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
Author's povCaesar waited in Alfred, his father's living room, tapping his fingers against the arm of the couch. He had been summoned by Alfred, and from the urgency in his voice, he was certain that something was wrong.Finally, Alfred limped into the room, leaning heavily on his cane, his face lined with simmering anger. He stopped a few feet from Caesar with a sharp gaze.“Son,” he said, voice low yet laced with venom, “sometimes, I truly question if you have the progress of this family at heart.”The words struck Caesar like a slap. He blinked, taken aback. “Father… I don’t understand what you mean.”Alfred's eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a sneer. “No true son of mine would sit back while an arrogant bastard like Jayden makes a mockery of me...of us! Are you even trying, Caesar? Or have you simply accepted defeat?! Need I remind you he holds this family's fate?"Caesar’s face hardened in disappointment. “Only a bastard would want such a thing to happen to his family, fat
Mirabella's povAll my life, ever since my mother passed, I had felt like a caged bird, wings clipped, freedom snatched, my existence controlled by whoever held the key. First, it was my father, then Helen, and now Jayden. But Jayden’s grip was different; he didn’t just hold the key—he tightened the bars of the cage, leaving me with no escape, not even the faint hope that had once fluttered within me. He had eyes everywhere, as if he knew my every move before I even made it. I could still feel the sting from my last failed attempt to escape from him. The bruises on my arms hadn’t fully faded, a reminder of his wrath and the “lesson” I had paid for in days spent nursing the pain. If not for Eunice, the only one who showed me kindness in this prison, who had tended to me, something worse would have happened to me because he denied me hospital treatment for my wound.“I own you. I am your god, and you have no choice but to embrace my hell,” he had sneered that day, eyes gleaming with s
Mirabella's povAs my gaze settled on Jayden standing in the doorway, the mask I had worn so carefully slipped right off. My hands started to tremble, giving me away as I stared at him, unable to look away. It was as if the whole room had shrunk, leaving just the two of us. The dim sunlight slipping through the narrow gap outside framed him in a way that felt almost unreal, as if I were seeing him for the first time.From his smooth skin that seemed to absorb the light, to his eyes that could keep people at arm's length yet leave them longing to come closer—eyes that felt like they could see right through me—to his perfectly tousled hair that fell just above his forehead. He was too perfect, almost painfully so, like looking at a statue carved from marble yet somehow alive.If not for the complications of our situation, I would have been captivated, swept away by the surreal charm he exuded so naturally, just as I had been from that first night alone with him in the room at the club
Jayden's pov I had a gut feeling something was off with Bella from the way she acted in the living room earlier. Her body language made it clear she was hiding something, so as soon as I got to my room, I checked the tracker. "What the fuck?!" My brows creased in confusion because she had been at home all day according to the tracker. "Why was she now acting nervous?" I could not help but wonder. Even though the tracker had proved me wrong, I could not shake my suspicion—my gut instincts had never let me down. While I was in the shower, a plan suddenly came to mind: install CCTV around the house without Bella or Eunice knowing. “Perfect!” I thought, smiling at how spot-on the idea was. "I shall find out whatever that slut is hiding or is up to." As I headed to the dining room for dinner, I noticed she was not anywhere in sight—not in the living room, and not in the dining room either. I called out her name, but silence answered me back. “Where the hell is that
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