_Bladen’s POV_ Right as the evening set, I strode through the familiar halls of my grandfather’s estate. The polished floors gleamed under the dim lighting, reflecting the towering portraits of men who had built, expanded, and ruthlessly maintained the legacy I was now expected to uphold. One I had no problem doing. The maids bowed their heads as I passed, a silent acknowledgment of my position, and I internally wondered why such demonstrations were still in play, just as unease crawled under my skin. I knew this meeting wasn’t just a formality. My grandfather never summoned me unless there was something important—and since he fell ill, everything had become important. I reached the heavy wooden doors of his private study, one of the most exclusive rooms in the estate. It wasn’t just a place for reading or work; it was a domain only a select few family members ever entered. And it belonged solely to him. Pushing the door open, I stepped inside. The usual scent of aged paper and e
_Lynnette’s POV_ The blaring sound of my ringtone jolted me awake, only for a heavy migraine to slam into my right eye. I tried recalling where I was, only for the realization that I was out of a job and knee deep in debt to hit me. I was about to go down another rabbit hole of thoughts when my phone rang for the second time, reminding me of what woke me up from my fruitless sleep. I checked the caller ID, my brows furrowing when I saw that the call was from Stone’s Enterprise. Picking it up, I pressed the phone to my ear, and the speaker went straight to it. “Hello, Lynnette. I’m really sorry for disturbing you, but I went to your desk earlier this morning and—” I didn’t let her finish before cutting her off. It was Savannah. “I’m sorry, Savannah, but I’ve left. I’m no longer an employee at Stone Enterprise,” I said politely, remembering that she had seen me packing. So why was she calling? “Yes, I’m aware of that, but that’s not why I’m calling. We were trying to hire someo
_Bladen’s POV_It had been twelve hours since I sent the text to Lynnette, having heard from my sources about her little money situation, but the chat thread still remained as it was since when I pressed send. The message was delivered alright, so Lynnette had either not seen it, or had seen it but chose not to respond.I didn’t know if I was to be impressed or disappointed by this development. I kept staring at the text, expecting her reply to pop up, and just out of nowhere, the phone buzzed on my hand with a call.If it was the number I was expecting—Lynnette’s—, I wouldn’t have huffed irritatedly, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a more familiar number.The realization made my eyes hover across the top of my phone to see that time was far spent to be receiving calls, but I still sighed, then picked it up.“Why are you calling me at this hour?” My voice was rough with irritation and straight to the point. “It’s two in the morning.”“Apologies, sir,” came the familiar voice of Hama, o
_Lynnette’s POV_After my visit to Stone’s enterprise earlier in the day, the place I once loved to work but had just been fired from, it dawned on me that I was truly done for. I dragged myself back home, but every step felt more depressing than the last, and the air in my room felt suffocating to the point where I almost had a full blown panic attack.It was already too late to go anywhere, so I spent the night wide awake, counting along with the hands of the clock as my time ticked away.Days.It was just a matter of days before Victor’s actions would have the bank marching down on me with cuffs and throw me into a cage.I was too numb to cry, but morning eventually came, and I grabbed a coat and stepped out.The cold bite of the air on my skin was pleasing, a contrast to the numbness I had felt for hours, and I walked aimlessly until my feet began to hurt.I almost laughed as I thought to myself that it wasn’t like I had any where to be or morning traffic to beat, but I made it ba
_Lynnette’s POV_ It was Six PM in the evening, many hours since Bladen stormed my apartment and proposed a committed relationship which wasn’t real, and since then, I have only changed positions three times. One was from the living room to the kitchen where I forced a sandwich down my throat, then to the bathroom to allow warm wear water trickle down my back, and finally, to my bed where I have been staring into space, thinking. That was how much Bladen rattled me. I tried to figure out what was going on and why he needed us to do this now, what the catch might be, but I couldn’t come to any conclusions or even speculations. Were the blogs finally getting to him and doing damage to his reputation? I finally decided that thinking wasn’t worth my time. I had days before the bank would ask me for a repayment, and I had nothing except my meager savings. I finally got up and reached for my system to begin applying for remote gigs. When I crossed thirty applications, I lost count, but
_Bladen’s POV_ From my penthouse, I could see everything outside. Everything. From the towering skyscrapers to the shimmering city lights, the movement of cars far below—it all had a way of making me feel both powerful and insignificant at the same time, but what I cherished the most was the solitude… the solitude which seemed haunting today. Every evening, after work, I would unwind with a drink in hand, enjoying the silence that wrapped around me like a comforting blanket. It was the closest thing to peace I had ever known. Tonight, however, was different. I sat on the plush leather couch, my gaze fixed on the breathtaking cityscape of Texas, and there was a bottle of whiskey resting in my right hand, its golden liquid catching the dim light of my living room, all while I thought about the infuriating woman who wouldn’t leave my mind. Lynnette. Now, her ignoring my texts made sense. I had arrived at her apartment, and she flipped me off faster than I could even retort.
_Lynnette's POV_ I wanted to tell Bladen not to come. If he was worried about reporters, wouldn’t they just follow him? That wouldn't stop them. In fact, it would only bring more attention to me—leading them to my place—but he had already ended the call. I needed no one to tell me that he wanted to come here himself, but what for? Why would he come here himself? Knowing that he was going to be here in a moment, since there wouldn’t be any traffic, I quickly jerked out of my thoughts, gazing right back at my messy room. My apartment right now looked more like a madwoman’s house than anything. Every one of my belongings was scattered around the corners, from dirty plates I had used for the past days to clothes strewn carelessly. The truth was, I wasn’t like this. It’s just that this whole situation was so overwhelming that I hadn’t even had time or energy for the slightest thing. Out of nervousness—something I hated to admit—I began cleaning up my mess, even though I couldn't deny
_Lynette’s Point Of View_ “Come on, Jessy, be real and tell me what you think about this one,” I said sternly to my best friend, pushing the phone farther away from my body so that she could have a full view of the bright red lingerie set I had on. She huffed, dropping the sack of pretzels she had in her hand before she responded. “It’s good, Lynnette. You look really hot. Remind me why you’re playing dress up again?” I smiled at her question, trailing the tiny hand of the bra as my mind wandered to my boyfriend, sorry, my fiancé, Victor. “I find it so hard to get Victor’s attention these days, so I figured I should put in a little more effort to make myself more appealing,” I replied a little sadly over the FaceTime. Jessy’s expression changed, and I knew that she was about to say something along the lines of… “Lynn, you’re absolutely beautiful the way you are, and you shouldn’t have to work to make a man see it,” she said. Ah, yes, there it was. I laughed, shaking my
_Lynnette's POV_ I wanted to tell Bladen not to come. If he was worried about reporters, wouldn’t they just follow him? That wouldn't stop them. In fact, it would only bring more attention to me—leading them to my place—but he had already ended the call. I needed no one to tell me that he wanted to come here himself, but what for? Why would he come here himself? Knowing that he was going to be here in a moment, since there wouldn’t be any traffic, I quickly jerked out of my thoughts, gazing right back at my messy room. My apartment right now looked more like a madwoman’s house than anything. Every one of my belongings was scattered around the corners, from dirty plates I had used for the past days to clothes strewn carelessly. The truth was, I wasn’t like this. It’s just that this whole situation was so overwhelming that I hadn’t even had time or energy for the slightest thing. Out of nervousness—something I hated to admit—I began cleaning up my mess, even though I couldn't deny
_Bladen’s POV_ From my penthouse, I could see everything outside. Everything. From the towering skyscrapers to the shimmering city lights, the movement of cars far below—it all had a way of making me feel both powerful and insignificant at the same time, but what I cherished the most was the solitude… the solitude which seemed haunting today. Every evening, after work, I would unwind with a drink in hand, enjoying the silence that wrapped around me like a comforting blanket. It was the closest thing to peace I had ever known. Tonight, however, was different. I sat on the plush leather couch, my gaze fixed on the breathtaking cityscape of Texas, and there was a bottle of whiskey resting in my right hand, its golden liquid catching the dim light of my living room, all while I thought about the infuriating woman who wouldn’t leave my mind. Lynnette. Now, her ignoring my texts made sense. I had arrived at her apartment, and she flipped me off faster than I could even retort.
_Lynnette’s POV_ It was Six PM in the evening, many hours since Bladen stormed my apartment and proposed a committed relationship which wasn’t real, and since then, I have only changed positions three times. One was from the living room to the kitchen where I forced a sandwich down my throat, then to the bathroom to allow warm wear water trickle down my back, and finally, to my bed where I have been staring into space, thinking. That was how much Bladen rattled me. I tried to figure out what was going on and why he needed us to do this now, what the catch might be, but I couldn’t come to any conclusions or even speculations. Were the blogs finally getting to him and doing damage to his reputation? I finally decided that thinking wasn’t worth my time. I had days before the bank would ask me for a repayment, and I had nothing except my meager savings. I finally got up and reached for my system to begin applying for remote gigs. When I crossed thirty applications, I lost count, but
_Lynnette’s POV_After my visit to Stone’s enterprise earlier in the day, the place I once loved to work but had just been fired from, it dawned on me that I was truly done for. I dragged myself back home, but every step felt more depressing than the last, and the air in my room felt suffocating to the point where I almost had a full blown panic attack.It was already too late to go anywhere, so I spent the night wide awake, counting along with the hands of the clock as my time ticked away.Days.It was just a matter of days before Victor’s actions would have the bank marching down on me with cuffs and throw me into a cage.I was too numb to cry, but morning eventually came, and I grabbed a coat and stepped out.The cold bite of the air on my skin was pleasing, a contrast to the numbness I had felt for hours, and I walked aimlessly until my feet began to hurt.I almost laughed as I thought to myself that it wasn’t like I had any where to be or morning traffic to beat, but I made it ba
_Bladen’s POV_It had been twelve hours since I sent the text to Lynnette, having heard from my sources about her little money situation, but the chat thread still remained as it was since when I pressed send. The message was delivered alright, so Lynnette had either not seen it, or had seen it but chose not to respond.I didn’t know if I was to be impressed or disappointed by this development. I kept staring at the text, expecting her reply to pop up, and just out of nowhere, the phone buzzed on my hand with a call.If it was the number I was expecting—Lynnette’s—, I wouldn’t have huffed irritatedly, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a more familiar number.The realization made my eyes hover across the top of my phone to see that time was far spent to be receiving calls, but I still sighed, then picked it up.“Why are you calling me at this hour?” My voice was rough with irritation and straight to the point. “It’s two in the morning.”“Apologies, sir,” came the familiar voice of Hama, o
_Lynnette’s POV_ The blaring sound of my ringtone jolted me awake, only for a heavy migraine to slam into my right eye. I tried recalling where I was, only for the realization that I was out of a job and knee deep in debt to hit me. I was about to go down another rabbit hole of thoughts when my phone rang for the second time, reminding me of what woke me up from my fruitless sleep. I checked the caller ID, my brows furrowing when I saw that the call was from Stone’s Enterprise. Picking it up, I pressed the phone to my ear, and the speaker went straight to it. “Hello, Lynnette. I’m really sorry for disturbing you, but I went to your desk earlier this morning and—” I didn’t let her finish before cutting her off. It was Savannah. “I’m sorry, Savannah, but I’ve left. I’m no longer an employee at Stone Enterprise,” I said politely, remembering that she had seen me packing. So why was she calling? “Yes, I’m aware of that, but that’s not why I’m calling. We were trying to hire someo
_Bladen’s POV_ Right as the evening set, I strode through the familiar halls of my grandfather’s estate. The polished floors gleamed under the dim lighting, reflecting the towering portraits of men who had built, expanded, and ruthlessly maintained the legacy I was now expected to uphold. One I had no problem doing. The maids bowed their heads as I passed, a silent acknowledgment of my position, and I internally wondered why such demonstrations were still in play, just as unease crawled under my skin. I knew this meeting wasn’t just a formality. My grandfather never summoned me unless there was something important—and since he fell ill, everything had become important. I reached the heavy wooden doors of his private study, one of the most exclusive rooms in the estate. It wasn’t just a place for reading or work; it was a domain only a select few family members ever entered. And it belonged solely to him. Pushing the door open, I stepped inside. The usual scent of aged paper and e
_ Lynnette’s Pov_ I wasted no time in rushing to the bank. If I had come from home and had my Toyota Camry, it would have been easier, but I doubt if I could even drive in the state I was in. My my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from my chest he only thought in my mind was getting to the bank. I couldn’t keep speculating, couldn’t let fear paralyze me. I had to confirm the truth myself, so I took a cab. As soon as I arrived at the bank, I sprinted inside, heading straight for my manager’s office. To my relief, he was seated at his desk, a polite smile on his face as he gestured for me to sit. “Miss Lynette, how can I help you today?” he asked, his tone calm, almost too casual for the storm brewing inside me. I barely managed to sit before blurting out, “To be very honest with you, Sir, I’m not okay. I received an email this morning stating that I took out a loan—six hundred thousand dollars.” I exhaled sharply, trying to keep my voice steady. Saying it out loud
_Lynette’s Pov_I stared blankly at the email, my hands trembling violently as I struggled to comprehend what I was seeing. The debt statement glared back at me, the bright light of my phone burning into my eyes. It felt too real, and that sent a cold shiver down my spine. I wished it were a nightmare—a terrible, twisted joke, which would have been far better. But it wasn’t. It was real. The numbers blurred before my eyes, yet no matter how much I willed them to disappear, they remained, anchoring me to the terrifying truth.I was in debt. Six hundred and fifty thousand dollars of debt. How?Slowly, my legs gave out, and I sank to the cold restroom floor, running my fingers through my hair in frustration.How did I get here? My mind was a chaotic storm of questions with no clear answers. I had never made reckless financial decisions, not even once. I wasn’t extravagant. So how could this have happened? Could it be a mistake? A cruel prank orchestrated by the bank?Deep down, I knew be