Sebastian's POV I had been bailed out the evening mother came. As we went into the car, it was a moment of silence. I felt the need to break the silence and convince them that whatsoever they heard was a lie, but something stopped me. Perhaps she had taken back her words and let me back into the house. I knew home wouldn't have changed, and yes, I suffocated staying in the penthouse. It was home and didn't feel like home all the same. It was a mixed feeling I couldn't quite understand.I was glad to see someone who loved and remembered me. I knew she was the strict type, but at least she cared, compared to my biological mother. I was blessed to have someone like her. I shifted my gaze to her to see her looking out of the window, her lips pouched.“I don't want to believe you stole the diamond ring. Sebastian is way more than that. Do you have unfinished business with that lady or what? If you do, fix it.” A smile curled against my lips. This was what a mother’s love felt like. I fe
Natalie’s povWhat was he about to do? His gaze was fixed on me in a way I hadn’t seen him look at me before. It better not be what I’m thinking. I swallowed, controlling my breathing, gazing into each other’s eyes with a glint of affection, or whatever that thing was. I closed my eyes as his palms smothered my cheeks. His hand was soft and felt like wool. He rubbed harder, drawing closer this time, until we were a little less than an inch closer to each other. What the hell was about to happen? I held my breath as his lips touched against mine. He kissed slowly, gradually taking more and more of my lips seeing I didn’t protest. Geez, I was kissing Sebastian Knight in a public place. What would people think of me? Hold on a minute, to them, we were married, so I needed to rephrase that question. What would I think of myself knowing I kissed him? I pressed away from me, lowering my head. I was ashamed of myself already and never expected things to go this way. “It was a mistake,
Natalie’s pov I have always been careful. Careful of the choices I made, careful of my life, and most of all my heart. But that night, I didn't know what came over me, because this feeling of recklessness was what I felt. Something I hadn't felt since my break up with Alfred.The counter had refused the tip Sebastian offered. I knew he wouldn’t take it lightly, so he went the sexy-rebellious way. “I love your lips. Way better and kissable, compared to my ex's.” Sebastian said as a glint of a smile brushed against my face.“I get that a lot.” “After they kiss you or…?” Huh? Did he hear me say that? Fuck me.“I only let people I like kiss me.”“It means you like me.” “I never said that…” I looked over my shoulder, butterflies. How I wish he could stop with the teasing.No, never stop.Suddenly, I felt his hand draw my jaw to his face as he kissed me slowly, then faster, our tongues wrestling intimate wars, and pleasurable noise nearly rising above the bass beat.Fuck knows. Was
Natalie’s pov I have always been careful. Careful of the choices I made, careful of my life, and most of all my heart. But that night, I didn't know what came over me, because this feeling of recklessness was what I felt. Something I hadn't felt since my break up with Alfred. The counter had refused the tip Sebastian offered. I knew he wouldn’t take it lightly, so he went the sexy-rebellious way. “I love your lips. Way better and kissable, compared to my ex's.” Sebastian said as a glint of a smile brushed against my face. “I get that a lot.” “After they kiss you or…?” Huh? Did he hear me say that? Fuck me. “I only let people I like kiss me.” “It means you like me.” “I never said that…” I looked over my shoulder, butterflies. How I wish he could stop with the teasing. No, never stop. Suddenly, I felt his hand draw my jaw to his face as he kissed me slowly, then faster, our tongues wrestling intimate wars, and pleasurable noise nearly rising above the bass beat. Fuck
Sebastian’s POVWaking up not to see the woman I had had sex with beside me was a mystery to me. Where the hell did she go? I got a grip of myself as I cleared my eyes, only to see I was naked. Oh, my god. Enough reason to know why she ran away. Ha, I’ll use this to taunt her- my runaway one-night stand. She shouldn’t be qualified as my one-night stand. I truly felt something for her but I wasn’t sure yet. Perhaps it was love when I confessed it to her.Come to think of it, how did we get here?I was getting framed for stealing a diamond ring and landed in the police station and Mother came to my rescue and got it. I looked around, picked up my things, and was about to leave when I saw a wallet under a wooden stand. It looked familiar. I picked it up and realized it was Natalie’s. It was disrespectful to open or even get involved with a lady’s purse, but my curiosity got the better part of me. There was a picture of her and her father. He seemed familiar cause why not? He was proba
Natalie’s POVI ran out of the house, my face wet from crying. I was so tired. Tired of everything. Tired of pretending to be married to Sebastian. Tired of his mom saying mean things about me. She called me a gold digger. She said I wasn’t good enough for him. It hurt so much.“Natalie, wait!” I heard Sebastian calling behind me. He was running after me, but I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to talk to him. His mom’s words kept ringing in my head, and I just couldn’t take it anymore.I reached the door, but before I could open it, Sebastian caught up. He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Natalie, stop,” he said, breathing hard. “We need to talk.”I turned to face him and wiped my face. “I can’t do this anymore, Sebastian,” I said, my voice shaking. “Your mom hates me. She always says I’m not good enough for you. I’m tired of pretending.”Sebastian looked confused. “Pretending? What are you talking about?”“This,” I said, waving my hand between us
Natalie’s POV I ran out of the house, my face wet from crying. I was so tired. Tired of everything. Tired of pretending to be married to Sebastian. Tired of his mom saying mean things about me. She called me a gold digger. She said I wasn’t good enough for him. It hurt so much. “Natalie, wait!” I heard Sebastian calling behind me. He was running after me, but I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to talk to him. His mom’s words kept ringing in my head, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I reached the door, but before I could open it, Sebastian caught up. He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Natalie, stop,” he said, breathing hard. “We need to talk.” I turned to face him and wiped my face. “I can’t do this anymore, Sebastian,” I said, my voice shaking. “Your mom hates me. She always says I’m not good enough for you. I’m tired of pretending.” Sebastian looked confused. “Pretending? What are you talking about?” “This,” I said, waving my hand bet
Natalie’s POV I couldn’t sleep that night. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about that phone call. Who was that person? Why did they want to see me? And why now, when everything in my life was already falling apart? I kept hearing that voice over and over again: “See me.” It made my skin crawl. Sebastian stayed by my side the whole night. He didn’t say much, but I could feel how tense he was. I wasn’t the only one scared. It was like we were both waiting for something bad to happen. The next morning, I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat up in bed, looking over at Sebastian, who was awake too. He had dark circles under his eyes, and I knew he hadn’t slept either. “I have to go,” I said quietly. Sebastian looked at me, frowning. “Go where?” “I have to see this person. The one who called me. I need to know who it is.” Sebastian shook his head. “That’s too dangerous, Natalie. We don’t know who this person is or what they want.” “I know,” I said, biting my lip.
(Natalie’s POV)I was done crying. My head hurt, my eyes felt swollen, and my body was just… tired. I had spent the last two days in my apartment, ignoring calls, ignoring the news, ignoring everything. But no matter how much I tried, the anger wouldn’t go away.Sebastian had destroyed everything.I used to think he was different, that he wasn’t like the rest of them. But I was wrong. He was just another liar who thought he could get away with anything because he had money.I stared at my phone. Twenty missed calls from him. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to listen to his excuses.A knock on my door.I ignored it. Probably a neighbor or some delivery mistake.Another knock. Louder."Natalie, open the door."Sebastian.My hands clenched into fists. Of course he was here. He just couldn’t leave things alone. I got up, marched to the door, and swung it open.He looked like hell. His suit was wrinkled, his tie was gone, and his hair was a mess. His eyes were wild, like he had been running
Chapter 70(Sebastian’s POV)I sat in the backseat of the car, staring at my reflection in the tinted window. My suit felt too tight, my tie like a noose around my neck. The press conference was in thirty minutes, and I had no idea what I was going to say. How do you explain yourself when even you don’t understand the mess you’re in?I rubbed my temples, exhaustion weighing me down. For the past few days, my name had been everywhere—on the news, on social media, in headlines screaming for my downfall. They called me a liar, a fraud, a man who built his success in deception which was far from the truth. my sex tape has just been leaked. how did it get this serious? Definitely blogs that are trying to get clicks then decide to come up with more lies.Natalie hadn’t spoken to me. She ignored my calls, my texts. The last thing she said was in the letter she wrote me. I ruined everything.My driver pulled up in front of the hotel where the press conference was being held. Cameramen and r
Sebastian's POVI’m done.That’s all I can think about now. Done. Done with trying to fix this mess. Done with pretending everything’s fine. Done with the people who think they can control me. Done with the constant reminder that I screwed up.I stand at the window of my penthouse, looking out at the city. Everything’s moving, but I’m stuck. My life’s a wreck, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it from falling apart. The media’s relentless, the calls keep coming, and no one cares about what I’m going through. They care about the scandal. They care about the video. They care about the fallout.The phone on the desk buzzes. I don’t even need to check. It’s probably another call from Jason or one of the PR team members. I haven’t picked up in hours. Maybe days. I don’t care anymore. What’s the point? They’re just telling me the same thing over and over again.“Do damage control, Sebastian. Release a statement. Make a public apology.”I’ve heard it all. But none of it feels real. I don’
Natalie’s POVI sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone like it was some kind of ticking bomb. The video was everywhere now. It didn’t matter how much I wanted to look away, how much I told myself to stop checking, I couldn’t. It kept playing in my head. Samantha’s smirk. Sebastian’s voice. The whole thing made my stomach turn.I’d spent the entire night tossing and turning, trying to figure out how I felt. Angry? Definitely. Hurt? That didn’t even begin to describe it. But there was something else. Something heavier. I couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment. Disappointment in him... and maybe even in myself.I put my phone down on the nightstand and stared at the ceiling. The fan spun slowly, making a faint creaking sound with every rotation. It was too quiet in here. I hated it. Quiet gave my thoughts too much room to grow.Sebastian.I’d trusted him. Believed in him. And he’d destroyed it all. The video wasn’t even the worst part. It was everything that came before it
Sebastian’s POVThe moment Samantha stepped into my penthouse, I knew this wasn’t going to end well. She looked too calm, too rehearsed. Her designer dress clung to her as if she wore it for the cameras that weren’t even here.“Why did you do it?” I asked, keeping my tone steady, though my fists were clenched tightly at my sides.“Do what, Sebastian?” Her voice was smooth, too smooth, as she walked past me and made herself comfortable on the couch like she owned the place.“You know exactly what I’m talking about. The tape. It’s everywhere now. I’m being dragged through the mud, and you’re acting like nothing happened.”She raised an eyebrow, crossing one leg over the other. “You think I leaked it?” Her voice carried a mocking edge, her lips curling into a faint smirk.I hated how confident she seemed, how unbothered she looked. “It’s not a matter of what I think, Samantha. It’s about the fact that you’re the only person who had access to that tape.”She laughed - a cold, sharp sound
Sebastian's POVI sat on the couch, staring at nothing, the weight of the day pressing against my chest. My head was pounding, and the walls around me felt like they were closing in. The video wasn’t real - it couldn’t be real. I kept telling myself that, clinging to the hope that there was some mistake, that someone had manipulated it.But the world didn’t care about what was real. The world cared about what it saw. And right now, it had seen enough to crucify me.I forced myself to reach for my phone, the screen lighting up with more missed calls and messages than I could count. Friends, strangers, coworkers - all of them with something to say. I couldn’t bring myself to open them, not yet.I took a deep breath and opened Natalie’s contact. I hesitated. What could I even say to her? “I’m sorry” wasn’t enough. “It’s not what it looks like” sounded like a cliché. But I had to try.I dialed her number.It rang once, twice... and then went to voicemail.I hung up before I could leave a
Sebastian’s POVI left the house with my head spinning. My mom and I had gotten into it, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. She just didn’t get it. All she saw was Samantha, and she wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain what happened. I slammed the front door behind me, my hands shaking with anger.I didn’t even know what I was angry at anymore. Was it my mom for acting like everything was fine? Was it Samantha for making me look like a fool? Or was it myself for letting it all get this bad?I didn’t know, but I didn’t have time to figure it out. I had work to do.The drive to the office was silent. I couldn’t even bring myself to turn on the radio. Everything just felt... wrong. My head was still stuck on that damn argument with my mom. I’d been so angry I could barely speak to her. Why did she have to keep pushing Samantha on me? She knew what happened between me and Natalie. She knew what I’d done. But it was like none of that mattered.I parked the car and took a deep breath
Natalie’s POVIt was a quiet afternoon. I was sitting on the couch, scrolling through my phone, trying to distract myself from the mess that was my life. My chest felt tight, like it always did these days. I thought leaving Sebastian would make me feel free, but instead, it felt like I had lost a part of myself.I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do. He wasn’t good for me anymore. The trust was gone, and without trust, what’s the point? But even knowing that didn’t make it easier.As I scrolled, my phone buzzed with a notification. It was a message from an unknown number. My heart sank a little. I didn’t know why, but I had a bad feeling about it.I opened it.The message was short: “Thought you should see this. - Samantha.”Samantha. Of course, it was her. I felt my stomach twist. I didn’t want to deal with her. I didn’t want to deal with any of it. But before I could decide whether to delete it or block the number, another message came through.It was a video.I hesitat
Sebastian’s POVI didn’t want to go to her. Not again. But something in me just...snapped. Maybe it was Natalie’s text, or the way Mom kept defending Samantha like she could do no wrong. Either way, I found myself driving to Samantha’s house. The sky was gray, and the roads were almost empty. I felt like I was driving straight into a storm.When I got to her house, I sat in the car for a while. My hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard it hurt. I didn’t even know what I was going to say to her. Part of me wanted to turn the car around and leave, but the other part, the angry part, wanted answers.I got out and walked up to her door. My heart was pounding, but I didn’t care. I knocked, and after a few seconds, the door opened. There she was, standing there like she wasn’t the reason my whole life was falling apart.“Sebastian,” she said, smiling like nothing was wrong. “I didn’t expect to see you.”“Yeah, well, here I am,” I said, pushing past her into the house. I didn’t want