Outside the hotel, Anastasia froze, her eyes widening in disbelief as she saw the car Alex had opened for her. The cars she’d known Alex to drive were hers. But now, here was a sleek, yellow Ferrari, the kind of car that screamed wealth, its engine purring with authority.Her heart pounded in her chest. Alex had always been humble, his life modest. Yet, this car—this display of opulence—made her uneasy, as if the ground beneath her feet was slipping away.Alex gave her a soft, encouraging smile and gestured toward the open door. "Get in."For a moment, she hesitated. Her mind raced, trying to piece together the truth. How had she missed this side of him? Anastasia already knew Alex wasn’t as poor as she or her family had believed, but this—a Ferrari—was another level. Her chest tightened, the edges of doubt creeping into her mind.Still, she slipped into the passenger seat, her movements stiff with suspicion. As Alex started the engine, her thoughts churned, unable to stay silent."As
Alex saw all this, but it was what he had expected beforehand. He wasn’t talking to a doll who blindly believed everything he said. Anastasia was strong-willed, with her own thoughts and reasoning, and it would take more than words to convince her.If the roles were reversed and someone had told him about a ring capable of making someone rich and giving them mysterious powers, he wouldn’t have believed it either.But Alex was prepared. His mind was set on showing Anastasia the truth. That’s why he had driven to this secluded road.Suddenly, he opened his car door and stepped out. When he did this, he looked back at Anastasia, who sat silently beside him, eyes filled with doubt. “Please come out and see for yourself,” he said gently.Anastasia hesitated for a moment, her heart beating faster as she wondered what he was about to show her. Without saying a word, she stepped out of the car. They stood together in front of Alex’s Ferrari, the cool air settling around them like a silent wit
Right after paying the hospital bills, Nancy and Juliet were determined to get to the bottom of this. They exchanged worried glances, the weight of the situation hanging heavily between them. "Who was involved in a fight with Jackson?" Nancy asked, her voice tense, her calm cracking with each word. Every moment of uncertainty made her anxiety grow. This wasn't just a random attack. Someone had deliberately crossed a line."Who would dare beat up our future son-in-law?" Juliet added, her anxiety morphing into frustration. She felt the pressure building inside her. Jackson was supposed to be part of the family soon—this was personal. The more they thought about it, the angrier they became.Without wasting time, they rushed to the car, barely speaking. The silence between them was thick, filled with the fear of what they might discover. Nancy’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her mind raced with questions, each one darker than the last. Could t
The next morning greeted Alex with a sense of dread. He jolted upright, his heart racing, drenched in sweat. Beads of moisture clung to his face, and his breathing came in rapid, shallow gasps, as though he had just run a marathon. His chest heaved with each breath, his body on high alert from the remnants of the nightmare that had gripped him.The duvet, soaked through with sweat, clung to him like it had been caught in a torrential downpour. He wiped his face with trembling hands, trying to calm his racing thoughts. "Thank God, it was just a dream," he thought, still shaken. But the vividness of it lingered like a bad omen.In the dream, he had been strangled—by someone who looked exactly like him. The eerie twin had worn a cruel expression, his hands tightening around Alex’s throat, choking the life out of him. Behind this doppelganger, a shadowy figure emerged—a man who looked like his father. His father had been walking out of a blazing fire, wearing ancient-looking robes, his fa
“Micheal! He sent us!” The man in the suit screamed, his voice cracking with fear. Alex’s lips curled into a smirk. The moment they mentioned Michael’s name, everything clicked into place for him."Of course he is. That son of a bitch. I will make sure this is the last time he does something like this." Alex said confidently, then slapped the man in suit on his head as if he was an erring student who failed to listen to instruction. Rising smoothly to his feet, Alex strode toward the door and yanked it open. His tone was ice-cold yet disturbingly calm as he spoke. “Get the fuck out.”The intruders didn’t hesitate. Despite the pain they were in, they scrambled to their feet, their fear of Alex far greater than their injuries. The tension in the air was thick, and their panic was obvious as they rushed out of the apartment like their lives depended on it.As soon as they left, Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He stared at it for a moment, his instincts already telling him this wasn’
The next morning, Anastasia arrived at the Stewart family villa just as she had been instructed. As she stepped out of the car, the tension in her chest tightened, her heart pounding faster with every step she took toward the imposing entrance. The villa loomed before her like a prison—grand, cold, and suffocating. This was her family, but it did not feel like home now.Inside, her footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, each one amplifying the dread crawling up her spine. It was as if the house itself whispered for her to turn back. But she couldn’t. Not now. She had been summoned, and that meant she had no choice.When she entered the dining room, her eyes immediately landed on Nancy, sitting stiffly at the head of the table, sipping her tea. Juliet, her mother, sat beside her, lips pressed into a hard frown. The tension in the air was suffocating, heavy with unspoken accusations.They didn’t acknowledge her as she stepped inside. It was as if she were invisible—a dismissal that had h
Alex boarded the next available flight to Italy. He kept this decision to himself, telling no one—not even Anastasia. After all, Michael was Anastasia’s friend’s boyfriend. The last thing he wanted was to involve her in what could be a dangerous mission.He knew that Anastasia and Juliet’s friendship was strained, judging by the tension he'd noticed at their last get-together. Still, Anastasia had a noble heart. If she found out what he planned to do, she might try to stop him, appealing to his sense of reason. He couldn’t afford that.“Welcome to Italy, sir,” said the man waiting at the airport. It was Luca De Rossi, the private fixer Alex had hired even before leaving Southlake.A few hours ago, Alex had devised a plan to deal with Michael, but he needed someone familiar with both the legitimate and underworld sides of Italy. After a bit of searching on the internet, he’d found Luca, a former associate of the mafia heir, whose portfolio was filled with dangerous but successful dealin
Being disowned by her family was a bittersweet moment for Anastasia. On one hand, she felt a strange sense of freedom, like she was no longer shackled by their expectations. But on the other hand, it still hurt deeply. The people who were supposed to love her unconditionally had turned their backs on her. Yet she chose her freedom. She chose to chase happiness, no matter how painful the price.As she stepped through the gate of her family villa, a lump formed in her throat. Her mind kept circling back to Alex. She had dialed his number countless times, clinging to the hope that he would answer and that he’d somehow know exactly what to say to make everything right. But all she heard was the same automated voice: “The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable.”With a frustrated sigh, she sent him a text: “Babe, where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you.” She stared at the screen for a moment, hoping for a response that didn’t come. There was no time to sit and wait. H