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Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-03-24 11:50:35
Bab terkait
The Mistress 11
Gideon sat beside the bed staring at the unconscious woman. She had bruises all over her body, a broken leg and the MRI had shown some swelling in her brain. She'd been in the ICU for the past three days and was only transferred to the normal ward yesterday evening. The doctor had said she was lucky she didn't break her neck. Or even the spine. She could have ended up paralyzed for the rest of her life. Assuming she lived to tell the tale. He still couldn't understand what had possessed her to go to his house. It was her fault she was in that position. He'd told her to lay low and avoid the press at all costs. Why didn't she listen to him? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out why she'd done it. Especially since she knew he wasn't there. What was so important that couldn't wait? Why hadn't she called him? Their faces were plastered everywhere on the internet. People criticized and cursed him for using a good woman to elevate his status and not having the ba
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-26The Mistress 12
Her eyes snapped open. The room was dark but the white walls and the light coming in from the slightly open door made it easier to look around. A beep beep sound came from beside her bed and the sharp smell of bleach assaulted her nose. It took her a moment to figure out she was lying in a hospital bed and another to notice the figure standing by the window. He was dressed in black but despite the darkness, she knew it was him. Gabriel? Gilbert? Gideon. Yes, it was Gideon. He was... Who was he to her? Friend? Lover? Husband? She couldn't remember clearly. But they'd known each other for a long time. It was the reason she could easily identify from his back. She'd know him anywhere. She opened her mouth to ask him why he was there but found her throat was too dry. He must have heard her because he spun around and silently walked toward her. He picked up the cup on the bedside table, stuck a straw in it, and held it to her mouth. She greedily gulped down the water. "That's enough for
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-01The Mistress 13
"What is your name?" "Why are you asking me useless questions instead of calling the police?" They had to have her background information since she'd been admitted. Why pretend they didn't know who she was? The doctor smiled "Please answer the questions, Miss" "Thalia Ashcroft" "And how old are you?" "Forty-two" "What is the last thing you remember?" "I... The last thing... It's all foggy. But I know I'm married to that bastard and we have two kids" "See? I told you she'd lost her mind" Gideon said smugly. She threw him a glare and then grabbed the doctor's hand to get his attention. "He hasn't left this room. If you search him, you'll find the needle with Heparin and know I'm telling the truth. Get security to hold him down" "I understand your concern, Miss. But first..." "First what?" She snapped getting angry. Why weren't they listening to her? How hard was it to detain Gideon and confiscate the evidence? The moment he left that room he could get rid of it. Then
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-02The Mistress 14
Past Eight-year-old Tanner was having a faceoff with a dog. The animal's suspicious eyes kept him frozen in place. Every time he tried to move, it would flash its teeth as a warning. Silently telling him running was a bad idea because he couldn't outrun it. He wasn't afraid of dogs. Anyone who knew him had to know he wasn't afraid of anything. He was only being cautious. After all, there were cases of dogs biting people. Not all of them were bad but he was too young to tell them apart so he chose to keep his distance. But despite trying his best to be calm and courageous, he was seconds away from screaming for help. They'd just moved there and he had decided to look around the neighborhood when he came across the animal. It seemed that he had accidentally entered their neighbor's backyard and spooked the dog. Even so, he was still a child. Couldn't a dog tell the difference between a child and a grown-up? Good from bad? His father had told him they were intelligent animals. Was tha
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-03The Mistress 15
"Miss Ashton, we ran some..." "It's Ashcroft." She corrected the doctor for probably the tenth time that day. Thalia didn't understand why they kept getting her name wrong. It wasn't as if Ashton and Ashcroft sounded the same. And what sort of doctor didn't know his patient's name? That was how they mixed up results and ended up giving patients the wrong diagnosis. As soon as she got a hold of Jennifer, she was leaving that hospital. "Ma'am," the doctor said "We ran more tests on you and they came back normal" "Why does that sound shocking? There's nothing wrong with me" "Except for the fact that you keep insisting your name is Thalia Ashcroft" "Because it is" "I'll have one of the nurses bring in a mirror. You can look at it and tell me who you see. Tell me if the name matches the face" Thalia peered up at the man. He was middle aged and since they let him treat patients, she assumed he was qualified. But his methods of treatment were concerning. She'd barely slept after
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-04The Mistress 16
"Your lunch is here, Miss Ashton" "I'm not hungry" "You haven't eaten anything since you regained consciousness." The nurse said moving the overbed table to the middle of the bed and placing a plate on top of it "If you want to be discharged early, you have to eat" "Leave me alone," Thalia told her looking away. She was the third one and it was clear she was trying to aggravate her by calling her Miss Ashton. Everything made sense now. The hospital staff's dislike toward her was because people believed the woman named Natalia had caused her death. According to the news online, she -Thalia- had found out about Gideon's affair and killed herself because she couldn't handle the betrayal. There was no note or will left behind so she didn't understand how people had come to that conclusion. But that wasn't the problem. Her biggest dilemma was how she'd ended up as Natalia. The same woman her husband was having an affair with. Thalia could get behind the notion that perhaps some supe
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-05The Mistress 17
Gideon read the message for a second and then a third time because he couldn't believe it. Where had that crazy bitch gotten the audacity to order him around? Had Natalia lost her mind? He regretted not distancing himself from her earlier. He should have ended their relationship when she showed up at Hale's birthday. Maybe all that wouldn't have happened. With the way things were going, he knew without a doubt she was going to be a problem. Thalia's lawyer had gotten in touch with him and told him to attend the reading of her will which would take place the next week. He wasn't sure what was more surprising. The fact that she hadn't trusted her best friend Hale with her will or that he had to be there. Was it possible she'd left him something? Perhaps he'd been right about her being murdered. He hadn't visited the cottage yet because Cameron and Celia had moved to the estate and he wanted to give them time before talking to them. But if his hunch was right, it would mean Thalia didn'
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-07The Mistress 18
"We're here. Get out" Corey pushed the door open and climbed out of the car but Thalia remained seated. On the way there, she'd been anxious because she didn't know what to expect. Not only had she woken up in someone else's body but she knew nothing about them. The little information she'd come across wasn't enough for her to confidently live as Natalia. For starters, she hadn't known where the woman lived. Hence the reason she needed Gideon to pick her up. Should they find someone at her house, he'd help her identify them. She could only play the confused card for so long. Before she left, the doctor had insisted she get another MRI scan because she'd made the mistake of saying she didn't remember anything. Thalia was afraid the doctor would keep her for longer and recommend psychiatric help if she didn't leave so she'd promised to go back if she felt sick. "I'll take a nurse with me just in case" that had convinced the doctor to discharge her. Gideon had entered an undergrou
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-08
Bab terbaru
The Mistress 27
Her eyes widened. What was he talking about? What deal did he have with Natalia? She'd thought it was strange how he hung up on her last night without even asking who she was. Afraid that Dominic might be spying on her on the phone he bought her, she'd used Natalia's old phone to call him. But Thalia assumed it was because of the time. After all, she'd waited until a few minutes to midnight before telling Dominic. Then she'd called Tanner right after but he hadn't wanted to listen to her. Then again, he didn't know her. Why would he listen to anything she said? Except Tanner was smart. The moment she mentioned Orlando, he should have asked her how she knew about him. He should have called to check in on his only witness. But he hadn't. Which was why he'd gone there to ask her where they'd taken him. His response from last night came back to her. He hadn't asked who she was or why she had called him. His response had been "Are you kidding me?" She blinked back tears when he tightene
The Mistress 26
Tanner had just finished putting a case together and was about to go to bed when his phone rang. He glanced at the lit-up screen, frowning at the unknown number. It was almost midnight. Why would someone call him on his personal phone at such an ungodly hour if they didn't know him? He accepted the call and put it on loudspeaker. It was probably a client who fucked up. He had no intention of accepting new cases but he could pass it to one of the equity partners. "Hale speaking" "Tan, it's about Orlando Parisi. You have to..." "Are you kidding me?" "No, listen. They're coming for him. You have to..." He hung up and blocked the number. He’d fallen back into something resembling his usual routine, but there was still a crater-sized hole in his heart. The most important person in his life was gone and he didn't know how long he could continue living without her. He woke up, went to work, came back home, and worked some more before going to sleep. Then did the same thing the next
The Mistress 25
Thalia stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror. She ran her fingers through the thick hair, pushing it over one shoulder and turning to stare at the back view. The pert breasts and round ass were sculpted to perfection. There was a reason men fell at Natalia's feet. She was gorgeous. She had the type of body other women spent thousands to get but always failed. Because a human was incapable of getting such results. Only a higher power could create something so perfect. When they were in high school, Jennifer used to joke about getting breast implants. They were on the leaner side which meant everything about them was toned but small. Thalia's bust had only gotten bigger when she got pregnant. After that, her breasts went back to their normal size A. Truth be told, she'd once considered having them done. But Gideon had convinced her she was beautiful and didn't need any work done. That fucking liar. With a mistress like Natalia, why would he care about his wife? She remembered t
The Mistress 24
A MONTH LATER Thalia had gone back to the apartment. Staying at the hotel seemed like a waste of money when the person she was hiding from had already found her. He sent people to watch her all day and night. She couldn't go anywhere without being followed. And since she'd figured out who Orlando was, where she stayed didn't matter. Because she truly believed she would get rid of Dom and his minions once she gave them that piece of information. The problem was she hadn't told him yet. For some reason, she held on to the truth for far longer than was necessary. She'd spent a lot of time working on that case with Tanner. At the moment, it was the biggest and most risky case they had ever accepted. They went through a lot of trouble to find their key witness and keep him safe. If something happened to him, they would lose the case. As Thalia Ashcroft, she would never think of revealing his whereabouts. Even with a gun pointed at her head. But she was now Natalia. After she regained
The Mistress 23
The rest of her memories caught unawares. Three weeks after she met with Dom, Thalia was sitting in her hotel room planning what to do after her cast was removed. The warning she'd been given was still fresh in her head. She knew that man wouldn't hesitate to cut off her legs. Which meant leaving the country was out of the question. And it wasn't like she'd found out where Natalia kept her passport or documents. Her only option was to give Dom what he wanted. So she thought hard about who Orlando could be. Gideon's business partner or client? She didn't think he was associated with anyone by that name. It sounded Spanish or Italian. Between the two of them, she was more likely to know a person of Italian or Spanish descent. There was also a possibility that Orlando was a criminal seeing as he was affiliated with Dom. That had her thinking about the cases she'd handled. Thalia took a notebook and wrote down everything she could remember. She sifted through the closed and ongoing cases
The Mistress 22
She'd been hiding in a hotel for two weeks. The room was standard and she had everything she needed. Thanks to Natalia's money, she had been able to rent a room in a decent hotel and bought a few things she needed. But she couldn't stay there forever. For starters, she had an appointment at the hospital for a check-up. And it was suffocating staying inside all day. She needed to get some fresh air before she lost her mind. So Thalia decided to go out after leaving the hospital. It wasn't as if Dom knew where she was. After all that time, he'd probably given up looking for her. Or he thought she'd left the country. A few hours outside wouldn't alert him. She'd go to a restaurant, get a nice proper meal, and then check if Tanner had come back. When she'd gone to his house, his housekeeper had told him he wasn't around. Apparently, he'd taken a break from work and was out of the country. She didn't know how long he would be gone. Without his phone number, she could only go to his house.
The Mistress 21
She left him nothing. He'd attended the reading of Thalia's will with high expectations only to be bitterly disappointed. How could she be so mean? He was hoping to settle some of his debts with whatever little money he'd inherit from her but she hadn't left him a single penny. Edward, the butler, and Pamela, the nanny received a share together with the employees at the house and estate. If they wanted to continue working for them, they would answer to the butler until Cameron turned eighteen. He would take charge of everything after that. The rest of Thalia's wealth would be divided equally between Cameron and Celia. Edward was appointed as the custodian. Not him. She'd rather trust a stranger than him. Did that mean she knew about his affair? So far he hadn't found the person who'd leaked the photos to the press. The private investigator he'd hired found the reporters who posted the videos on the internet but they claimed to have received packages with instructions to do whatever t
The Mistress 20
There was money in every corner of that house. After lunch, Corey had left to get his clothes and ask his neighbor to feed his cat while he was away. Left alone, Thalia went back to the closet thinking she could find more information about Orlando and get Dom off her back. It was clear he wasn't going to leave her alone until she gave him what he wanted. But all she'd found was money. Out of fifteen boxes, only one had a pair of shoes. It looked like Natalia had forgotten to unpack them. That wasn't all. Thalia found more money taped on the bottom of cabinets in the closet. More boxes under the bed were filled with what looked like useless things but there was cash at the bottom. An hour later she gave up. Aside from money, there was nothing else in that house. Due to so much movement, her leg started throbbing. Reminding her she'd only left the hospital a few hours ago and hadn't fully recovered. Thinking she should get some rest, she stopped at the foot of the bed and scrunched her
The Mistress 19
Three bedrooms. One of them had been transformed into a gym with a treadmill and a few other workout equipment. Although, judging by how new most of the stuff was, it didn't look like she used the room a lot. The other one had a bed and a mattress. Nothing else. The master bedroom must have been where Natalia spent most of her time. Everything was carefully picked. The bedding included plush throws, knit blankets, and pillows in shades of white, cream, and soft taupe. Floor-to-ceiling drapes in a matching beige shade framed sheer white curtains and a large rug covered the floor. Two night stands with golden lamps sat on either side of the bed and a minimalist abstract painting hung above it. Despite being in Natalia's body, Thalia wondered if it was okay to be in her space. What if she wasn't dead? Maybe her soul had ended up in someone else's body too. It was also possible they were sharing the same body. What if they took turns being conscious? Was there a limit to her time in that
