SAMANTHAAs we entered the car, I could feel the tension between us. I was still reeling from what had happened, and I didn't know how to act around him. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but I didn't know how to start the conversation. And then, of course, Laura walked in at the worst possible moment. It was like she had a radar for these things, always showing up at the most inopportune times.The whole ride home, I was consumed by a mix of emotions. I was angry at Carlton for kissing me and then acting like it was nothing. As I sat there, trying to process my thoughts and feelings, my mind kept replaying the kiss over and over again. I could still feel his lips on mine, the way he had pulled me close to him, the way my body had responded. I felt ashamed of myself. I felt like I was just a pawn in some game, that I was just a bride for hire. I felt like I had no control over my own life, and I hated that feeling. I was trapped. The car dropped me off at the cabin, and as it dro
"What?! No way in hell am I letting my sister go to school in another country, no way!" I exploded, shooting up from my seat in frustration."Please, have a seat, Ms. Jones," Carlton said calmly, gesturing for me to sit back down. Reluctantly, I complied, though my defiance still lingered in the air. "That wasn't part of our deal," I argued, crossing my arms in frustration. "I never agreed to that.""It was indeed part of our agreement," Carlton countered evenly. "And I've thought long and hard about it. I don't want her here, and I'm willing to continue sponsoring her education even after our contract ends. The school I've chosen is top-notch.""But she knows no one in New York," I protested weakly."I need your answer now so arrangements can be made," Carlton pressed, his tone firm.Sighing heavily, I sank back into the chair, torn between my protective instincts and the generous opportunity he was offering. It was a lot to process, and I couldn't deny the weight of the decision rest
The big day is finally here, and a famous makeup artist named Lily Parker did my makeup, making me look stunning. Jasmine styled my hair into an elegant updo and kept hyping me, wishing she was as lucky as me. Little did she know, marrying someone who was always busy and distant wasn't easy. I know it's a contract marriage, but at least we should communicate better. He barely talked to me unless it was necessary. The last time I saw him was when we picked out my wedding dress. We are going to appear as a beautiful couple today, ugh.Slipping into my wedding dress, I couldn't help but admire myself in the mirror. Jasmine, my hairstylist, kept hyping me up, commenting on how breathtaking I looked. As I fastened the dress, I noticed the heels that matched perfectly, undoubtedly chosen by Carlton while I was in the dressing room. They felt different from the ones I wore at the sultry siren; they were sleek, with delicate straps and a shimmering finish, adding an extra touch of elegance to
CARLTONI couldn't wait for the evening to be over. Laura, my father's wife, suggested throwing a party for our partners at the penthouse, and of course, Father agreed. Before the festivities began, I gave a brief speech to thank our partners for attending the wedding. Then, I started greeting everyone personally."Mr. Williams, congratulations," Micheal Larsen, one of the company's shareholders, called out to me."Thank you," I replied, shaking his outstretched hand with a forced smile."I must say, your wife is very beautiful. You have a great taste. I guess I'm the only bachelor left in the city," he remarked with a smirk."I doubt that. Thank you for coming," I responded politely, eager to end the conversation and escape the night's discomfort.Suddenly, I felt someone take my hand. I turned to see my supposed bride.Her dress, a stunning shade of blue, reminded me of the first dress I bought for Laura, the one she wore on our first date, it looked exactly the same. Anger simmered
I blinked my eyes open, gazing up at the ceiling of the cabin's room. We had left the penthouse early at George's insistence, who wanted to give "the newlyweds some privacy". Carlton and I drove back to the cabin, and why was I expecting him to explain why I had to change that beautiful dress? Perhaps he still had feelings for Laura. Ugh, I felt like a third wheel. Surprisingly, Carlton stayed the night at the cabin for the first time, though we slept in separate rooms, of course. If he hadn't stayed, I was certain there would have been headlines speculating about our relationship. I stretched my body and sat up in bed, feeling exhausted. Just then, Beth entered the room, as if she always knew when I was awake."Good morning, Ms. Williams," Beth greeted me cheerfully. I will never get used to that name. I groaned in response."You are leaving for your honeymoon in 90 minutes." Her announcement hung in the air like a heavy fog, enveloping me in a mixture of apprehension and uncertainty
As we stepped off the jet, the warm breeze caressed my skin, and the ocean's scent mingled with exotic flowers filled my lungs. I closed my eyes, drinking in the beauty around us. Carlton's arm encircled my waist, his touch a gentle reminder of his presence.I opened my eyes to find a dozen attendants waiting for us, their crisp white shirts and tailored pants a stark contrast to the relaxed atmosphere. They formed a line, their smiles warm and inviting, but Carlton's expression remained stoic, his eyes fixed on some point ahead."Quite the welcome party," I said, trying to break the tension. He raised an eyebrow, his gaze never leaving the horizon. "You'll get used to it, you're my wife now, " he said curtly. I pushed aside the flutter in my chest, focusing on the attendants bustling around us.One of them stepped forward, his smile polite. "Welcome, Mr. and Ms. Williams. The yacht is ready. Please, follow me.""Beautiful!" I said, my eyes fixed on the yacht. Carlton maintained a det
CARLTONI rushed into my father's hospital room. "What happened?" I asked, still trying to process the scene before me. My father lay in the bed, with Laura and Alex standing beside him. "He collapsed this morning," Laura said flatly. "No idea what's going on yet." "What did Adam say?" I inquired, referring to our family doctor."I haven't seen him yet," Laura replied. "I'll go find out what's going on. You stay here." Alex said to Laura and headed out. I turned to Samantha. "Stay here, I'll be right back." She nodded, and I followed Alex.We had to leave Crystal Cove abruptly upon receiving the distressing news of Father's hospitalization."Good morning," Adam greeted us, rising from his seat to give us father's file. "From what we've found in our testing, it seems that the symptoms are due to stress. I suggest he take some time off and perhaps go on vacation for a couple of weeks. Take a break, get some rest, and focus on his well-being. We'll continue to monitor his condition, but
WEEKS LATERI'm chilling in bed, reading one of Sarah's stories she sent me. Suddenly, I heard noises downstairs. As I dashed downstairs, the sound of Layla's voice arguing with the security echoed through the house."I know her, Let her go!" I stepped forward, facing the security. He remained unmoved."Mr. Williams instructed that outsiders should not be allowed in," he explained."I told you I know her! Take your fucking hands off her now, or I'll get you fired!" My frustration boiled over, punctuating my words with force.Reluctantly, he complied, and Layla and I embraced tightly. "Let's go upstairs to my room," I suggested.Once we settled in, Layla's eyes blazed like wildfire as she confronted me. "Sam, what the actual hell? You just disappeared without a trace! I had to scour the internet to find out what happened to you!"I felt a pang of guilt and regret, my eyes dropping like a coward. "I'm so sorry, Layla. Everything happened so fast, I didn't have a chance to explain..."She
I received a message from Ethan Russell, George's former lawyer, stating that I should come to Georgia as soon as possible to see what was in the house George left the key for me. I decided to go because I had been procrastinating for no reason, so I discussed it with Carlton and he approved, but he would have some people stay with me until I returned to Florida in case his brother tried anything. Here we are, at the airport, and he was seeing me off."You can still take the private jet, Samantha." He said, giving my arms a gentle squeeze. "No, Carlton, I'm fine taking the plane.""Okay." He turned to the two huge men in suits next to him, his expression stern. "Take care of her, nothing must happen to even a strand of her hair." He said. My eyes went to people murmuring as they walked by. "Look at those people, Carlton." He looked around. "What about them?" "These huge men? Nothing will happen, I can take care of myself. Moreover, your brother has been silent since forever.""And t
I stared out the window, watching for pharmacies so I could buy a new one or something else to use immediately. I hoped it would destroy whatever was building inside me.Carlton's hand gently stroked my thigh. "Don't you think this is too short? You'll catch a cold." He said."This is the only gown I have that isn't spaghetti-strapped or cleavage-revealing," I replied. "If you don't want me to catch a cold, you shouldn't have filled my wardrobe with those."The only reason I owned this short-sleeved, V-neck gown with subtle depth was cause Layla insisted it would look good on me during our shopping spree months ago.Carlton picked up his phone and started typing with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel."If you need anything else after the wardrobe change, let me know." He slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket.I went back to looking for pharmacies, then noticed we were out of the city, heading towards Calypso City, where I spent my childhood before moving to Miami t
SAMANTHAI stretched, moving my hand but then felt something huge and strong behind me. I slowly opened my eyes to find Carlton beside me. Everything that happened last night came flooding back. I had to admit, last night was better than the other nights we had together. I want to hate him, I really want to but... I can't–My heart doesn't want to. I slowly tilted my head up to see if he was awake, his eyes were still shut and he looked gorgeous even in his sleep. My hand trailed down his toned muscles but stopped at his groin, taking a look at his now resting cock which had me trembling last night. Tempted, my hand made its way down like it had a mind of its own, wanting to touch it. What was I doing? I immediately stopped and withdrew myself from him. Suddenly his hand pulled me back into his arms, I looked up at him, but his eyes were still shut."Touch it whenever you want to, it's all yours, do whatever you want to with it." His deep morning voice came. What was he spewing? All
After minutes of Passionate kissing and taking off our clothes in between. I withdrew myself from her, standing beside the bed. I gazed at her, mesmerized by her biting her bottom lip while caressing her nipple.I was so fucking hard but I needed to take things slowly.I walked over to my room's office area, grabbed the half-empty whiskey bottle, and poured a shot into my drinking glass. After taking a sip, I returned to the bed."What are you—?" She sat upright."From this moment on, till I'm done with you, you don't say a word till I give you permission to speak." I said.I knelt on the bed, carefully placing my drinking glass beside me. I yanked Samantha's legs, sliding her down toward me. The whiskey splashed on her body as I poured from the cup.She gasped. "Carlton.""No words." I warned firmly.I pressed myself against her, my lips finding hers once again. I don't think I'll ever get enough of her mouth, she tasted so fucking good. My lips trailed down her neck and then back to
"He's a monster now, Carlton." Jace said. Monster was an understatement. Alex had finally lost it all in the name of money. Just a week ago, we received a recording from the hitman's wife, proving Alex's involvement. She had recorded their conversation, sensing something was off– and I'm grateful she did.We also found out that Larsen and Alex were frequently seeing each other after Father's death, even on the day I was shot. The reason was still unknown, but we have tapes from security cameras that can prove they were working together. Who would have thought Larsen would be involved? Now I know why I never liked that asshole from day one.We didn't find anything linking Laura, and there hasn't been progress on Father's death. We tried convincing the housekeeper Jace met to testify in court, but she refused, saying she has a one-year-old son and doesn't want involvement. We can't force her, so we're looking for alternatives. The other housekeepers just vanished.Jace ordered his peopl
Samantha was using birth control pills, and I was aware of it, but I didn't question her. I was the type of person who fucks raw. I don't do condoms, they're like a barrier, and I hate barriers. So, her using pills during those times we had sex was fine with me. But now, those pills had to go.I took the pills from her purse while she was showering and returned to my room, flushing them down the toilet. I watched as the water swallowed them whole, and a smirk spread across my face. Phase one is done, on to phase two.Today, I lied about finding a clue about who was backing Alex, telling Samantha we'd go confirm it. Little did she know, we had an interesting, long day ahead. In casual attire, I waited impatiently downstairs. Finally, I heard footsteps and looked up to see her, beautiful as always, in formal attire with one side of her hair tucked behind her ear.Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you wearing?""My other clothes make me feel stuffy, so I decided to switch it up
We didn't exchange a word during the drive home. All I could think about was how to make her stay. If I brought out another contract, she wouldn't sign it. I needed something to compel her to stay, something that would leave her no choice.Upon arriving home, we saw Canyon and his family outside, looking worried. We stepped out and approached them."What's wrong?" I asked.Their expressions softened as their eyes fell on the towel covering my wound."We wanted to see Mrs. Williams, but suddenly some man came in and started threatening us. He's inside." Canyon said.My brows furrowed. "Some guy?" I walked past them and entered the house.Inside, I saw Alexander seated on the sofa, his legs crossed."Oh, brother, where have you been?" He stood up, smiling."What are you doing here?" I asked."I came to see you. Is something wrong with that?" He moved closer, and I instinctively positioned myself between him and Samantha."You're not welcome here, Alex."He put his hands behind him and s
I slowly opened my eyes, wincing at the sharp pain that shot through my body. I tried to stand, but it was like a weight was holding me down. I groaned, scanning the unfamiliar room. I glanced down at myself, realizing I was shirtless, with a clean towel covering my wound. How did I get here? Memories of collapsing onto Samantha's shoulders flooded back. Where was she?I pushed through the pain, hastily searching the room, clutching the towel to my wound. "Samantha?" I called out.Just as I reached for the door to search for her, she appeared, holding a glass of water. I pulled her into a tight hug, spilling some of the water. But instead of reciprocating, she quickly pulled away, avoiding eye contact."Here's a glass of water," she said, her voice detached, holding out the half-full glass. "They don't have a first aid kit here, so you'll need to go to the hospital or get it dressed at home."Her gaze still avoided mine."Look at me." I growled. She sighed. "I don't want to."I gently
CARLTON"What the fuck was that about, Carlton?" I heard Jace's footsteps move closer to me."I should be asking you that. How did she know I was here?" I put aside the papers in my hand and faced Jace, who had his brows furrowed in anger.He scoffed. "I sent it to her. That's not the issue here. Why are you treating her that way? Do you know what she went through when you weren't around? I don't think you do, because if you saw her, you wouldn't treat her like that."I saw everything while trying to keep an eye out for whoever sent the hitman, hoping they'd slip up. Of course, I knew who it was – I knew it was Alexander – but I didn't want to believe he could go to such extremes, so I needed proof, hence why I faked my death. Aunt Claire and Jace also knew I was alive, making it easier to stay hidden."Mind your business, Jace. Your job is to help me take down Alexander, not meddle in my personal life. You're in no position to lecture me. Now, sit and let's finalize the plan and stop