Maximilian Loxley is a ruthless billionaire, haunted by his past. Ada Turner is the maid who stepped into his mansion with a secret plan to destroy him. But the closer she gets to his guarded heart, the harder it becomes to untangle revenge from desire. As lies unravel and truths emerge, they’ll have to choose—let their dark secrets consume them or risk everything for the love they never saw coming.
View MoreAda I feel extremely sorry for Max. I wipe the tears spilling down my cheeks. His head is hanging low, and he constantly rubs his face. We haven’t said a word to each other in a long time. The silence is so deafening that I’ve lost complete track of time. I don’t think there’s anything that I could say to him that would make this situation better. Max then says, “My father…I didn’t think that he was this way, Ada. I never thought that he would betray me like this. For so long, I admired him. Looked up to him more than a normal son would look up to their father.”“I know,” I say, and I do. It was his high opinion of Reynold that made me change my mind about him killing my father. Now, I’m not so sure. Grayson was implying and hinting at so many things. I don’t know if he knows the truth about what happened to Theo and just father. How could he? I’ve never met him before in my life and it’s highly unlikely that he’s connected to me. Unless he did a deep background check on me, so d
MaximilianI frown as I stare at the papers in my hand. At the damn images all over them. What is this? What am I looking at, here?I glance at Ada’s face and note that her eyes are downcast. My gaze returns to the images, and my heart turns to ice in my chest as I truly take them in.“What…” I begin, unable to finish the sentence. My eyes finally land on her again, and I bunch the papers up in my hand before asking, “Where did you get these? Where, Ada!?”“Grayson gave them to me,” she replies meekly. Before she has the chance to say something else, the elevator door opens up on my floor. I step out of the elevator, the confined space beginning to make me feel claustrophobic. Ada follows me, her eyes on my face. Searching. After a beat, the door closes, leaving us both in the middle of the hotel’s hallway. I have to look at the images again. I see Cora and my father in various places, and even kissing in one of the images. What is this? What the hell is this?The pages slip from m
Maximilian I look back and forth between the two of them, but only because it hurts to look at Ada for too long. This burn starts in my chest and spread outward whenever our eyes lock.The three glasses of liquor I drank a few moments ago have done nothing to numb the pain. “So, this is what you’ve been doing this whole time?” I ask her, my voice gruff and laced with bitterness. She starts to say, “This isn’t—”“No, it is,” I interrupt her. “It is.”“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Max,” Grayson cuts in. “Ada is innocent in all this. You’re the one who’s made a mistake.”A cruel sound leaves my lips. “Really? And how do you know so much about that? Were you in on whatever it was she was doing?”From the corner of my eye, I see her hide her hands behind her back. She’s holding a few papers—I saw it right as I entered. I’m not sure why she looks like she’s panicking so much. Or rather, I do. It’s because she’s been caught red-handed. Then again, what did she expect? She’s
Ada"Grayson," I say his name, my voice hardly above a whisper, "what is this?"He doesn't say a word to me in return and instead, lets me go through all the papers he gave me. At first, they don't make sense to me, but that's only because I wasn't expecting this at all. I go through them again, my eyes searching."Do you know who that is?" he asks. "Yes," I reveal. I've seen her face once before, in a picture with Max. "This is his ex-wife. The one who died in an accident while—""Pregnant," he finishes for me. "Yes, that's her."In the papers he gave me, which seem to be photocopies of the actual pictures, I see her, Cora, I believe is her name, with none other than Reynold Loxley. In intimate settings. There's absolutely nothing remotely decent about this. In one of the photos, they're in a hotel room. She's seated, in lingerie, while he's standing over her, his fly undone. Then, they're in the car, their faces inches apart. In another photo, they're kissing. I mean, looking at
Ada When Grayson and I arrived here a few minutes ago, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know where he was bringing me. I couldn’t even guess it. I saw the hotel with all the cars parked in the lot, and I wondered what kind of party he was bringing me to. It was only when I saw the names on the poster outside that I realized what his plan was. Now, we’re inside the venue and there are so many people here that I can’t even breathe. I’m suffocating on everything—the whole damn thing. Grayson’s grip on my arm is like a vice. I can’t even fight him off. “Stop it,” I tell him. “Stop! I don’t want to be here and I don’t understand why you’ve brought me to this place!”To Max’s engagement to that blonde woman? What if I come across him? God, I don’t think that I will be able to handle such a thing. What happened between us was too bad for me to just act like it wouldn’t be a problem. I wasn’t invited here. I don’t belong here. “Just relax,” Grayson says to me in a low voice as h
Maximilian As I fix my tie and stare at my reflection, a thought, unwanted and intrusive, occurs to me. What the fuck am I doing?I shut it down as soon as it springs to mind, but the fact remains that I've asked myself this question more often than I've convinced myself that I'm doing the right thing. And sure, that's a problem. It's not supposed to be, but it is. I can't even say that I haven't been warned. My father is showing up to the engagement party just because of the family image we need to portray. He’s made it very clear that he isn’t happy with my decision. Although I hate to disappoint him, I’m doing this to preserve my sanity. I didn’t think that getting over Ada would be this hard. She has become Ada now, completely. Utterly. I’ve forgotten all about Naomi Johnson. I pinch the bridge of my nose before taking a few moments to inhale. The more I think about it, the less I like it. But what can be done? A knock at the door interrupts my train of thought. The door o
Ada The day I have to meet with Grayson Piovani arrives, and I’m not ready. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, take a deep breath, and then put the last earring on. He mentioned he wanted me well-dressed? Well, this is it. I smooth my dress down with my hands, making sure to get all the wrinkles out. There aren’t any, I just don’t know what to do with my hands. I’ve opted for one of the only dresses I have that is presentable and I can take to an event that’s formal. It’s an emerald green with a sequined top. It belonged to my mother, but she said it no longer fit her after her gave birth to me, so I’ve had it ever since. It was meant to be worn for a special occasion, but the time never came and now, it’s useful to me. I’m nervous. I don’t know what to expect, and have no idea where he’ll be taking me. I just want to know what this big secret of his is. Why would he go through the trouble of contacting me if it wasn’t something serious that would benefit me? At this point,
AdaDamson steps away from me, finally releasing me. “He did, didn’t he?”I fold my arms. “Don’t blame him, Damson. He was just trying to help me understand why you were ignoring me the whole time.”He chuckles darkly, anger flashing in his eyes. “I see.”“It really hurt me, you know?” I mention after a stretch of silence. “I wish you’d talk to me. I don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me outright. I’d never judge you. Not ever.”His gaze meets mine and I realize that his eyes are red. He looks like he wants to cry. That, or he just looks plain furious. For some reason, I can’t tell the difference. “Right,” he then says. “Because that would be super ideal to you, wouldn’t it?”“What are you talking about?”“Nothing,” he says viciously before brushing past me to grab his coat. “Damson,” I say softly. “Damson, come on. Damson!”He ignores me outright and heads toward the door. Before he reaches it, it opens and my mother and Harry walk in, carrying takeout bags. I guess she did
Ada“Where were you?” is the first thing Damson asks me when I get back. I close the door slowly while trying to think about what I’ll say to him. I then settle with, “I just went to meet a friend.”His eyebrows raise. “A friend? Ada, you don’t have any friends.”“You don’t know that.”“I do,” he insists. “Is everything alright?”“Just fine,” I claim as I head toward the kitchen. I need to make myself some chamomile tea. It’ll help calm me and clear my mind. Damson follows me. I know how stubborn he can be, so I know he’ll continue questioning me until he’s satisfied with the answer. The tricky part is that I can’t tell him what happened with Grayson Piovani. I know what he’ll say, and I don’t want to hear it. Until I figure out what I’m going to do, I’m keeping this to myself.“I’m supposed to believe that?” he asks angrily. “Really?”I sigh. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Damson.”“Tell me the truth. Jesus, when did you start hiding things from me?”His question makes me w
AdaI've spent years preparing for this moment, but standing in the grand foyer of the family who destroyed mine, I wonder if I'm truly ready to play the role of the dutiful maid."This way, Miss Johnson," the housekeeper, Mrs. Danes, says to me as we continue through the house. Well, it's more of a palace, but whatever."Your work will be done on this lower part of the house," she informs me as she looks over her shoulder at me through her thin, round glasses. "You'll need a valid reason if you're found upstairs. You're expected to follow your schedule strictly, as any deviation will lead to you being asked to leave. Do you understand?""Yes, Mrs. Danes," I reply shyly, but even that is an act. I'm going to have to find a way to make it upstairs because I'll have to look into the face of Reynold Loxley, the man who killed my father and brother many years ago, ruining my life forever.She continues showing me around, telling me to do this and that, and explaining how they want things ...
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