Novels by Joycepen

CHAPTER 043(THE MAN AT THE DOOR)POV (FREYA)The morning light filtered softly through the curtains, casting delicate lines across the bed where Eliza lay curled under layers of sheets. For once, her expression was peaceful. Almost childlike.I stood by the doorway with a tray of breakfast, unsure why my hands were trembling. Maybe it was the dream she’d had the night before the one that made her cry in her sleep, whispering something about a fox and someone taking it.“My little fox…” she had murmured.I didn’t wake her. I just sat there and watched her breathe.Now, as the steam from the tea drifted up toward my face, I forced a smile and stepped inside. “Good morning, Eliza.”Her lashes fluttered open slowly, eyes searching the room before landing on me. For a second, there was hesitation… then confusion… and then something close to joy.“Freya?”I set the tray down and moved to fluff her pillows. “You’re awake. I made breakfast.”She blinked. “You made me breakfast?”“Is that so

CHAPTER 042(LITTLE FOX)POV FREYAThe villa door clicked shut behind us.The silence was soft, almost too soft . the kind that makes your skin prickle with the leftover ghosts of laughter. The distant hum of the sea was the only sound between us now. Everything else , chandeliers, music, strangers with polished smiles , belonged to another universe.Eliza stumbled a little, heels in one hand, the other pressed dramatically against the wall.“I’m not drunk,” she muttered, smirking at no one in particular. “I’m just… relieved the rich still taste bland.”Alan opened his mouth like he wanted to respond, then thought better of it. He tossed his jacket over the arm of the couch and rubbed his temple.Eliza’s eyeliner had smudged at the corners, mascara dusting under her lashes like the echo of tears not yet shed.“I’ll take her,” I said gently.He glanced at me. “You don’t have to...”“I know,” I said, reaching for Eliza’s free arm. “Let me.”Eliza blinked at me, lips parted, eyes oddly g

CHAPTER 041 (WHAT WAS I THINKING?)POV (FREYA)The car ride was quiet.Too quiet.Alan sat behind the wheel, one hand on the steering, the other resting loosely on his knee. I sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with my necklace, trying not to think too hard about the night ahead. Eliza was in the backseat, her reflection occasionally catching in the rearview mirror, her lips painted that signature scarlet.No one spoke for a while.The silence had weight.Alan cleared his throat. "We won’t stay too long. Just a quick dinner, a few smiles. Then we leave.""I like dinner," Eliza said lightly, tapping her nails against the glass. "Especially when there are sharp knives nearby."My gaze snapped to the mirror. She was smiling. But there was nothing kind about it.Alan glanced at her briefly, his jaw tight. "Behave.""I always do, darling," she purred.The drive stretched on, the city lights blinking like secrets outside the window.When we pulled up in front of the grand estate, music sp

CHAPTER 040(A LITTLE BIT OF DRAMA AND US)POV(FREYA)The beach was warm, soft underfoot, the kind of sand that clung to your toes like silk. The breeze tasted like salt and sunshine. For the first time in days, there was no tension. Just laughter.We’d spent the afternoon swimming, laying under umbrellas, and tossing shells into the tide like children.Eliza was... different today.Lighter.She wore her hair in a thick braid that swept down her shoulder, sunglasses too big for her face, and a black two-piece that made half the men on the beach turn their heads, and the other half glance nervously at Alan when they saw her with him.We’d started a game, something silly Eliza suggested. Truths and dares, but not the childish kind. The real kind. Honest, open, and raw.Alan was laying back with his arms folded under his head, half-shielded from the sun, his hair wild with wind. Eliza sat beside him, legs curled beneath her like a cat.“I once slept in a train station bathroom,” Alan con

CHAPTER 039(THE WOMEN WE WERE)POV (FREYA)“Eliza, untie her,” I said. “Let her go.”Eliza blinked slowly. “You think she'll stop simply because you let her get free? What about revenge? What about everything they've done to you?”“I don’t care. I’m not going to be like them.”A pause. Then Eliza smirked.“Pity.”The screen went black.I stared at the dark reflection of myself on the screen, heart in my throat.POV (ELIZA)She didn’t say the words.She didn’t have to.I saw it in her eyes, the same thing I saw in my father’s when he told me not to shoot a man who had betrayed him.Mercy.The disease of soft women.I didn’t end the call immediately. I stared at Bianca for a long time, her makeup ruined, blood drying at the corners of her lips.“Freya’s not your prey anymore,” I murmured.“She’s stronger than you.”Bianca’s head drooped.I tapped the edge of my teacup, thoughtful.Then I whispered something to the man behind the camera.He nodded.And I stood, wiping my hands clean lik

CHAPTER 038(ANOTHER ONE?)POV (FREYA)The sound of the waves behind me dulled into a numb silence as I picked up my phone with trembling fingers, brushing off sand like it might erase what I just saw.No.No, no, no.I blinked hard, willing my eyes to have been wrong. But the message stared back at me like it was proud of what it had done.My heart thudded violently. Not from shock anymore, from dread.“Run to your little lover all you want. Let’s see what the world thinks of these.”Attached were the photos, twisted, digitally-altered, disgusting.I hadn’t taken these. I’d never...My breath hitched as I realized what he meant to do. He wanted to humiliate me. To destroy whatever piece of dignity I had managed to build for myself again.Kaiden, not Kaiden please.I turned and walked briskly back to the villa, holding my phone like it was radioactive. I barely made it to the dinner table before I excused myself with a fake smile and a mumbled, “I need to lie down.”Alan had looked up