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ALEX I used to wear the mask of a calculative son of a bitch all the time. I used to wear it so often that it felt like a second skin. My lips tended to curve with ease, forming a well-crafted smile that never carried a single ounce of emotion. But today, that mask fell into pieces, and all it took was one look at her. A goddess. Jeanette stood right beside her. My contractual fiancée wore a white dress that was meant to make her shine, but with Sarah next to her, her white turned into a meaningless blur. Sarah shone like a refined diamond, and I wanted to shout from the rooftops, letting everyone know that she was mine. Grandma did a trick on me. I didn't think she would bring Sarah with her. Hell, I wasn't pleased with the idea of seeing the Chairwoman at that conference as well. Yet, there they were—both of them—the most important women in my life. I wasn't sure what I was going to tell the press seconds before I walked into the conference room. The old Duncan's words swirled in
SARAH“Ms. Hill, can you tell us more about how you and Mr. Ravenford met?” The reporter shoved the microphone toward me, and I barely resisted an urge to step back.I stretched my lips, doing my best to hide my fears behind a smile. Then I glanced at Eleonor, who gave me a nearly unnoticeable nod of her head, encouraging me to speak. Before she forced me to engage in this popularity campaign, she advised me to tell the truth—well, most of it. I decided to stick to her advice. Clearing my throat, I turned to the reporter.“Five years ago, I decided to spend a weekend in the Bahamas to recover after a cheating guy broke my heart. Then, I met an extremely handsome guy and accidentally spilled my drink all over his shirt.” I smiled a little sheepishly and heard a wave of soft laughs spreading across the group of reporters.“So you and Mr. Ravenford met by accident?” someone asked.“Yes. It was one of those embarrassing moments when I wished I was invisible,” I said, and another gale of l
ALEXIt was four in the morning. Grayson and I were sitting in my office, constantly refreshing the main news sites and checking the most trending business topics on the net. Several hours earlier, we had released Ravenford Corporation's statements, and we helped spread the revelations about Lapis Arena Industries and the accidents their products caused. Now, all we could do was wait. We hoped that the Lapis Arena topic would become trendy until the morning. Only then would all news reporters dig deeper into the subject. Otherwise, it would be Ravenford Corporation and the catastrophe investigation's results that would become the news of the day…Grayson fell asleep on the sofa, and I eventually passed out sitting behind my desk. I wasn't sure how long I slept, but it couldn't be more than two hours. I looked at the time; it was almost seven. Cursing under my breath, I dragged myself to the bathroom and took a shower.Grayson was still dead asleep even after I changed my clothes and m
SARAH“Stay calm, Sarah. You need to stay calm.” I repeated those words like a mantra as Liam and I walked to the main building.It was Saturday, and Eleonor wanted the three of us to eat breakfast together. A family meal. It was something I had never truly experienced. I didn't think I had ever seen my foster parents eating together. Later, when Mrs. Hill was no longer around and I was forced to look after my foster father and Bram, I was never truly allowed to eat with them. My foster father used to say that my presence ruined his appetite, and Bram had never said anything in my defense.The years of being mistreated significantly lowered my standards when it came to men. Perhaps that was why I fell in love with Nicolas and stayed by his side, ignoring all kinds of red flags along the way. Of course, Nick and I used to eat together, but it happened rarely, and every time such a thing occurred, he either complained about the food I cooked or used that time to brag about his accomplis
I couldn't focus on anything that day. My thoughts kept drifting to what Eleonor had told me, and that was completely insane. I tried to convince her to rethink her decision, but she only laughed and dismissively waved her hand. That was supposed to be our secret—a freaking huge secret at that. Setting me as the one in charge of most of the Ravenford fortune until Liam turned eighteen?! What was she even thinking?!Certainly, Eleonor wasn't gravely ill. Despite being close to her eighties, she might have been the healthiest old lady I had ever seen in my life, so the inheritance would not become mine or Liam's problem for a very long time. Nonetheless, if someone were to learn about it, it could easily put a target on our backs…Those what-ifs scared the holy crap out of me, even though Eleonor swore that no one would even find out about her new will. She even made me promise I wouldn't say anything to Alex. She intended to tell him personally when—as she called it—the right time came
A cold shiver ran down my spine. Muscles in my body tensed as I stared at Alex's brother. I acted irrationally, opening that door without even looking at who stood outside. I should have known better. “What are you doing here?” I asked, taking another step back.Cameron slowly raised his hands in surrender. “I… don't mean to harm you,” he said, surprising me. “Besides, I know that your security guard must be somewhere around, and I have no intention of going back to the hospital.”I glanced to my right and noticed something that looked like a shadow. That might have been Jun since Eleonor accommodated him in a smaller building not far away from where Liam and I stayed. Nonetheless, I knew better than to put my guard down in Cameron's presence. My eyes returned to him. “What do you want?”He sighed, his hands still raised. “I came to apologize.”My brows rose, and I stared at him, wondering if this was some kind of trick.“I admit that I was a complete asshole to you, and what I did—wh
*TRIGGER WARNING* Dear readers, please keep in mind that this chapter mentions addictions and self-injurious behavior.I stared at the plate with the food I ordered. It was supposed to be a chicken salad, but it resembled a small piece of art, which I was about to ruin.“You like it?” Matt asked, grinning.I smiled and nodded. “It looks… too good to eat.”He laughed. “Francesco is very creative when it comes to serving food, but I can assure you that it tastes even better than it looks.”My smile widened. Cautiously, I stabbed the slice of grilled chicken with my fork and put it in my mouth. Matt observed my every move, clearly amused by my attempts not to ruin the colorful composition. The moment my taste buds began to savor the bite I took, it felt like heaven. A soft moan slipped through my lips, causing Matt to chuckle.“I'm guessing that you enjoy your food?” He grinned.I licked my lips. "This is by far the best chicken I have ever tasted.”Matt laughed. “I'll tell Francesco you
ALEX“I did it. I fucking did it,” I growled to the phone as satisfaction filled every inch of me. I was on board my private plane, heading back to New York, and I wished I wasn't too tired to properly celebrate this achievement.“Congratulations!” On the other side, Grayson chuckled. “Marseilles is going to have one hell of an amazing hotel.”“Damn right,” I said, fisting my hand.The negotiations and transaction went smoother than I thought. I knew that my presentation was convincing, especially since I had placed some of the drafts Sarah had made as an example of what this place could turn into, but I hadn't predicted making the entire deal in less than twenty-four hours. It felt fucking incredible, and if the last transaction went equally well, I could call for a shareholders' meeting in less than two weeks and then call off that fucking wedding with Jeanette.I could almost taste my freedom. I could finally tell Gregory Duncan to go fuck himself. I would never have to deal with h
ALEX Four and a half years later I opened my eyes to see Sarah's gorgeous sleeping face, and my lips instantly stretched into a wide smile. God, I would never have enough of watching her sleep. There were only two other faces I loved more: her face when she smiled and the blushing face that appeared shortly after she reached her climax. Actually, I would gladly work to see that blushing face right now, but I couldn't risk being late today. This day was going to be perfect. I dipped my head to brush my lips against hers. I did it carefully so as not to wake her up. Then I slid out of bed and quietly walked out of our bedroom. Of course, it was way easier to sneak out of our room than to pass Liam's bedroom, and passing the twins' bedroom without them waking up or noticing was nearly mission impossible. Fortunately, none of them decided to wake up at six in the morning on Saturday, and two minutes later, I successfully entered the kitchen. Usually, this place belonged to Sarah. It wa
I vaguely recalled what had happened in the last few hours. I remember Jun calling my name as he all but tore me away from Alex, taking over the reanimation until the paramedics appeared. Then the words “temporary stable” rang in my head as they transported Alex to the hospital in Nassau. I refused to leave his side. I held his hand almost until he had been taken to the operating room. Philip and Jun dragged me away so that doctors could patch me, even though I said I didn't need it. They insisted, and Jun might have even said something about knocking me out if I'd refused. The doctors asked me if I needed painkillers. When I said I wasn't sure, they asked me if I needed something to soothe my nerves. I took neither. I didn't want anything that could dull my senses as I waited for Alex's operation to be over. The surgeon said that the bullet vaguely missed the heart but also that removing it would be complicated. Still, there was a chance. There was hope that he would survive. He had
I heard two gunshots, yet there was no pain. Well, there was no new kind of pain, and I could feel the heart pounding in my chest… But dead people shouldn't have a heartbeat, should they? My mind was struggling to process what was happening. My eyes snapped open just in time to see two guards fall to the ground, exposing the one who stood on the threshold. Alex.My breath caught in my throat as our eyes met, but my relief lasted less than a second. In my peripheral vision, I saw Lucius reaching for his gun and shifting his stance to shoot. “No!” I screamed for a split second before he aimed his gun at Alex and pulled the trigger.Alex leaped into the corridor and hid behind the door. “Sarah, get down!” he thundered, and that was what I did. I jumped to the side before Lucius could grab me and use me as a shield, and I dove behind the bed, lying face-down on the floor. Lucius roared like a wild animal, and more shots came. “I'll kill you, Ravenford!” he bellowed.I flinched every time
SARAHThree days passed since I had woken up in my luxurious prison. My ribs still hurt, but at least I could move on my own… more or less. The bruises I found all over my body were slowly fading. The worst were those on my shoulder, which, according to Lucius, had been dislocated. Once the mass of sedatives and painkillers left my system, the pain had become almost unbearable, but now I learned to function despite it.Lucius had been showing up in my room at least three times a day. Each time, he brought me food or snacks. It might have been his twisted definition of caring about me. Never had he raised his voice on me, but I knew better than to trust his fragile kindness. The cold glow in his eyes remained, and the smiles he had often given me betrayed cruelty. I couldn't let my guard down around him. I had to put on my best act, even though his slightest touch filled me with sheer disgust. It terrified me that he became more daring. He enjoyed tracing every bruise on my neck and sh
ALEXI was sitting in my office and trying to focus my eyes on the screen. My current struggle had nothing to do with Ravenford Corporation. I was tracing the old metro plans, hoping to find that one place we had missed.“You shouldn't stay here all night again.” Grayson sighed before grabbing a chair and sitting in front of my desk. “Staring at those plans won't bring her back.”“She is not dead, Grayson,” I hissed.“You don't know that,” he argued but raised his hands in surrender as soon as he met my glare.“I know that because we haven't found her body.” Anger raised the volume of my voice, but that only made Grayson look at me with more pity.“If you're convinced that she's not dead, then why not call off the search inside the tunnels?” His brows rose. “It has been more than a week now. Even if she survived the fall, she must have been injured and lying there alone—”“Shut. The fuck. Up.” The knuckles in my fisted hands bleached.“I don't want to see you torture yourself,” he sai
SARAHI heard myself drawing a breath into my lungs. It was a wheezing sound, and the movement of my chest came with a great deal of pain. Then I heard something else—voices. I couldn't understand what they were saying… It was… Chinese?The realization triggered an alarm that spread throughout my aching body. Fear clung around me tightly, forming a thick, almost material cover, nearly as real as the sheets on my body. Then I heard one voice I recognized. The sound doubled the terror consuming me. Lucius. He and someone else were arguing about… something. Their voices were raised, their edges sharp, their tones cold…I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to adjust my sight, but it remained blurry no matter how hard I tried to focus. I struggled for another few seconds before I could see more clearly. Wherever I was, it looked like an enormous bedroom. The bed I was lying in was double the size I had in my penthouse. A huge window was several feet to the left of the bed, and the palm tre
The outer corridor had been completely annihilated by the explosives, and more than four of our men had lost their lives. Their bloodied bodies lay close enough for some of the guests to see, and the cries and screams became unstoppable in seconds. The alarms went off, and an automated steel shield quickly covered every glass wall. At the same time, the recorded voice announced that the main hall had been secured and separated until the situation was under control. That, of course, didn't lessen the panic devouring almost everyone inside.My eyes shifted to Sarah and Liam. They were still standing on the round podium in the middle of the hall while some of the terrified guests ran in every direction, ineptly trying to find the way out, as if it weren't obvious that they could get shot if they did. Sarah hugged Liam tightly, moving to the center of the dais, trying to stay away from the crowd of panicked people. My first instinct was to get them far away from that podium, but with the
ALEXI was sitting by my desk, rubbing my thumb over my still-swollen knuckles. Well, that's what you get after punching the wall hard enough to stain it with your blood. Let's just say that I hadn't taken the news about Natasha Collins well. Not only did she betray our family—the family she had been working for for years—but she had nearly killed my grandmother. Perhaps it was fortunate that it was Sarah and her bodyguards who exposed her. If it had been me, I would have snapped her neck before I could have willed myself to exhibit reasonable behavior.“I thought you would be celebrating.” Grayson eyed me as he entered my office. “With all the accusations, the Duncans will sure as hell end up in jail.”“They found Marisol Martinez dead this morning. Someone slit her throat,” I said, rubbing my knuckles again as I struggled to contain my rising anger. “It's obvious to think that someone did it to silence her, but I somehow doubt that Gregory Duncan was behind this. Her testimony would
“I still can't believe that I can officially meet with Alex without hiding,” I said softly, holding Eleonor's hand. “Of course, that doesn't mean that everything's OK between us, but I cannot deny that he's trying.” I couldn't stop the smile from parting my lips as I thought of all the roses he had sent to my apartment. I was probably blushing, and Eleonor would have laughed if she had seen me looking like this… I missed her laugh and her remarks. Every day, I prayed that she would finally wake up. My chest tightened at the thought that she might never—No. I couldn't think about it. She was going to wake up. I had to believe she would. I sucked in a shaky breath and cleared my throat. “Anyway,” I continued. “Alex officially announced that he and Jeanette Duncan are no longer engaged. He said that they parted due to insurmountable differences. That, of course, doesn't change the fact that Jeanette is pregnant and that the child is Alex's.” I sighed and brushed a strand of hair off Ele