Chloe "Tap-tap-tap." I knocked on the door gently, glancing over my shoulder, praying no one saw me like this—at least no one who knew Logan or my family. If they caught a glimpse, news would spread like wildfire. I would be a dead woman before I even realized what had happened. “Come on, Stella, open up.” I whispered, biting my lips. The door stayed closed. I knocked again, a little louder this time. I wanted to kick the door open. This girl was probably hungover. Stella was like a dead person in the morning when she was hungover, and getting her to open her eyes was a miracle in itself. “Damn it, why don’t you fix your doorbell? I told you to fix it!” I hissed, knocking on the door again. When she didn’t open it, I groaned in frustration. “Please, Stella, just open the doo—” I was just raising my hand to knock one more time when the door flew open. A very disheveled Stella stood in the doorway, her red hair a frizzy mess, her eyes puffy and bloodshot, and her entire expres
Chloe “Are you insane?!” Stella’s scream echoed through the apartment, making me wince. “Why are you yelling?” I said, holding my towel tightly around me. My hair was damp, and I had just taken a warm shower to clear my mind. I really needed it after last night’s madness “Why am I yelling?!” she shouted, sitting up on the bed. “How could you accept a drink from someone in a club? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” I sighed, rubbing my temple. “The bartender gave it to me, okay? Besides, I was already drunk by then. I didn’t know what I was doing.” “This is why you should never go to a club without me! I understand this was your first time, but there’s one rule every woman must follow if you want to stay safe.” I frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed as I pulled on the clean, presentable clothes she had lent me. “What rule?” “Never, ever drink anything that isn’t made in front of you. Don’t even think about trying something different unless you’ve seen people drink
Chloe “Where is your stupid friend?! Does she think she can hide it any longer? How dare she even think of doing that!” My heart dropped. Stella and I locked eyes, both wide-eyed and frozen in shock. I felt suffocated, it was as if the air in the room was closing up around me. I couldn't breathe as my mother-in-law's words echoed in my ear. “I know she is there with you.” She continued, her voice loud. “She left her phone here, so give the slut the ph—” Without a word, Stella hurriedly ended the call, her shaky fingers fumbling with the screen as she hung up. She clutched her chest, taking a step back. “Shit. H-how does she know?” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. “Was I right? Is she really a witch?!” I wasn’t listening. My thoughts were racing. Does she know? Does she know I cheated on her son, and slept with another man? My eyes darted around the room, and a chill ran down my spine as panic clawed its way through me. Was I followed? Had Logan sent someone a
Chloe Slam! Something struck the side of my head, hard. My vision blurred as I staggered back, a sharp pain spreading through my skull. The sound of shattering glass rang in my ears as the vase crashed to the floor, breaking into a hundred jagged pieces. I barely registered the warm, wet sensation trickling down my forehead until I saw it—drops of red splattering against the cold tiles. Blood. I blinked, my head throbbing, before slowly looking down at the growing crimson stain on the floor. “Woah, Mom,” a voice drawled lazily. “Your aim is better than before. I almost didn’t see it with how fast that throw was. Your personal trainer is really good.” I slowly lifted my gaze, my pulse pounding in my ears. Sitting comfortably on the couch, completely unfazed, were two women. My mother-in-law and Layla, my sister-in-law. My mother-in-law was casually admiring her nails, while Layla was smirking like she had just watched something mildly entertaining. “Really?” my mother-in-law
Alexander Power. What does it really mean? Does it mean having people under you, bending to your every whim? Does it mean standing on top, looking down at the world as if it’s your personal chessboard, where every piece moves at your command? Or is it something else entirely? Maybe if you’ve had power and wealth all your life, you’d see it as something trivial. It would be a birthright, an expectation, nothing more. But for me, power wasn’t just a concept or a status. It was control. Control over chaos. Control over people. Control over myself. Without power, you’re at the mercy of others. You’re a puppet, your strings pulled by hands you can’t even see. But with power, you hold the strings. You dictate how the world spins around you. With power nobody would dare mess with you. I was Alexander King, a man at the top of the world. Arrogant? Maybe. But that didn’t make it any less true. The door opened, and I stepped out of the car, the crisp morning air brushing against my f
Chloe I walked upstairs, one hand pressed against my throbbing forehead. At least it didn’t hit my eye, I thought dryly. That would’ve been a whole new level of pain to deal with. Lucky me. All I wanted now was to get to my room, shut the door, and block out the world, even if just for a moment. But as I reached for the door handle, it swung open before I could touch it. Amelia. She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a smug, knowing smile curving her lips. The kind of smile that said I’ve won. I stiffened, my eyes flickering past her, scanning my room, or at least, what used to be my room. It looked different. Slightly rearranged. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. Logan had given Amelia exactly what she wanted. She was in the master bedroom now. I inhaled slowly, trying to swallow the anger rising within me. All I wanted was to slap that smirk right off her face. Amelia leaned against the doorframe, smirking. “Now do you see how worthless you are t
Logan “What are you doing?” I stared at my wife, leaning against the wall with a deep frown. She gasped, startled, and turned her attention to me, quickly shoving her hand behind her back as if she were hiding something. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Slowly, I let my gaze trail over her, taking in every detail. Her clothes. Something was different. She wasn’t wearing her usual plain white dresses—the ones that never stood out, never drew attention. Instead, she was dressed in an oversized shirt and jeans. And not just any shirt. A man’s shirt. My jaw clenched. When I came back, I hadn’t even had the chance to change my clothes before Amelia came to tell me that Chloe had spent the night outside. And knowing the type of family she had, I was certain she hadn’t stayed at their place. "You didn’t spend the night here. And you obviously didn’t stay at your father’s place, so where were you last night?" “I—” I stepped closer, my glare fixed on her. Then, that feeling I hated
Chloe “That dickhead. How dare he say that?” I sighed as Stella slammed her hand on the table, making the silverware clatter. I took another sip of my hot chocolate, letting the warmth spread through me. For the first time in a week, I felt calm. Unlike my best friend, who looked like she was about to flip the entire table over. “That motherfucker,” she spat, her dark eyes burning with fury. “He really told you to stay away from me? Me?! Like I’m some kind of bad influence?” I set my cup down, looking at her with amusement. Well, to be fair, Stella was a bad influence. Just not in the way Logan thought. Stella turned to me so fast that my drink almost spilled, but I caught it just in time, gulping it down before it could slosh over the table. “Wait,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Is that why you haven’t been answering my calls for a week? Because that fucker doesn’t want us to be friends?” “Amelia was monitoring me like a hawk. She wouldn’t let me be alone for even a second. I
Chloe People always think it’s easy. Easy to walk away. Easy to let go. Easy to do the right thing. Even when I watched movies with Stella and the female lead did something incredibly stupid—something that made no sense, Stella and I would yell at the screen, calling her an idiot, telling her to get her shit together. I never understood. I never saw that it’s hard to do something just because I thought it was simple. What might be easy for one person might be impossible for another. Even now, maybe… maybe I was just making excuses. I pressed my fingers to my temple, feeling the dull throb of a forming headache as Stella’s voice buzzed in my ear. She was still talking, still telling me all the ways Logan was bad for me, still trying to knock some sense into me like she always did. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Stella,” I interrupted, my voice quieter than before. “Can I call you back?” She paused. “…Chloe?” “Everything is confusing me right now. I just… need to thi
Chloe I poked at my food absentmindedly, barely paying attention to it. My appetite had vanished the moment we sat down. “Why aren’t you eating?” I looked up, meeting Logan’s gaze. His fork rested on his plate, untouched, as he stared at me. Before I could answer, his gaze flickered to my plate. “You don’t think I asked them to poison your food, do you?” My fingers tightened around my fork. Well, that could be a possibility. Logan wasn’t exactly above doing something like that. He could have gotten tired of me and wanted me out of the picture so he could have Amelia and any women he wanted all to himself. Or maybe he was finally bored of tormenting me. But instead of letting me go, he decided to speed up the process and send me straight to the afterlife. Instead of showing how suspicious this whole thing was, I forced a smile and shook my head. “I’m just not that hungry. I don’t really eat much at night. Your mother wouldn’t like it if I gained more weight.” Logan paused, his
Alexander I took a slow sip of my whiskey, letting the familiar burn slide down my throat. My expression remained indifferent as I stared at nothing in particular. Someone was talking, but I had long since tuned them out. A loud smack against the table snapped me back to the present. The impact made the plates rattle, and I lazily lifted my gaze to see Joshua glaring at me, his hand still pressed against the table. "Let me guess, you zoned me out again," he said. I took another sip of my drink and hummed. "Correct." Like I said, sometimes it wasn’t intentional, sometimes my mind simply decided what was worth listening to and what wasn’t. And, as usual, Joshua fell into that category. He groaned, running a hand through his hair. "You're a lost cause, Alexander. Sometimes I think God blessed you with a perfect face and a genius brain, but he completely skipped the part where he was supposed to give you emotions. You have zero EQ." He turned to Leo, who was sitting beside
Chloe You are insane. Totally insane, Chloe. Save this marriage? Why would you even think something like that? Are you fucking dumb? I shook my head, trying to force the thought away. What the hell was wrong with me? I knew better. I knew Logan would never love me again. He would never look at me the way he used to. To him, I was nothing more than a wife in title. I was a trophy to parade around when it benefited him. So why… why was I still trying to fix something that had already shattered beyond repair? I sighed, running a hand down the blue dress I had just tried on. It was elegant and modest, with delicate embroidery tracing the hem and sleeves. The material hugged my waist perfectly before flowing down into a graceful A-line skirt. I turned to leave the dressing room, ready to show Logan if he approved of what I was wearing when I heard hushed voices outside. "Did you see her? Why would someone like him be married to someone like her? I can't believe it. He is way too go
Chloe I handed the driver the fare, but he simply shook his head. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. You need it more than me," he said with a sympathetic smile before driving off. I stood there, blinking. Wait… what? What did he mean by that? Did he think I was broke? Well… okay, that was technically true, but I could still pay for my own damn ride. So why would he— I paused. Was this because I said I was picking something out for my husband’s mistress? I groaned, rubbing my temples. That was just a joke! I only said it because he was being nosy and making assumptions. But no, he just had to turn it into a pity party. As if I was some helpless, pitiful woman who couldn’t even afford a taxi ride. Unbelievable. Shaking my head, I shoved the money back into my purse and turned to face the department store. It was massive—just like every other King Department Store across the world. I’d never really been a fan of shopping for clothes. Not because I didn’t like them, but because… w
Chloe I slid the picture across the glass counter, pushing it toward the woman. "Here, can you get something like this?" She leaned in, studying the picture closely. My heart pounded as I waited, silently praying for the answer I wanted. But then, she straightened and gave me a polite smile. "I'm sorry, ma’am, but we can’t make the exact same ring. This piece was customized by an expert. We don’t have the capacity to replicate it exactly. Maybe you should try another shop." I pressed my fingers to my temple, a headache forming. This was the fourth jewelry store that had told me the exact same thing. After leaving the cafe, I’d spent the entire day searching, going from one place to another, hoping someone could duplicate the wedding ring. But no one could. I swallowed hard. If I couldn’t replace it soon, someone in the house would notice—especially my mother-in-law. And if she found out… I exhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the counter. She wouldn’t only going to s
Logan Present time I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. Why? Why was I remembering this after all these years? I didn’t know why something I had long forgotten suddenly resurfaced. The moment the words left Alexander’s mouth, it was as if every feeling I had spent years burying came rushing at me. It made me uneasy. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t deny that Chloe had done a lot for me. She had cared for me. She had fought for me. Even though, in the end, she had admitted she never loved me, that it was all pity. That she had only stayed because I was a poor orphan who had no one. It was all a game to her. "Mr. White, are you daydreaming? How disappointing." Alexander indifferent voice cut through my thoughts like a blade. "It was just a simple question," he continued lazily. "You did say you were happily married, didn’t you? So it shouldn’t take you this long to respond." I lifted my gaze. Alexander sat in his chair like a god, completely at ease, as if he had a
Logan "Logan, if the boy’s family doesn’t forgive you, they’ll press charges. And you can say goodbye not only to your life at this school but to your entire future. Joshua’s parents have power with the authorities. They can ruin you. Why would you do something you are not supposed to do? Do you think you are something now that you go to this school? No, Logan you are still a poor orphan with nobody backing you up. You are nothing." The words echoed in my mind as I walked into the girls’ dormitory. Luckily, it was school hours. The hallways were empty. No one saw me slip inside. Not that I cared. None of it mattered right now. I knew she didn’t attend classes during exams. Chloe preferred to study alone, locked away in her room. I remembered her room number. It wasn’t hard to find. I turned the handle. It wasn’t locked. So I stepped inside. As expected from a school this prestigious, the dorm room was grand. It could easily fit seven people at once, yet she had it all to herself.
Logan Eight years ago My head pounded, my vision blurred, but I didn’t stop reading. I forced my eyes to focus on the text, trying to absorb the words, but the moment I read them, they slipped from my mind. At some point, the letters began to blur together, and it only made my headache worse. Tomorrow was my last exam, and if I failed, I’d lose my scholarship. Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t make it to the next semester. And if I didn’t make it to the next semester… I’d lose everything I had worked for. I’d be done. To make things worse, the subject was the one I hated the most. History. I mean, who on earth actually liked history? It was like being forced to gossip about dead people from centuries ago. My own life was already a mess, I didn’t have the time or energy to care about someone else’s from a hundred years back. I exhaled, flipping to the next page, forcing my brain to absorb the formulas in front of me. The prestigious school I attended didn’t care how hard I wor