Novels by Alice Richardson

“I swear to God, these vultures never sleep,” Ethan muttered, peeking through the curtains. Outside, the front gates were swarming with reporters, their cameras flashing like tiny, desperate explosions in the dark. The murmur of frantic voices and shouting news anchors filled the air. A drone hovered overhead, circling like a mechanical hawk. I exhaled sharply, arms wrapped around myself. “It’s like I’m some kind of fugitive.” Lucas, standing beside Ethan, looked unimpressed. “Well, considering half the country thinks you bullied your assistant into attempted suicide and orchestrated corporate fraud, it tracks.” I shot him a death glare.Ethan snorted. “Jesus, Knight. You have the emotional intelligence of a brick.” Lucas didn’t even look up from his phone. “I’m just saying, walking out of here isn’t an option.” He wasn’t wrong. I clenched my fists, feeling my freedom slipping further away with each passing second. If we wanted to get out unnoticed— We needed a di

The house was silent. Until it wasn’t. I had been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind too wired to even think about sleep when I heard it— A thud. Then the softest creak of a floorboard. My breath hitched.I sat up immediately, heart pounding, listening as the faintest sound of movement came from downstairs. Reporters? No. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to break in.Then who? A kidnapper?The very idea froze my blood. I grabbed the first solid object I could find— which, unfortunately, was a decorative metal candle holder—and crept toward the bedroom door. I pushed it open carefully, slowly, moving down the stairs on silent feet.My grip tightened around the candle holder.Then, just as I reached the living room, a dark figure moved. I swung. “What the hell—?” A strong grip caught my wrist mid-air, stopping my attack effortlessly. The familiar scent of woodsy cologne hit me a second before I recognized the voice. Lucas.“What the fuck, Natalie?” H

After days, the house was still for the first time. No arguing. No tension is dense enough to slice with a knife. No urgent gatherings regarding abductions, controversies, or corporate treachery. Lucas departed early to visit his mother, while Ethan answered a call and went upstairs. That resulted in me being isolated in the living room, sitting with my legs crossed on the floor, gazing at an unfinished chess match. I glared at the chessboard. "Bishop takes knight… but then the rook moves, and I’m trapped." Fitting. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. It didn’t matter anyway. My mind wasn’t on the game—it was on everything else. The kidnapping. The threats. The scandal. My career—my entire life—falling apart. I exhaled sharply, leaning back against the couch. How the hell had it come to this? Footsteps echoed down the hallway. A moment later, Ethan strode in, stretching as he flopped onto the couch beside me. "God, I needed that call," he groaned, rubbin

The moment I hung up on Stella, my fingers were already dialing Granny West. She answered on the first ring. "Natalie." Her voice was as sharp as a blade, sending both relief and dread through me. I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Did you see the news?” "I did," she said, clipped, controlled. Too controlled. There was no outrage, no shock—just an eerie, calculating stillness. My fingers tightened around the phone. “The board,” I exhaled. “They voted me out, Granny. Suspended me.” A pause. Then—"I’ll get to the bottom of it." I closed my eyes, exhaling shakily. “And Jason?” "He’s safe," she assured. "And he will stay that way." A weight lifted—but only slightly. Because Jason might have been protected. But I wasn’t.The second I lowered my phone, I turned to face Lucas and Ethan. Both men stood like statues, unreadable, waiting for me to speak. “What do we do?” My voice was sharp and straight to the point. Lucas exhaled, crossing his arms. “First, we cont

The moment I hung up, I knew Ethan wouldn’t let this go.And I was right.Less than twenty minutes later, the sound of screeching tires echoed outside. I barely had time to brace myself before a familiar voice boomed through the house. “West!” Lucas and I both turned toward the front door at the same time. I barely had time to process before Ethan stormed in, looking like he was ready to murder someone. His eyes landed on me first, scanning me for injuries, like he still didn’t believe I was unharmed. Then, slowly, his gaze snapped to Lucas. And just like that, the temperature in the room dropped. Ethan’s jaw was tight, rigid with restrained fury. “You really stayed here,” he said, his voice lower now—but no less dangerous. I crossed my arms. “Yes, Ethan.” His gaze hardened. “You should’ve called me.” Lucas, standing casually beside the counter, smirked over his coffee cup. “She did,” he said smoothly. “Just… after me.” Ethan’s eyes darkened.“You think this is

I woke up peacefully for the first time in a long time. No threats. No masked figures whispering cryptic warnings. No paparazzi flashing cameras in my face. Just… silence.For a moment, I let myself pretend. That I wasn’t caught in a corporate war. That I wasn’t being hunted by shadows. That I wasn’t a woman who had lost everything. For a fleeting second, I was just Natalie.But then reality crept in.I exhaled, pushing the covers off. I didn’t belong here. Lucas’s house was too familiar, too foreign. Every corner of it whispered of a past I had tried to bury. In the past where I wasn’t Natalie West, CEO. The past where I was Natalie Knight—his wife. As I walked down the hallway, my fingers brushed against the walls. I used to live like this. In a house too big for two people. With floors too polished and rooms too pristine. But back then, I didn’t feel out of place. Back then, this was my home. I used to wake up before him, slipping out of bed quietly to m