Author’s POVHannah held her breath, waiting for Grace’s response. She already knew how Grace felt about her marriage with Ethan and was not expecting her to jump to her aid, but the silence on the other end of the line was deafening.“You want me to investigate Ethan Ford?” Grace finally asked, breaking the silence, her voice laced with shock. Hannah bit her lip, her heart racing as she contemplated this idea again, doubts creeping in.‘Was this the right thing to do? Was she about to cross a line she couldn’t come back from?’ she wondered, staring blankly at her bedroom wall. Ethan did not seem like the kind of man she should mess with, but she had to know the truth. There was too much at stake, too many unanswered questions that left her intrigued.“I need to know who he really is Grace,” Hannah replied in a low tone.“There’s something… something dark about him. I can feel it.” She continued, her voice cracking with fear.Grace remained quiet for some time, processing the weight
Author’s POV The bustling sound of lawnmowers awoke Hannah by 8 a.m. that morning. She had spent some hours in the night, stuck on Lily’s picture, her mind filled with many thoughts and questions until eventually she drifted off to sleep. Stretching her arms, she glanced at the alarm clock by her bedside and sprang up immediately after she saw the time. Today was the party Ethan had been preaching about and if she was late or unprepared, he was going to kill her. She ran towards her box of clothes, searching for anything decent she could wear, which seemed a lot harder than she thought. Ethan had stretched the importance of this party so much, but in all those times he never mentioned what the party was really about, making her choice of outfit difficult to make, not as if she had anything suitable for an occasion as this. This was going to be her first ever party, surrounded by a set of wealthy class she only saw on TV broadcasts and read about in books. Certainly, even her most
Author’s POV Upon hearing this, Hannah stood frozen at the door, her pulse quickening as Ethan’s words echoed in her mind. ‘What did Nicolas mean by she was the right fit for Ethan?’ Was that supposed to be a compliment? A warning? Or something more sinister. Something about the way he said it, made her certain his words were not well meant. She slammed the door in frustration, leaning against it for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest. Nicolas’ visit left her feeling doubtful. He seemed concerned, but she didn’t know if she could trust him. For all she knew, he could just as easily have been one of Ethan’s pawns, sent to find out if she was up to anything. Hannah quickly shook off the unease. She couldn’t allow herself to let her guard down now. She had kept Lily a secret all this time and could not afford to reveal her secret now. The party was just hours away, and she had to focus on making sure she was ready, so as not to incur Ethan’s wrath. This was an importan
Author’s POV The door clicked shut behind Reginald and Hannah found herself alone once again. She stared at her phone, the cryptic message still on the screen, and then heaved a sigh and tossed the phone away. Finding Lily was important, but the party was in a few hours and she needed to be prepared. With that, she searched through her box of clothes and threw on one of her cheap dresses. Staring at herself in the mirror, her lips curled into a sinister smile as she anticipated returning to Elsy’s store. Right at that moment, a soft knock pulled her back into reality. “Ms. Young, we’re living in ten minutes.” Clint’s voice called from outside the door. Hannah rolled her eyes at his commanding tone. Clint’s presence was already more suffocating than she could imagine. He was Ethan’s Chauffeur, but he acted more as his bodyguard and enforcer. After what happened at the Pier, she was certain that whatever she did around him would get back to Ethan, which only meant that she had
Author’s POV The car door swung open and Clint stood by, waiting for Hannah. Hannah stared at the building for some moments, and then her lips curled into a sinister smile. Turning toward Clint, her expression suddenly turned stern. The last thing she wanted was for him to blow her cover before she even had a chance to get her revenge on the store manager. “I know Ethan sent you to look over me, but I’m going to need you to do as I say now, or we can forget about all of this.” Hannah declared. Immediately, Clint’s gaze turned cold. He could tell that whatever Hannah was planning, she was up to no good. However, seeing the stern look on her face and knowing that time was running out, he heaved a defeated sigh and gave in, “What are you going to do?” Clint asked with concern. Hannah’s face tinged with excitement, and she just turned and walked toward the entrance of the boutique wordlessly. Entering the store, she walked humbly toward the luxury department, checking through d
Author’s POV“What's going on here?” The store manager, Victoria asked with a stern look.“Ma'am this customer came in here asking to browse around the luxurious section of the boutique. I asked her to leave, but she wouldn't, insisting that she wanted to see our most expensive clothes in the store.” Lydia replied, her voice wavering, unable to look at Victoria directly in the face.“I was just about to call security to throw her out,” she quickly added, hoping to exonerate herself, but Victoria just ignored her with a wave of her hand. Her eyes shifted slowly towards the woman across the floor and slowly widened in shock when she realized who it was.“You!” The words escaped her lips.Immediately, a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, and her former furious gaze softened into a malicious look.“Ma'am, what do you want to do?” Lydia's voice echoed softly, noticing the familiar look between the two.“Don't worry about it,” Victoria said, walking confidently toward Hannah. “I'll ha
Author’s POVVictoria chuckled lightly, thinking this was some sort of ridiculous game, but when she saw the seriousness on Hannah's face, her smile faded slowly. “Have you gone mad?” Victoria hissed, her voice rising in anger, “Do you think you can come in here and just act so shamelessly? You think we're running a circus for lunatics like you?!” “You can't just–”“Why not?” Hannah shot back calmly.“You were so kind to let me stay here. Seems only fair that you'll treat me to a little something too. As a no good scum with no shame, consider it a favor to an old friend.” She said loud for everyone to hear and gave Victoria a wink.Clint shifted uncomfortably behind Hannah, sensing the tension that was brewing between the two women. He had seen enough to know that this was going to get messy, but he stayed away, unsure where this would be.Hannah was ready for a fight, and she was playing it smart, which he was intrigued to see.Victoria seethed now, storming around in anger, lookin
Author’s POVHannah’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, something darker flashed across her face. She remained quiet for a while, almost as if contemplating her next words carefully.“Well, what is it? It sure must be important if you are willing to risk annoying Ethan for it.” Clint asked curiously.A small smile stretched Hannah’s lips, she shook her head softly, deciding that she still couldn’t trust Clint or anyone connected to Ethan with her secret.“This isn’t just about Victoria,” she said quietly. “It’s about getting my dignity back from everyone who stole it from me. Every opportunity I lost because they took one look at me and decided that I wasn’t worth it, I wasn’t qualified.” Hannah lied, yet her fists still clenched in anger. This wasn’t the main reason she was doing it. It was to find Lily, but still, recounting every moment of her life when she was denied an opportunity just because she wasn’t wealthy or had a good status made her anger grow.Clint blinked, confused. He
Author’s POV“What is a letter doing here?” Hannah wondered, still staring at the letter curiously. After a while, she approached the dress, gently picked it up, and observed the intricate designs, and then her gaze shifted back to the letter. Hannah heaved a deep sigh, glancing at the door. At first, she thought it was Ethan, but they shared a room and Hannah could not imagine what it was he had to say that he just couldn’t say to her. Slowly, she picked up the letter and tore open the seal. However, as soon as she noticed who it was from, she froze in shock and the letter fell right out of her hands. Without thinking, Hannah turned and ran out of the room into the hallway, scanning her eyes around hoping to find the waitress from before, but she was too late, she was already gone. After some more time searching the hallways and trying to describe the waitress from earlier even though she had barely gotten a good look at her, Hannah finally gave up and returned to her room.She pace
Author’s POV“You want me to do what?!” Hannah exclaimed, the weight of the words still hanging in the air.She could feel her heart racing already from the thought of it. Her relationship with Ethan was already rocky enough as it was, the last thing she wanted to do was to complicate that with a kiss. “Come on, Hannah, this shouldn’t be difficult to do. All I’m asking is that you kiss your husband. How difficult could that be?” He replied with a hint of sarcasm.Hannah paced around the room frantically. She was afraid when she came to this party, knowing she’d have to act unnaturally close to Ethan to sell off their act as a real married couple, but she never expected that she’d have to kiss him.Things had just escalated quickly. “I can’t do it. I won’t.” Hannah replied sharply.A deep sigh returned on the other end of the line, and then went silent for a while. “Hannah, look we both have to do things we don’t want to do to get what we want. You of all people should know that. Yo
Author’s POV“You want me to do what?!” Hannah exclaimed, the weight of the words still hanging in the air.She could feel her heart racing already from the thought of it. Her relationship with Ethan was already rocky enough as it was, the last thing she wanted to do was to complicate that with a kiss. “Come on, Hannah, this shouldn’t be difficult to do. All I’m asking is that you kiss your husband. How difficult could that be?” He replied with a hint of sarcasm.Hannah paced around the room frantically. She was afraid when she came to this party, knowing she’d have to act unnaturally close to Ethan to sell off their act as a real married couple, but she never expected that she’d have to kiss him.Things had just escalated quickly. “I can’t do it. I won’t.” Hannah replied sharply.A deep sigh returned on the other end of the line, and then went silent for a while. “Hannah, look we both have to do things we don’t want to do to get what we want. You of all people should know that. Yo
Author’s POV“How do you know Liam?” Hannah repeated, sensing a hidden truth there. Julienne hesitated for a while, and then said, “Liam? He’s just my brother’s annoying old friend.” She replied.Hannah was not convinced but she accepted Julienne’s explanation.“What did you say Ethan was doing?” Julienne asked curiously.“He has been staring at his old friend as if he wants to drill a hole through his head, and he’s not subtle about how he feels about Liam either. I’m afraid he’s going to ruin this deal he’s trying to sign, and spend the rest of the trip making it uncomfortable for everyone, which just so happens to be only me,” Hannah complained.“Can you talk to him, get him to bury this Liam thing before the party? It’s in a couple of hours and I’ll appreciate if Ethan isn’t cranky the whole time.”Julienne remained quiet for a while, as if thinking over it, and then said “Alright. I’ll see how I can help.” But before Hannah could say anything, she quickly added, “Do you know wha
Author’s POV“Okay, what’s this thing with you and Liam?” Hannah asked as soon as they stepped inside.“Can we not talk about it? I’m not really in the mood.” Ethan said dismissively.“We can drop it if you stop acting like a jerk around him.” She sneered.Ethan took one look at her and threw up his arms in frustration, “How do you even know that loser?”“What? Liam? He worked with me at the Nightclub.” Hannah replied.When Ethan heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. “Did you say he worked with you at the nightclub?” He repeated.“Yes, what’s the matter?” “Nothing,” Ethan gave in and went to the room, grabbed another duvet, and brought it back to the living room. “Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. You should get some rest, Hannah.” Ethan said and laid on the couch. Hannah remained frozen, staring at him for a while, and then sighed and walked away.She returned to the room and looked without checking her phone, she went back to bed.***The next morning, Ethan was awoken by th
Author’s POVHannah stormed out of the room with no hesitation. Her mind was racing uncontrollably, and all she wanted was a little break to just process everything. She strode towards the balcony, overlooking the view of the river behind it. Liam stood at the corner of the hallway, watching her intently, and then summoned a smile, and slowly approached her.Hannah gasped in shock when she suddenly saw him,“Liam,” she exhaled.“What are you doing here?” Liam ignored her and just slowly approached her with a smile on his face,“Sorry, Hannah. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He paused and stared at her deeply as if trying to note something.“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hannah’s brow raised uncomfortably as she looked at him.“Does he know?” Liam asked with curiosity.Hannah shot her gaze away, confused by what Liam was asking. Seeing her perplexed expression, Liam smirked and stepped closer to the balcony, tracing his fingers along the cold metal rail.“Your husband, Ethan. I
Author’s POV“Liam?” Hannah called, still in shock. “What are you doing here?” She added as Liam suddenly stopped in front of her. “It’s nice to see you again Hannah, you didn’t even inform us at the nightclub that you were quitting your job,” Liam said teasingly.Hannah look flustered. She still couldn’t believe that Liam was standing in front of her. How did he even get into an exclusive event like this?‘Liam must have scored a very sweet gig here.’ She thought, looking around the place again.“I’m sorry Liam, it all just kind of happened so fast,” Hannah said and quickly added, changing the conversation, “So are you here on a job?” She asked and a wry smile appeared across Liam’s face. However, just as he was about to say something, Ethan emerged from the other end of the hallway and became instantly furious, “You!” He sneered angrily, approaching Liam.Immediately Hannah saw the stern expression on Ethan’s face she could tell something was wrong. She quickly got out of the way,
Author’s POV“Allow me to show you the inside,” Ethan said and led Hannah into the jet.After they entered the jet, Ethan gestured and the air hostesses brought a bottle of champagne.Ethan shifted his gaze to Hannah again and a smile flashed on his face. He could sense the shift in tension and the ease that was quickly settling in between them.“I know this week has been tense and difficult, but can we try to be relaxed around each other? We might just have a good time if we give it a try.” Ethan said earnestly.Hannah hesitated for a while, unsure what to say. Ethan drove a good bargain – the jet, the expensive wine. If she didn’t know better she would think that he was flirting with her. Hannah decided to temporarily ignore the rift between them, at least for the entirety of their flight. Surprisingly, the atmosphere of the jet suddenly changed. Hannah and Ethan engaged frequently in casual conversations, Hannah occasionally taking notes of certain things she liked about it.The w
Author’s POVThe moment they had both dreaded the whole week had arrived. Today was the departure date for the merger party and contract signing in Vienna. Hannah and Ethan had avoided each other for the rest of the week since Hannah’s bold accusations, which Ethan found too true, and ended up feeling mocked.That morning Clint packed their necessary luggage and pulled the car over to the front entrance, waiting nervously for Ethan and Hannah.Evidence of their tension was visible enough for everybody to see, and no one dared to interfere.Hannah descended the stairs with regular pants and a shirt, looking shabby. When all the maids saw this, they feared that Ethan was going to blow over, however, as they stood around, waiting for his reaction, they were surprised. Ethan just heaved a sigh and ignored Hannah. He already had too much on his mind and did not need another reason just to pick a fight with her. For all he cared, Hannah could wear sweatpants and he wouldn’t mind.The maids