Laura "Oh, my fucking God! I don't believe this,” Ava was exclaiming on the other end of the line. “So that Max guy has a crush on your husband? What a jerk!” Both she and I were so surprised as Melanie told us about the recent falling out she had with Albert. “So, yes, apparently,” the girl rep
Lindsay My relationship with Gideon started quite spontaneously. That afternoon, years ago, Laura, my then-boss, had asked me to go to her recent ex-boyfriend's apartment to get her things from there, as she didn't want to have any more contact with him. I, being the good employee that I was, rea
Lindsay Gideon Bathory wanted me to leave him alone, but I told myself I wasn't going to give up on him. So, the next day, when I went to the Hextec offices for work, Laura didn't even suspect what had happened between me and her suitor. “Oh, Lindsay. Sorry about that, I heard Gideon was a littl
Lindsay “What the hell are you doing here? Are you by any chance following me?” Gideon asked me as soon as I managed to get into the bathroom where he was. He was washing his face in the sink in front of the mirror. “I noticed you are oddly quiet, you must be so sad…” I said to him, then quietly,
Lindsay So, a few days later, when Laura and Jason returned to New York and everyone found out that they had decided to give their love another chance, Gideon felt defeated, without hope. He perceived that he had no more space in Laura's life and wanted to take the first flight that appeared in fr
Lindsay “I feel really sick. Albert just called me right now, saying he doesn't want to be my friend anymore. Do you believe in something like that?” Max said, looking offended. I raised my eyebrows, surprised, too. “Albert did what?” He sighed deeply. “Just so you can see how fake he is from eve
Lindsay The next morning, I got ready, ready to make some change in the painful situation I found myself in. Feeling threatened and intimidated by Laura's perfection, I put on my most expensive dress, so I didn't feel too humiliated and to think that despite everything that was happening, at least
Lindsay You can call me crazy for opening up a way for my husband's ex to talk to him again like this, but I knew Gideon would only listen to me if Laura talked to him first. I needed to try again, I wasn't going to be defeated like this. “So, Laura. Would you do this for me?” I asked her with fe
Annie POV Peter Morton’s face was just inches from mine, staring at me. The electric blue of his eyes was so close I could see his irises dilating and contracting. “You okay, Lady Ann?” he asked. I sighed with a small smile, half in delight. “It’s been a while since anyone called me that.” Actual
Annie POV The masked boy—who I didn’t want to admit was Peter—took me to an upscale, comfortable hotel where I could spend the night safely, away from everything, and try to regain my composure and figure out what to do next. “You can stay here,” he said calmly, though his voice still carried a hi
Annie POV The masked boy led me through the dark campus, his hand firm in mine as we ran away from the ballroom. My legs trembled, the blue dress swishing with each step, and tears still streamed down my face, hot and relentless. The sound of the shouts, the judgments, still echoed in my head, bu
“No choice?” He cut me off, his tone incredulous. “Are you serious? You chose to help Madison make that video. You chose to plug it into the projector. And now Annie’s out there, broken, while you try to run from the responsibility. This doesn’t fix anything, Abby. It wasn’t supposed to end like thi
Abby POV I was there, tucked away in the shadows of the ballroom’s corner, my heart still racing as I watched the chaos I’d helped create unfold. The giant screen kept playing that horrible video, distorted and manipulated clips of Annie echoing through the room like a final verdict. People poin
Annie POV I was still on the dance floor, the warmth of the masked boy’s body against mine, my head resting on his chest as the slow music guided us. The sound of his heartbeat against my ear was almost hypnotic, and I let myself get lost in that feeling I couldn’t quite explain. He’d just said s
I swallowed hard, Caleb’s words coming back to haunt me. “Have you ever stopped to think that maybe we’ve gone too far?” He’d said that at the mall, and I’d hung up on him, but now they echoed in my head. Annie had hurt me, yes. The fight in the dorm, the way she called me fake, like I was trash she
Abby POV I was leaning against the wall of the ballroom, the cup of punch in my hand already warm and forgotten, as I watched Annie dance with that masked boy. The soft lights of the ball cast shadows over them, and even from so far away, you could feel something in the air—a chemistry almost tangi
Anne POV I was there, trying to at least pretend I was enjoying the party with Summer, letting the loud music and spinning lights distract me from the weight pressing on my chest. Summer danced beside me, throwing her arms up with that endless energy of hers, and I tried to keep up, forcing a smile