Mirabella's povI knew where this was heading. I had been prepared for it. So, slowly, I stood and walked toward him. As I moved my hand to his shoulder to make the first move, he suddenly gripped my wrist, sending a jolt of pain up my arm as he yanked me closer. The force of his pull sent me stumbling forward as my knees hit the edge of the table. I winced, both from the physical pain and the cold detachment in his eyes. "Get on your knees," he commanded, his voice low and menacing. He then grabbed me by the hair, yanking me down to the floor with brutal force. I cried out, but he only tightened his grip, pulling my head back, so I had no choice but to look up at him. "You will learn your place," he growled, his breath hot against my ear. He released my hair, only to immediately grab my chin, forcing my mouth open. I struggled, but his strength was overwhelming. He leaned in closer, his eyes boring into mine as he spoke, each word dripping with venom. "You want to thank
Mirabella's pov"Did it truly happen? Is this what I've signed up for?" The questions clawed at my mind as I lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. My body ached in places I never thought possible, a sharp reminder of the pain I'd gone through last night.I buried my head in my knees, hugging them tightly, trying to muffle the devastation that roared inside me. The images of last night played on repeat, haunting me. I had cried until sleep finally took me, and now, the tears threatened to start again."How had this happened?" I wondered. It was Jay—the same Jay who has made my body sing at the club, whose touch had been a perfect blend of heat and need. But last night… last night felt like a mockery of that memory. He was not the same. It was as if a demon took over him.But despite everything, a small flicker of hope crept in. Maybe something was wrong with him. "Maybe a business crisis had triggered that brutal side of him. After all, he had been acting distant and stern ev
Mirabella's povTo clear my head, realising I could not let myself get drowned in the weight of everything happening—if it were even true—I decided to go on a shopping spree to pick up some things I needed, especially clothes, and distract myself in the process. For some reason, it worked. My mood lifted as I got lost in the moment, maybe because I never really treated myself like this before. I was in the book section, skimming through novels, when I suddenly heard someone call my name.I turned around, and my eyes widened in shock."Lucy!" I shouted, rushing to her. I threw my arms around her, accidentally dropping the book I was holding. We stayed locked in the hug for a few moments, neither of us moving."People are staring at us, Bella," she said, laughing softly.She started to pull away, but I was not ready to let go yet. The hug felt like exactly what I needed—like it was holding my whole world together—even if just for a little while."Let them stare," I whispered, tighte
Mirabella's povThe cab rolled to a stop in front of what used to be my home. I told the driver to hang on for a minute and stepped out, heading toward the door. I wanted a quick visit with my grandfather, hoping my father would not be around.I was not ready to tell Lucy how shitty my family was for now. When the door finally opened after my knock, I was stunned. Standing there was someone I did not recognise—someone about my age, looking at me like I was the one who did not belong."Who...who are you?" My brows were arched in confusion.She chuckled. "I should be the one asking you that. Are you sure you haven't missed your way?""Missed my way? You must be kidding." I muttered."Esther, who is that?" I heard a voice call out from deeper inside the house.The shock hit me even harder. Not just one, but two unfamiliar females were now in the same house I used to share with my father and grandfather."What's going on?" My confusion made me look around to check if indeed I was in the
Jayden's povZayn’s call jolted me awake early this morning. He told me the names Fred had called out had been rounded up, and they were now in the same abandoned building where I had unleashed my wrath on Fred. It made me leave the house in a hurry.They met the same end as Fred, despite begging for their lives.Now, Zayn and I are in my office."Are you sure you kept an eye on my sister all night?" I asked, watching his face closely.His eyebrows shot up, confused. "Yes, I did.""Guess you were so tired from that you had to leave the others to the boys," I smirked. "Didn't see you at the scene at all."When I showed up, they told me he had just left—which I knew was a lie—telling them that he would be back, but he never did."No... I'm... I'm sorry, sir." His voice trembled.I chuckled. "You should be. But I’m sure there’s a reason you didn’t show up.""Yes, sir. I headed straight there after watching over your sister," he explained."I had to rush home to take my meds, but I got s
Mirabella's povTwo nights under Jayden's roof had been nothing but pure torment—each one a fresh wave of heartbreak and dread.I lay curled up at the edge of my bed, trembling as I sobbed into the pillow. "Two nights of hell," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "Is this how I'll keep living, stuck under the same roof as him?"The weight of everything pressed down on my chest, suffocating me. It was hard to breathe, hard to think, and impossible to imagine finding peace in a place that reeked of cruelty and deceit. After just two nights, there was no sign of anything close to happiness.Even though it had been nearly an hour since he hit me for trying to escape, I could still feel his hands gripping my shoulders, holding me down. His dark, possessive eyes flashed in my mind, along with the smirk he wore as he kicked and beat me, dragging me from my room to the living room, forcing me down the stairs.I had screamed inside, but my voice had never made it past my lips.But there wa
Jayden's povHere I was, fresh from my business with Mirabella, dressed in a sleek black suit and dark glasses, trailing a woman in a matching suit as she led me deeper into the heart of the Aphrodite Club. This was where the Hive held their meetings.I knew this was not going to be an easy meeting. Being summoned before the Big Five, the leaders of our gang, always spelled trouble for someone like me—an ordinary member on paper. But I was not worried. I had dirt on each of them, the kind of leverage that could tear their whole world apart. That was what got me into the Hive in the first place.What most outsiders didn’t know was that the Aphrodite Club was not just a hotspot for indulgence; it was also the Hive's stronghold. Every member had ties to it, whether they liked it or not. And at the centre of it all was Mr. Lancelot, the Godfather, the oldest living member of the Hive, and the one who owned the club.The Big Five were already there. I entered the room, following the uns
Jayden's povI pulled up to the front of Zayn's house and killed the engine, letting the silence settle around me.I wasn’t just here to make a statement—I was here to remind Zayn of the consequences of playing with fire.After I had stepped out, I strode to the door and knocked.A few seconds passed before it creaked open, revealing a woman in pyjamas. Her hair was tousled, one strand falling across her face, and her eyes were wide, caught between confusion and surprise.A faint smirk tugged at my lips as I let my gaze roam over her because what I was told was true."Can I help you? Who are you?" she asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and wariness.I leaned against the doorframe, a smirk playing at the corners of my mouth. "I should be the one asking you the question. Who are you?" I teased her, even though I already knew who she was.She frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "I’m his girlfriend. Now, who are you?"I chuckled. "Girlfriend? Hmm. Interesting. You must be the r
Mirabella's pov“Why are you trying to drink yourself to death?” I asked Jayden, surprise and shock still etched on my face. He didn't say anything but only stared at the ceiling as though it held the answers to every question he was too tired to ask. The Jayden I knew was sharp, always in control. But version of him looked... shattered and exposed, a shift that had been obvious since he struck the boy. "Why are you doing this to yourself?" I asked gently, moving a little closer. He muttered something under his breath, too low to catch at first, but the words eventually registered.“What if the boy dies, uh?” His eyes darted to mine, wild and glassy, searching me for something I didn’t understand. "I can't just stop wondering about the possibility no matter how hard I try not to."It was hard to ignore the state he was in."You are drunk, Jayden," I said, closing the distance between us after realising there was no point in having this conversation with him again. "Come on, l
Mirabella's pov "Did we... Is he dead?" My eyes shot wide with shock, locking with Jayden's equally panicked gaze. Without a word, he unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. I hurried after him, heart pounding as we approached the front. "Shit!" he muttered, his voice strained with panic. He crouched down immediately, pulling the boy toward him. Blood was seeping out fast, staining the floor. "Is he...?" "He's alive," he said suddenly, his face lighting up with relief as he felt for a pulse. "He's alive, Bella!" he repeated, a shaky laugh escaping him. Around us, a crowd had started to gather. Some were filming on their phones, others just standing there, watching like it was a movie. "Are you all seriously just standing there?" Jayden's voice boomed. "Put your damn phones down and help!" His shout echoed through the street, cutting through the murmurs. But no one did. "We should call an ambulance," I said quickly, turning back to the car to grab my p
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