CLAUDIA'S POV I sat and watched through the windshield of my car as Ella dropped Ivy off at school. My fingers wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, the knuckles whitening as I watched her lean down and kiss Ivy on the head before watching her skip away into the building. Pathetic. It was a scene out of some suburban fairytale. She was living a life that wasn't meant for her, a life which was supposed to be mine. And Ivy? Well, she came to be the personification of all that went wrong with this world-a bastard child, born from a mistake.As Ella got back into her rusty excuse of a car, my stomach twisted with jealousy. How could this man of power and influence settle for this? A washed-up nurse, incapable of keeping a good car and a child that was obviously out of hand. It was an outrage to my blood. How could she have set such a trap for him so easily? What was her secret? I needed to know.I tailed her, following her from the school into the grocery store. The audacity of her,
ELLA'S POV I stepped out of the supermarket, feeling my heart in knots, that one conversation replaying itself over and over in my head with Claudia-the way she had cornered me, those smug words dripping from her lips like poison, sowing seeds of doubt I didn't want to water. But they were already growing. Damn it."Do you really think a man like Xavier is capable of love?" Claudia's words rang in my head, an echo that mocked my naivety. I had told myself that I wasn't going to let her get to me. I had convinced myself that Xavier was different-that maybe, just maybe there was more to him than the cold, domineering man he showed to the world. But Claudia's confidence had shaken something loose in me.Was I that foolish to have actually thought Xavier would choose me for anything more than some passing fling? A man who could literally have anyone. And for what? A contract? A child that, if I was honest with myself, I wasn't sure he truly loved? What if Ivy was just another of his pawn
Xavier's POVAs I stormed out of the kitchen, the anger boiling inside me was barely contained. My hands itched to hit something, but I knew better than to lash out in my own home, especially not with Ivy around. Ella's words kept echoing in my mind, the hurt and accusation in her voice piercing through me like a blade. Claudia—this was her doing.I paced up and down the hall as I reached for my phone, fingers flying across the screen.What the hell did you tell Ella? I sent the message and then waited, my chest rising and falling with every deep breath I took. Anger was simmering inside my skin, ready to spill over at any moment. This time Claudia had crossed a line, and she wasn't going to get away with it.It wasn't until a few seconds later that my phone buzzed its reply.Claudia replied: Nothing much, in a very smugly written text if that was possible. Just told her about the rough fucks we used to do and how passion would flare up between us. Thought she deserved to know,.My ho
CLAUDIA'S POVI clicked send and watched as the images were delivered to Ella. My heartbeat increased in anticipation as I awaited a response from Ella. The photos of Xavier, unconscious on the bed, his shirt undone, and hair tousled, were too perfect— they would leave her shattered, questioning everything. She would never trust him again, and it got even better: I didn't have to touch him to make that happen. It took only the right angle, the right light.A chill, smug smile curled in the corner of my lips. This phone felt heavy in my hand with the weight of its powerful ammo, and for the first time in a long time, I was on top. Ella had played innocent for far too long, but now, finally, I had her. I had something she could never take back.And Xavier. he would never set eyes on her again.Yet I was far from finished. No, this was only the beginning.I pulled out Alex's number in one swipe. He was one of the few people in Xavier's life who had any idea what game we were playing. He'
Claudia's POVI stepped out of the hotel with a sly, curling smile on my lips as my heart throbbed along with the echo of my heels against the marble floor. Thick in the hallway air was the aftermath of my sin, a twisted satisfaction rolling inside me like sweet poison. I nodded slightly at the security guard as I passed, catching his bare glance in return. Well, they might as well remain ignorant. They were nothing but backdrop-nothing more-for the Hell that I had now created.I came to the parking garage and slid into my slick black car. It was a flawless machine, perfect, as flawless as my plotting was. My palms drummed on the steering wheel with excitement, and in one moment, a manic laugh exploded from within me. This was it. I had Xavier right where I wanted him. Because, for far too long, I'd been forced to sit and suffer while he pined after that plain little nurse like some kind of lovesick fool. It was pathetic. But now? Now, the tables had turned.The pictures were out ther
Ella's POVI stood in the kitchen, absently wiping the counter as my brain had become a mess of thoughts and emotions that churned within me. I didn't know what to think or feel anymore. That conversation with Claudia still swirled in my head-twisting, nagging, like some splinter buried deep beneath my skin. She had planted seeds of doubt so effortlessly; her words circled my mind like vultures, waiting for me to break. I hated how easily she'd rattled me.Xavier was just a little too good to be true, no? The heart of it all? Every cold flirtation, every calculated look he threw my way, it all felt too perfectly set up, too staged in his head. Would a person like him ever be able to care about a person like me? I scowled at my reflection in the window. Foolish. I'd been so foolish to even hope—My phone buzzed on the counter, and I came out of my spiraling thoughts. I let out a sigh, wiping my hands with a towel that was lying nearby, and picked it up. The notification on the screen w
Xavier's POVI woke up in a start, the harsh sunlight slicing through the window, piercing through my bleary eyes. For a moment, I just lay there, disoriented-just feel the softness of sheets beneath me and the lingering scent of cheap perfume hanging in the air. Confusion clouded my mind in attempts to piece together remnants of last night. My body felt like it was made out of lead-as if I'd taken a hit from a freight train. I blinked hard, forcing the fog to clear, but the details of the previous evening danced just out of reach.I leveraged myself up onto my elbows and looked around. It was a luxurious hotel room, as one would expect; still, there was a something missing-a certain eeriness in the stillness of the air. Swinging my legs over the edge, I planted my feet onto the cool hardwood floor. A dull throbbing pulsed in my head and I groaned as fragments swam in my head. Claudia. What the hell happened?I reached to my feet, and the weight from last night came crashing down. Sta
XAVIER'S POV I strode into the office, my steps purposeful and measured. The power coursing through each cell in my body seemed to hum off me like an uncontrollable energy source. The moment I strode through the threshold, heads turned-secretaries, junior executives, all of them. Their gazes clung to me, whispers surely circulating behind my back, but I didn't care. Their petty thoughts were irrelevant. Not today.Claudia had overplayed her hand.And she was going to find out what happens when one tries to outplay me.The instant I stepped into my office, her scent, her energy, hit me-nervous. She paced by the window, her back to me. I didn't need to see her face to know she was scared. Good.I silently shut the door, the sharp click of the lock turning her to ice. It was then that she slowly turned around, and the instant our eyes met, her fear became palpable. Stiffening from head to toe, she parted her lips to say something- some weak defense, no doubt. I could almost smell the re