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Chapter Twelve
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2025-02-28 19:12:09
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Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Thirteen
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚Once inside the bathroom, I turn to the mirror, peeling his jacket off my shoulders. And then I see it.My dress.The cream-colored silk fabric has turned sheer from the spilled drink, clinging to me in a way that leaves almost nothing to the imagination.Oh my God.I slap a hand over my mouth in shock and mortification. That explains why Marcos had looked at me like that. That’s why he'd reacted so quickly, covering me up before anyone else could see what he had.Heat flares up my neck, all the way to my ears as embarrassment fills me.Grimacing, I grab some paper towels, dabbing at the stain, but all I manage to do is make the fabric look even worse. “Seriously?” I mutter, feeling the sting of frustrated tears prick my eyes.Gone is the satisfaction from putting Meagan in her place. This night is officially a disaster.The bathroom door swings open, and I tense, instinctively stepping toward a stall to avoid any further scrutiny. But before I can slip inside, a voice st
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-28Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Fourteen
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚Tonight's shift is turning out to be a slow and uneventful one—just another night of playing melodies for an audience that barely pays attention. Which I'm really thankful for because after the whirlwind of events that's become my life lately, especially with the drama at the party over the weekend, I crave some silence and normalcy, in which I'm treated as the background noise and not the centre of attention when those three enigmatic men are around. No tension. No smouldering stares or teasing winks. I can only hope that this peace lasts all night, though. But, of course, the universe is always out to give me the opposite of what I want because a few minutes later, the front doors to The Gilded Stag are pushed open and in strides a familiar figure—the third man that makes up the trio of friends. Nathaniel Ford.Out of the three of them, Nathaniel is the only one who hasn't yet approached me or tried to talk to me. And while I would've concluded that it means that unli
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-28Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Fifteen
His smirk is the first thing I notice—lazy, cruel and mocking. It’s the same smirk he always wore when he made my life hell. The same one he’d had before I finally escaped him. Escaped all of them.My pulse roars in my ears. How? Why? Of all the countries in Europe, of all the places in this city of London, what are the chances that he would visit Mayfair and walk into this particular restaurant at night when I'm on duty?I stiffen as he leans closer to his friends, muttering something while keeping his eyes locked on mine. Their laughter follows a moment later as two of them turn in my direction before letting out wolf whistles that have me flushing in embarrassment. I don’t even need to hear the words to know exactly what he said to them. I know Tyler.I grit my teeth and try to focus on the piano, but it proves to be impossible as I'm reminded of what he did to me and how I hadn't even known about it until I'd heard it from Stella that day. How he'd seen me naked, touched me and do
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-28Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixteen
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚The second I walk through our front door, Yemaya is on me, shoving her phone into my hands before I can even catch my breath. “Have you seen this?”My best friend's voice is tight with restrained fury, but it barely registers past the sinking weight in my chest. My fingers tremble as I take the phone from her and glance at the screen. And just like that, my stomach twists into a knot so tight I immediately feel sick.Stella.My heart sinks as I read the post she’s just put up earlier tonight. Yet another one of Stella's attempts to publicly humiliate me. The post is a masterpiece of cruelty —polished, strategic, and laced with the kind of venom only she can wield. Her words drip with malice, alongside carefully crafted insults masked as passive-aggressive remarks about the “company the Duke's heir keeps these days.” She'd dared to drag the Duke's family name into this but that's not what has my hands trembling as I grip harder onto the phone. It's what people have to say a
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-28Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Seventeen
𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧The second Elena says yes, I don’t give her even a second to change her mind. With a grin, I extend my hand, guiding her toward our table before she can rethink her decision.Nathaniel watches her closely as she moves past him, those keen, unreadable eyes tracking every flicker of emotion that crosses her face. He doesn’t say a word—doesn’t need to. His silence alone is weighted, the kind that lingers, pressing against the skin like a slow burn. But as his friend, I can easily tell that he's worried about her. After what happened to her two days ago, the thought of which still makes my heart spike with fury, he's trying to see how she's doing. Marcos, on the other hand, wears his usual soft and easygoing grin, swirling the drink in his glass in a casual gesture even though just Nathaniel and I, his eyes are trained on Elena, watching to gauge her every expression.All three of us have vowed to find the bastard who did that to her and make him pay but before then, taking
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-28Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Eighteen
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚I weave through the aisles of the grocery store, scanning the shelves without really seeing anything. My mind is still stuck on last week, replaying every detail in a loop I can’t turn off.I exhale sharply, shaking my head. I need to stop thinking about this.Focus, Elena. The groceries. Then we're out of cheese or was it milk?I frown, glancing down at my half-filled cart as I can barely remember what I’ve grabbed so far. I should probably call Maya to ask, especially since my phone has been buzzing with texts from her, and knowing how paranoid she has become over me since the night Tyler happened—which I can't blame her for—she’s probably just moments away from sending a rescue team.Pulling out my phone, I tap on her contact and prop it between my shoulder and ear while grabbing a crate of eggs. It rings twice before her familiar, dramatic voice fills my ear.“Finally! I was about to send a damn search party. Do I need to file a missing person’s report?”I roll my eye
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-03Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Nineteen
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚I almost lose my grip on my shopping cart as it rolls forward, nearly slamming into the opposite stall but I manage to stop it in time. “Oh! I—I’m so sorry, I didn't mean to,” a voice stammers from behind.I turn, eyebrows furrowing as I take in the man in front of me. He’s wearing a suit, but it’s slightly rumpled, like he’s been tugging at it all day. His glasses are slipping down his nose, and his fingers tremble as he quickly crouches to grab some boxes that had fallen from a nearby stall.“It’s fine,” I mutter, but something about him puts me on edge.His eyes dart around, shoulders twitching like he expects something or someone to appear. The nervous energy rolling off him makes my skin prickle.He places the boxes back on the shelves, offering a tight, apologetic smile. “Really, I—uh—wasn’t looking where I was going. This is my fault entirely.”I nod stiffly. “Like I said, it's fine. No worries.”I don’t wait for more conversation. Instead, I grip my cart and quic
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-03Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Twenty
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚A dull, pounding ache drags me back to consciousness. My head throbs viciously, and for a moment, all I can register is the overwhelming weight of it—heavy and sluggish, like my skull has been stuffed with cotton. I groan, shifting slightly to lift my hand to caress my head but a sharp sting radiates from the back of it in return, making me hiss.What the hell happened—The very next second, the memories slam into me all at once, leaving me winded. The grocery store. The black car that'd cornered me. The suited man and the obviously jittery aura surrounding him. Hands grabbing me. The sheer panic, the fight, followed by a blinding pain—and then the bottomless darkness.My eyes snap open, my vision blurry for a minute before it clears up and I take a quick survey of my environment but I don’t recognize where I am.I've been placed in what appears to be a bedroom, one that's lavish and elegantly decorated yet not in a way that feels overbearing. The bed beneath me, which s
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-04
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Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Nine
𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧Everything about this meeting screams a trap.I sit in the backseat of a nondescript black SUV, eyes trained on the quiet stretch of road as we drive out of the city. The address I was given isn’t the Barsamian mansion where we had the last meeting—it’s a guesthouse tucked into the outskirts of a neighboring city. That alone is a red flag. But what makes it worse is that I was explicitly asked to come alone.Of course, I’m not that foolish.A second vehicle trails behind, discreet and distant—my hired security detail, professionals I trust with my life. I keep my phone in my hand the entire ride, fingers tapping idly against the screen, sending occasional location updates to my manager just in case.Because this? This feels like the kind of story that ends in a disappearance headline.The guesthouse is impressive in a quiet, understated way. Rustic wood beams, a sweeping stone terrace, and tall windows that reflect the gray morning sky. Inside, it smells like lavender a
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Eight
𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧The moment I shut the door to my suite, I loosen my collar and finally let the smile fall from my face.I’ve been wearing it like armor all day—through the suffocating politeness, the backhanded compliments, the curt dismissal of logic from a spoilt heir with too much money and too little sense. The matriarch was composed, yes. Graceful even. But her silence when her son spat that sexist garbage…That silence said more than I liked.I sink into the armchair by the window, the city of Yerevan sprawled beneath me like a glittering mosaic. I should let it go. But the tension stays, coiled tight between my shoulder blades.With a sigh, I reach for my phone and dial.“Hey,” I say when my marketing manager answers. “I need you to pull up alternatives. If the Barsamians don’t get back to us, we need other options for that stone.”“You’re thinking they’ll back out?”“I’m thinking their prince of a son might poison the whole deal. I just want to be ready.”We talk logistics, pro
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Seven
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚The car ride back to the hotel is quiet.Not awkward. Not tense.Just… still.Cameron alternates between texting on his phone and staring out the window, one of his arms draped over the backseat with his fingers tapping out a silent rhythm against the leather. I watch the landscape blur by—stone buildings and narrow alleyways, ancient churches perched atop hills. The sky is beginning to burn orange at the edges, and for the first time all day, I feel the adrenaline ebb from my body like a tide retreating after a storm.I messed things up. I know I did.But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.We enter the hotel lobby without a word, both of us nodding politely to the concierge who greets us. The golden glow of the chandeliers bathes the space in warmth, but I feel anything but. My shoulders are still tight, my hands still restless.We step into the elevator together, side by side. The polished gold doors slide shut, enclosing us in a gentle hum of silence.I glance at him. “Yo
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Six
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚By the time we arrive, the estate looks like something out of an oil painting—ornate gates, lush grounds, cobblestone paths winding toward a home that could easily double as a museum. The sky has softened into a lazy afternoon haze, and I still haven’t fully shaken the image of that gun pointed at our driver. But Cameron and I are both dressed in our game faces now, and like good little liars, we smile.A housekeeper ushers us into a sitting room where the matriarch waits.She’s nothing like I expected.Older, yes, with the kind of face carved by time and quiet power, but there’s nothing soft about her. Her posture is steel, her eyes sharp behind thin, gold-rimmed glasses. She wears a high-necked black dress and sits with the kind of stillness that makes you feel like you’re the one being examined.“Mr. Lancaster,” she says to Cameron, voice low and smooth like aged whiskey. “And Miss…”“Hawthorne,” I offer with a polite smile, extending my hand. She doesn’t take it. She j
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Five
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚The door slams shut behind him.Cameron is gone.And I’m frozen.My pulse hammers so loud I can barely hear the silence that follows. That kind of silence that only exists when something horrible is about to happen. The kind that makes your stomach twist and your lungs forget how to breathe.I press a hand to my chest, trying to ground myself, but the cold leather of the seat beneath me feels more surreal than comforting.Outside, I can see them—Cameron’s tall frame moving like a slow fuse toward a man with a gun. A gun. Pointed directly at our driver, who still stands with his hands raised, eyes wide and pleading. The wind catches the hem of the driver’s jacket, and for a second, he just looks so human. So fragile.I curse under my breath and lean forward to get a better view. My fingers grip the edge of the headrest so tight they ache.What the hell is going on?This was supposed to be a business trip. Silk deals, rare jewels, Cameron flirting too much and me pretending
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Four
𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧The next morning, we hit the road.Our driver, an older man with warm eyes and an encyclopedic knowledge of Armenian history, doubles as a tour guide. As the SUV glides through the countryside, he tells us about the Barsamians—how their lineage traces back centuries, how they built an empire from silk and spice and sheer force of will.Aretha listens, chin resting in her palm, her gaze drifting between the window and me. I catch her watching me from the corner of her eye for the fifth time.“What?” I ask, smiling. “You’re staring.”“I’m calculating.”“Calculating what?” I stretch my arm along the back of her seat, not touching her but close enough that her hair brushes my fingers.“Whether this trip is worth enduring your company for another forty-eight hours.”“Ouch.” I clutch my chest with exaggerated pain. “You wound me. And here I thought we were starting to bond.”“I don’t bond with trouble.”“You sat next to me. That makes you complicit.”She snorts and turns back
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Three
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚Yerevan greets us with a soft haze over the mountains and the thick warmth of afternoon sun pressing against the tarmac. The capital feels like a secret whispered between the ancient and the modern—a city made of stone, sky, and silent stories.Several hours after we land, I expect we’d be whisked straight to our client. That’s what I signed up for. Business. Strictly business.Instead, we end up checking into a hotel nestled in the city center—a luxury boutique place that smells faintly of rosewater and cedar. I wheel my suitcase into a suite that could easily host a cocktail party, then march back out toward Cameron’s room, irritation simmering just under my skin.He opens the door already dressed in a crisp linen shirt and slacks, smelling like something expensive and maddening.“Why are we here?” I demand, arms crossed. “I mean—here, at a hotel? Shouldn’t we be heading to the client’s estate or... at least contacting them?”Cameron’s smile is entirely too relaxed for
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-Two
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚The airport is already buzzing when I arrive—suitcase in hand, coat slung over my arm, and a knot of mild anxiety sitting in my chest. I barely slept last night. My thoughts kept circling back to Cameron’s smug face, the glint in his eyes when he said “I’ll take that as a yes.” It irritated me more than I care to admit.Still, I’m here. Against my better judgment, I’m here.I pull out my phone to check my itinerary again when a sharp ding draws my attention. A new notification.My brows knit together as I stare at the screen.A credit alert?The amount is exact—down to the cent—of my flight ticket.What the…?I spin around and march to the nearest cashier window. “Hi, sorry—can I ask about a refund I just received? I don’t remember requesting one.”The woman behind the glass taps a few keys on her terminal, blinking at her monitor. “Yes, ma’am. It says here the refund was requested and approved on your behalf.”“By who?”I hear it before I see it.“Well, well,” comes a dr
Aretha Hawthorne: The Rise Of The Phoenix Chapter Sixty-One
𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚I’m still in Marcus’s arms, chest to chest, as the crowd roars around us in a frenzy of triumph. My pulse hammers in time with the chant echoing through the stadium. His hands are firm against my waist, anchoring me, while mine are curled around his shoulders, refusing to let go. It should be awkward—hell, it is—but in this bubble of noise and adrenaline, nothing else exists. Just us. Just this moment.Then I feel it.A shift.My eyes flicker down to his lips. They’re parted, breathless from cheering. There’s a softness there. A dangerous invitation. And I—I’m not thinking pure thoughts. At all. I want to kiss him. God, I want to kiss him.But his voice breaks through the haze, low and amused, “We’re just friends, remember?”It’s like cold water on heated skin. My smile is tight, reluctant as I pull away. “Right. Just friends.”We fall back into our seats, cheering as the team does their victory lap, but the electric charge between us doesn’t fade. Not entirely. Every bru
