophie? Why?” She inquired.“Well, she wanted to talk to me so I went to meet her.” I said in a bored tone. I rolled over on the bed until I was lying on my stomach.“What did she talk about?”“She only apologized for all the things she has done before, and she said she wasn’t the one who posted the video and the picture and apparently, she has discovered the person.” I explained to her.Kara became silent for a whi

Mia's POVAllen went to work after assuring me that we were going to discuss when he gets back. Apparently, the person who knocked only wanted to let him know that Ian was waiting for him downstairs, she almost ended up getting fired.I ate my breakfast and went back to my room, only because none of the maids wanted to stay around me since Allen’s outburst this morning. I had my bath and decided to watch a movie since I had nothing else to do. I was halfway through the movie when I received a text from my phone. I was half scared and half curious to open it. When I eventually had the courage to check it, I was surprised to see it was a message from Sophie, and this time it wasn’t a threat.Sophie: This is Sophie Gallagher. Is there any chance we can meet up and talk today? I don’t want Allen to know about this.I blink, then read the message again. She wanted to talk to me? About what? And why didn’t she want Allen to know, that’s kinda suspicious. I didn’t want to go but my curiosity

Mia's POVMy heart skipped in my chest as I tried not to seem like I was desperate."Yeah, sure." I said slowly. "Is it just me or is it hot in here?" I asked as I fanned my face with my hands, my cheeks started to turn red as I tried not to look at his chest. Allen stared at me in a confused way."Umm, I have to go get some water to drink." I told him, before I rushed out of the room.Phew! I didn't have to make it obvious that he had a huge effect on me. I just couldn't help myself around him.I almost got lost on my way to the kitchen but I eventually found it. As I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, my phone vibrated.I sat on a stool and quickly checked the text I got, thinking it was from Kara, but my heart almost jumped out of my chest when I read it.Unknown: If you know what's good for you, you'll leave that house before I destroy both you and Allen Walker.I threw my phone at the counter and stared at it like it was a strange object. Who on earth would send me a tex