I smiled at him and also signed where I should have signed. “Very well, thank you,” said the lawyer, taking the papers back. “And who will be this new owner? Is it a woman or a man?” I asked, wanting to know, and Richard shrugged, still unconcerned. “I've only contacted his lawyers, but clearly
Suzy I was touching up my red lipstick in front of the mirror in the hotel room my client had booked for that night. From time to time, I accepted some jobs that paid me well, and this man had no problem spending money, which was quite advantageous for me. I straightened my medium brown hair that
Suzy I was regurgitating my stomach into the toilet in the bathroom of that elementary school. It was a private school that only elite children attended. A little over a week ago, I got the job as a servant at that school, obviously, I had no references to do that job other than having finished bas
Suzy It was strictly forbidden to smoke in front of children at that school, so the smoking staff either went to the courtyard while the children were not present or went in their cars so they could smoke without being seen, but I was too nervous to follow that rule now. I was walking back and fo
I sighed, rolling my eyes, and got behind the wheel, getting out of there as fast as I could drive. **** The girl was a complete chatterbox, she talked about everything and everyone, not even realizing how nervous I was. “It's kind of strange that Daddy will be with me and Mommy at the amusemen
Laura Weeks had passed since Jason had become the majority owner of Hextec, so he had made some drastic changes to the company, such as moving the company's facilities to Manhattan and giving me the position of chief executive of the company. “This company is more yours than mine; I don't see who
Laura “From the security cameras, Miss Annie went towards the gym, and then no one saw her again,” said the principal of the school Annie attended. I had just called them to see if my daughter was there but got a negative response. “We are responsible for the care of your daughter; if she has disap
Laura The room was a dark, dimly lit place, the furniture was rustic, and there were hunting artifacts on the walls: a stuffed fagot's head hanging on the wall and a long, old shotgun that I was hoping was just a decoration. Annie was sitting at the table with a scared and lost look. When she saw m
“Why do you keep hanging out with them, Abby?” he asked, and now there was a note of concern that annoyed me even more. “You know Madison’s not good for you. She uses you, and you let her.” “It’s none of your business,” I shot back, my voice sharp. “I do what I want, Caleb. Bye.” I hung up before h
Abby POV It was a lazy Sunday, and I was at the mall’s food court, waiting at the counter to pick up snacks for myself and the “new friends” I’d managed to latch onto. The smell of grease and cheap coffee filled the air, and the hum of conversations mixed with the muffled pop music from the speaker
Caleb, Abby, Madison, Nadia—they all spun through my head like a broken carousel. I wanted to tell my parents everything, collapse and ask for help, but the thought of seeing disappointment in their eyes—or worse, them trying to intervene at Oxwell to “save” me—made me swallow the words. I had to fi
Annie POV It was the weekend, and I was at home, trying to take deep breaths and pretend everything was okay. The Oxwell campus was a few hours away, giving me temporary relief from the chaos my life had become. Here, with my parents and the twins, I could at least try to be the old Annie—the exc
Max POV Walking beside someone who’d once meant so much to me felt strange. I couldn’t stop thinking that our breakup had been a waste, couldn’t stop remembering how happy I’d been with this guy, only to ruin it all because of my ego, because of a toxic fixation I had on Albert. Conrad Adams walke
Max POV was stunned when Albert told me that, my mouth even went dry because I wasn’t expecting to hear it. Conrad Adams was back. He was my boyfriend in my early twenties. I met him through Albert, who was close friends with him during the dark days of his family’s company. Conrad was a good guy
Max POV I was driving through the city with the radio on low, just a background murmur to keep the silence from swallowing me whole, when my phone buzzed on the dashboard. Zoey. Of course it was her. The girl had already wormed her way into my house like a high-heeled parasite, and now, apparently,
Annie POV After the moment at the mall, I returned to the dorm with a tight chest, carrying the bags with the blue dress Summer had insisted I buy. The plan was to distract myself, but Madison’s words—“racist,” “canceled piece of trash”—spun in my head like a broken record, mingling with Nadia’s re
When I met her last week at a council meeting, I could tell she’d be a challenge—confident, charismatic, the type who knew how to play the game. “Ugh, Madison Goodwin is here too. What a rotten day,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Of course Abby would get close to Madison—she was her adopted cousin.