Mirabella's pov The door creaked open, and my heart, already racing, pounded harder against my chest. "Stay calm, Bella," I said to myself, but calm was impossible when he was near me after what I had almost gone through at his hands. "Good evening, Mirabella." His voice was soft, as if he were not the same man who had left bruises on my skin. I shifted on the bed, pressing my back against the headboard. My fingers gripped the blanket like it was the only thing tethering me to life. Was this another game? Was he luring me into a false sense of security before unleashing more pain? His gait and demeanour were cool, but I knew better. It was nothing but a facade. I also knew his smile was hiding whatever malice simmered beneath. “How are you feeling? Did you sleep well today?” His question made me shift on the bed as my legs instinctively pulled closer to my chest. I felt like a prey trapped under the gaze of a predator as he approached me. "What is he up to this night? To cont
Mirabella's pov I heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the door opened to reveal Eunice. Her face eased the tension that had knotted my stomach. “You scared me,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my chest. She smiled as she stepped inside. “You thought it was him, didn’t you?” I didn’t answer, but my silence said enough. She crossed the room and sat beside me on the edge of the bed. “You should get changed,” she announced. My brows furrowed in confusion. “Changed? For what?” “To go to the hospital.” She grinned like it was the most natural thing in the world. I scoffed, shaking my head. “Enough with the jokes. Jayden is home. How is that possible?" Her smile did not falter. “What if he gave the order?” My breath hitched. "He gave the order?” I repeated, the disbelief thick in my voice. "Why would he— No. Stop. Just tell me the real reason you are here. Does he want me at the dining table or what?” “No,” she replied calmly, gently pushing me back when I tried to sit
Jayden's pov I was in my study room that night, the dim light from my desk lamp casting long shadows across the walls as I tried to distract my mind by reading when Zayn returned from the hospital. I later joined him in the living room. "Why didn't you take her by yourself instead of me, boss?" He asked, his voice tight with the frustration he did not hide well, despite the casual way he sat down across from me. I looked up at him, startled by the question. My mind was still processing our conversation from earlier, but his words had hit a nerve. I met his gaze, my eyes narrowing. "I'm disappointed to hear that from you. Need I remind you of the implication of it?" He blinked, caught off guard, before leaning back on the sofa. "Implication?" His voice was laced with confusion. "You mean people thinking that you were the one behind the state she's in?" I scoffed, shaking my head. His thinking was so off it almost made me laugh. People already knew I had a reputation for s
Mirabella's povAll night long, even when Zayn came to pick me up from the hospital the following morning, my mind would not stop racing. I could not shake off the question: why was Jayden doing this? The suspense was eating me alive, making it impossible to relax. When I got home, I decided to call Lucy. "Wait, I thought you said he broke your phone," she said the moment she answered."Yes, but surprisingly, he got a new one for me yesterday." I informed her.She gasped. "He did?"I chuckled. "I was as shocked as you are.""Well, that’s really nice of him," she said. "Nice?" I scoffed. "It just proves he’s up to something—especially with that apology and his whole ‘sorry’ act. I’m so done waiting to figure it out; it’s driving me insane!" I snapped, the frustration clear in my voice. "He apologised?" she asked, sounding as shocked as I had expected. I went on to explain everything that had happened, starting with our little weird conversation in my room last night. She let out
Author's pov The moment Caesar stepped into his mansion, Lucy emerged from the side hallway near her room, her head slightly lowered.She moved quickly but cautiously, like a servant entering a lion’s den, and cleared her throat before she spoke, catching his attention."Welcome back, sir," she greeted, clasping her hands nervously in front of her. He barely glanced at her, his eyes fixed ahead. "What do you want?"She flinched but forced herself to remain steady. "I... I spoke with Mirabella earlier," she began, her voice holding a mix of caution and urgency. "She told me... she told me that Jayden confessed his love for her." He froze the moment he heard that. Slowly, he turned to face her, his brows lifting in surprise before a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, his eyes glinting with satisfaction."Say that again," he ordered her.She swallowed. "He told Mirabella he loves her," she repeated, her eyes darting to his face, watching for his reaction. "Apparently, it is t
Mirabella's povA knock rattled my door, breaking the fragile bubble of sleep I had barely managed to slip into. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head. My eyes cracked open, still weighed down with sleep, as Jayden’s words from last night echoed faintly in my mind: "It’s because I love you.”It sounded even more absurd now in the daylight, like a dream that had overstayed its welcome.I still could not figure out if I should laugh or panic. Love? Him? The same man who had terrorised me like it was a hobby? I quickly rubbed the sleep from my eyes, my heart racing with panic just as the knock came again, more insistent this time. I froze, thinking it was Jayden, here to finally unleash his wrath on me."Mirabella?” Eunice’s voice echoed from behind the door."Come in,” I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I stretched my arms above my head.The door creaked open, and she stepped in.As she walked towards me, her eyes scanned me from head to toe like I was a
Mirabella pov"Good morning, Mirabella," Jayden said.I froze, my gaze locking with his as my breath caught in my throat. This was exactly what I was avoiding, yet here I was, caught in his intense gaze. "Shit," I cursed inwardly, unsure whether to retreat back to my room or proceed with my original plan. My hesitation must have been obvious, but he seemed unfazed as his lips quirked into a faint smile. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, never breaking eye contact. "I see you are feeling better for you to walk from your room all the way down here. That’s… good to know." His casual tone contrasted with the tension simmering in the air. My chest tightened, berating myself for coming downstairs at all. "What was I even thinking?"Finally, I decided to end this humiliating encounter and spun on my heel, aiming to retreat to the safety of my room. I moved so quickly that I tripped over my own feet. My heart lurched as I braced for an embarrassing fall. But it never came as a hand gr
Jayden's povI could not keep humiliating myself by confessing my feelings to Mirabella over and over again. Her constant doubt about my intentions and the way she avoided me were getting under my skin. It frustrated me to no end, tempting me to do things I did not want to resort to. I was not used to being denied what I wanted—no matter how far or difficult it was to reach. Sure, I was in love with her. But if I wanted to, I could force her to fall for me because the calm I had been wearing to wait for her acceptance could slip at any moment. Yet, before taking that route, I figured I should talk it out with Ariana first after confessing my love to Mirabella for the second time, since she was always pushing me to become a better version of myself.When I arrived at Ariana’s door and knocked, I was not sure if I was more amused or shocked when a guy opened it. He stood there like he owned the place, wearing nothing but a pair of black underpants that hung low on his hips. My eyes
Jayden's povIf there was one thing that still got under my skin, even after things had started to shift between Mirabella and me, it was how she still was not completely at ease around me. "What do you want to listen to?" I asked as I prepared to drive out of the mansion, my fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel. She turned her head to me, eyes narrowed like I had asked a tricky question. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Come on, don't overthink it. What genre do you like, dummy?" A small laugh escaped her lips as realisation dawned on her, and for a second, I felt the warmth of it. "Anything works, I guess," she shrugged. Her answer rubbed me the wrong way, and I could not hide the flicker of disappointment on my face. I still could not wrap my head around why she was still walking on eggshells around me. "Come on," I said with a short laugh, masking how I really felt. "How can you say that? You can’t be serious. Just name something. Any artiste or genre. Just name it
Mirabella's povIt turned out to be Jayden as he leaned casually against the doorframe."Relax, it's just me," he said, throwing his hands up in the air with that stupidly charming grin of his."I'm not here to steal anything from you or harm you."I rolled my eyes as a faint smile tugged at my lips."Oh really? Then why exactly are you sneaking into a girl's room uninvited? Pretty sure that's called trespassing, you know." I chuckled, my brows furrowing playfully.He shrugged, trailing his gaze down my body with a slow, deliberate stare that made my cheeks flush. "Well... just making sure things are in perfect ways."My breath caught in my throat as my mind raced to decipher what he meant by that. "Things like?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, the smile still lingering on my lips despite the heat creeping up my neck.His smirk deepened, and he took a step closer, his presence filling the room with an almost tangible intensity. "Things like making sure your appearance is p
Mirabella's pov The fear and foreboding that had hung over my time with Jayden seemed to fade with each passing day. Our silent meals in the dining room, which I always expected to end in having sex with him, which didn't, began to include small conversations. They were not much, just fragments, but enough to make me realise he could be something other than the cold and ruthless man I first knew. Evening walks through the mansion followed, requested in a surprisingly humble tone instead of his usual commanding bark whenever he did want to make me do things, and even shopping trips, where he bought me anything I desired. If someone had told me this shift would happen between us, I would have laughed in disbelief. Yet, here I was, growing oddly comfortable around him. This made me recall Eunice and Lucy’s observations, trying to follow their suggestions in the hope of bridging whatever strange gap lay between him and me. Standing in front of the mirror in my room, a faint smile cur
Jayden's pov"I’m lost, Ariana," I admitted, my voice uncharacteristically low."I’ve never felt like this before. Never. For the first time in my life, I want someone—not for control, not to conquer—but because I need her. And it’s messing me up." I ran a hand through my hair, my frustration bubbling to the surface. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for someone like me to admit this? To feel like I’m begging for scraps of attention? She’s all I think about, but I feel like I’m hitting a wall every time I try to get through to her. And it’s driving me insane." She stayed silent, her expression unreadable as I continued. "I know I don’t deserve her," I said, my voice dropping even lower. "Not after everything I’ve done. I could force her, sure—I’ve forced people into things before; we both know that. But this… It’s about her being the one thing in my life that is real." "I... I just want her to choose me. I want it to be real, Ariana. I want her to want me on her own. Not becau
Jayden's povI could not keep humiliating myself by confessing my feelings to Mirabella over and over again. Her constant doubt about my intentions and the way she avoided me were getting under my skin. It frustrated me to no end, tempting me to do things I did not want to resort to. I was not used to being denied what I wanted—no matter how far or difficult it was to reach. Sure, I was in love with her. But if I wanted to, I could force her to fall for me because the calm I had been wearing to wait for her acceptance could slip at any moment. Yet, before taking that route, I figured I should talk it out with Ariana first after confessing my love to Mirabella for the second time, since she was always pushing me to become a better version of myself.When I arrived at Ariana’s door and knocked, I was not sure if I was more amused or shocked when a guy opened it. He stood there like he owned the place, wearing nothing but a pair of black underpants that hung low on his hips. My eyes
Mirabella pov"Good morning, Mirabella," Jayden said.I froze, my gaze locking with his as my breath caught in my throat. This was exactly what I was avoiding, yet here I was, caught in his intense gaze. "Shit," I cursed inwardly, unsure whether to retreat back to my room or proceed with my original plan. My hesitation must have been obvious, but he seemed unfazed as his lips quirked into a faint smile. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, never breaking eye contact. "I see you are feeling better for you to walk from your room all the way down here. That’s… good to know." His casual tone contrasted with the tension simmering in the air. My chest tightened, berating myself for coming downstairs at all. "What was I even thinking?"Finally, I decided to end this humiliating encounter and spun on my heel, aiming to retreat to the safety of my room. I moved so quickly that I tripped over my own feet. My heart lurched as I braced for an embarrassing fall. But it never came as a hand gr
Mirabella's povA knock rattled my door, breaking the fragile bubble of sleep I had barely managed to slip into. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head. My eyes cracked open, still weighed down with sleep, as Jayden’s words from last night echoed faintly in my mind: "It’s because I love you.”It sounded even more absurd now in the daylight, like a dream that had overstayed its welcome.I still could not figure out if I should laugh or panic. Love? Him? The same man who had terrorised me like it was a hobby? I quickly rubbed the sleep from my eyes, my heart racing with panic just as the knock came again, more insistent this time. I froze, thinking it was Jayden, here to finally unleash his wrath on me."Mirabella?” Eunice’s voice echoed from behind the door."Come in,” I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I stretched my arms above my head.The door creaked open, and she stepped in.As she walked towards me, her eyes scanned me from head to toe like I was a
Author's pov The moment Caesar stepped into his mansion, Lucy emerged from the side hallway near her room, her head slightly lowered.She moved quickly but cautiously, like a servant entering a lion’s den, and cleared her throat before she spoke, catching his attention."Welcome back, sir," she greeted, clasping her hands nervously in front of her. He barely glanced at her, his eyes fixed ahead. "What do you want?"She flinched but forced herself to remain steady. "I... I spoke with Mirabella earlier," she began, her voice holding a mix of caution and urgency. "She told me... she told me that Jayden confessed his love for her." He froze the moment he heard that. Slowly, he turned to face her, his brows lifting in surprise before a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, his eyes glinting with satisfaction."Say that again," he ordered her.She swallowed. "He told Mirabella he loves her," she repeated, her eyes darting to his face, watching for his reaction. "Apparently, it is t
Mirabella's povAll night long, even when Zayn came to pick me up from the hospital the following morning, my mind would not stop racing. I could not shake off the question: why was Jayden doing this? The suspense was eating me alive, making it impossible to relax. When I got home, I decided to call Lucy. "Wait, I thought you said he broke your phone," she said the moment she answered."Yes, but surprisingly, he got a new one for me yesterday." I informed her.She gasped. "He did?"I chuckled. "I was as shocked as you are.""Well, that’s really nice of him," she said. "Nice?" I scoffed. "It just proves he’s up to something—especially with that apology and his whole ‘sorry’ act. I’m so done waiting to figure it out; it’s driving me insane!" I snapped, the frustration clear in my voice. "He apologised?" she asked, sounding as shocked as I had expected. I went on to explain everything that had happened, starting with our little weird conversation in my room last night. She let out