I carefully placed the strands of Thea's hair into a small cloth bag, taking care to stash it somewhere that no one would come across it.All it would take was a simple DNA test. And if the DNA matched mine, then the truth about Thea's parentage would finally be revealed, and I would have to confron
Just then, the door swung open, and a woman entered. She was tall and sharp-featured, her brunette hair pulled back tightly. “I’m here to collect Luna Olivia’s belongings,” she announced, not even really looking at me.I felt my pulse quicken.“You can’t take anything until Elijah returns,” I state
Elijah listened as I spoke, nodding to himself. I prattled off every single name on the list, along with a distinctive feature of each person, without looking at the papers. When I was finished, I was out of breath and my tongue was dry.“Not bad. But this doesn’t mean you’ve passed the assessment,”
Elijah"I didn’t permit you to return here," I said coldly, my voice steady, though inside I was anything but. I had not expected her to come back now—if ever.Olivia’s smile was tight, revealing nothing of the turmoil I felt at her presence."I just want to talk."I glanced toward Agnes and Thea as
I instinctively tried to pull my hand back, but Elijah held my wrist firmly, his grip surprisingly gentle. A shiver ran through me as I felt his warm tongue lapping at the wound.The sharp pain gradually faded, replaced by a soothing warmth that spread through my finger, as if he were weaving some k
Elijah I submerged myself in the warm water, letting it envelop me like a comforting embrace. The heat seeped into my muscles, washing away the tension that had accumulated in my shoulders. Yet, my mind was far from at ease.The weight of responsibility hung heavily on me, particularly concerning O
I knew I had no choice but to complete the task Elijah had assigned me. Sitting in my new office, I combed through the list of individuals I was supposed to contact, trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation. Each name felt like a weight, knowing they wouldn’t take me seriously. I w
I stood frozen in Elijah’s study, completely stunned by his words. His calm, steady tone was so casual, yet the authority behind it felt like a punch to the gut. My mind raced, trying to process what he had just said.“What?” I blurted, unable to hide the confusion in my voice.How could he be so ca
AgnesElijah and I skidded around the corner to the living room and came screeching to a halt the moment we saw the horrific scene that was waiting for us.The dollhouse now lay in ruins, its roof cracked straight down the middle. And none other than Olivia stood above it, her fists still raised.My
The very thought made me wince and look away. I didn’t want to think that Elijah could be shallow enough to fall for something like that, but the fact of the matter was, she was his mate. They still bore the mating marks and nothing was tying him to me except for a contract.She could manipulate him
AgnesThe moment Elijah said those words, Thea darted behind my legs and gripped my skirt as if Olivia might whisk her away if she didn’t hold onto me. I didn’t know what to say or do, but feeling her body tense against me made my heart constrict painfully in my chest.Behind her, Olivia stood in th
A few murmurs rippled through the room, but no one spoke up.“Maybe someone just didn’t finish in time,” one of the designers suggested with a shrug.I nodded slowly, figuring that was probably the case. But something didn’t sit right with me about that, although I didn’t know why. Still, I let it g
AgnesThe afternoon sun slanted through the office window, casting long shadows across the wood as I sat at my desk with my pencil in hand. For the first time in the past few days, the sketchbook in front of me wasn’t empty. I’d managed to scrawl a few decent designs across the pages; they were roug
Truthfully, I wondered if I could tell Elijah the truth—that I thought Thea might be my missing daughter and that I was the one who sent the samples in. But I couldn’t get the words out. I was too afraid—afraid that if I told him the truth, he might become overprotective and accuse me of trying to t
Agnes & ElijahAgnesElijah’s breath was warm against my neck, the faint scent of whiskey and pine curling through the small, dark space between us. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my body, and I didn’t know what to make of it.To make matters worse, my own pulse was entirely unh
“Sketching?” Gertrude eventually asked, nodding toward the closed book on the table.“Trying to,” I admitted with a wry chuckle. “But it’s not going as well as I’d like.”The librarian hummed thoughtfully, glancing down at the pages scattered beside me. Her eyes caught on one of Ava’s sketches that
AgnesI stared down at the sketchbook in my lap, tapping the end of my pencil against the blank page until even the sounds of the soft thuds were starting to irritate me. No matter how long I sat there, no matter how hard I tried to force inspiration to come, nothing was coming to me.No designs, no