Chapter: YOU'RE UNDER ARRESTThe Grand Meridian Hotel's crystal chandeliers threw diamonds of light across marble floors as Logan Stone adjusted his tie for the third time."Stop fidgeting," Vanessa hissed, smoothing her designer wedding gown. "You look nervous.""I'm not nervous." Logan forced a smile as another group of potential investors entered the ballroom. "I'm calculating. After this ceremony, half these people will see we're stable, united. They'll invest again. Trust me."Vanessa nodded, but her hands trembled slightly. Their empire was crumbling. This wedding was their last card to play—a public display of confidence meant to convince people the Reed-Stone alliance was still worth betting on.Gerald and Patricia mingled with guests, their smiles tight as death masks. Everyone could smell the desperation.Then the main doors opened.Grayson Wells walked in wearing a tailored black tuxedo that probably cost more than a car. Beside him, Ava Morgan wore a white silk wedding dress that made her look like sh
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: WILL YOU MARRY ME?Ava woke to the smell of food—real food, not dumpster scraps or expired charity handouts.She blinked against morning light streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, momentarily disoriented by the luxury surrounding her. The penthouse. Grayson's secret apartment. Yesterday felt like a fever dream—the cemetery, the attack, the butterfly birthmark, the impossible proposal.Her side throbbed where Grayson had stitched the knife wound. She sat up carefully and found him in the kitchen, stirring a pot of something that smelled like heaven."You didn't have to do this," Ava said, her voice rough from sleep. "I should leave before I cause you more trouble—"Grayson looked up, expression unreadable. "The only trouble is you not taking care of yourself." He carried over a tray—congee, herbal tea, pain medication arranged like a hospital meal. "Eat first. Then we'll talk."Ava took the bowl with trembling hands. When was the last time someone had cooked for her? Years. Maybe a decade. The con
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: YOU'VE LOST YOUR MIND!Gerald Reed's world ended at 9:47 AM on the same Tuesday.He sat at his office desk staring at his computer screen, watching contracts disappear like smoke. One by one, every major deal Reed Industries had secured vanished from their system—cancelled, voided, erased as if they'd never existed.His hands shook as he refreshed the page. Nothing changed. The screen still showed zero active contracts.The door burst open. His secretary stumbled in, face pale as death."Sir! The bank just called!" Her voice cracked with panic. "They're calling in all our loans! Full payment within seventy-two hours or they seize everything!"Gerald shot to his feet. "That's insane! We have payment schedules, agreements—""They said the agreements are void. Something about breached collateral terms." She wrung her hands. "They want eighteen million dollars by Friday or they're taking the building, the equipment, everything."The room tilted. Gerald grabbed his desk for support.Patricia burst through the do
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: THAT MERCY JUST ENDED"Marry you?" Ava's voice came out strangled. "That's insane. I'm nobody. I have nothing. I'm homeless, for God's sake—""I spent three years looking for you. I thought I'd found you. I married the wrong woman and served her family like a slave trying to honor my mother's wish." His grip tightened on her hand. "But I was wrong. You're the one my mother meant. You've always been the one.""This is insane," Ava whispered. "You don't even know me well—""You gave everything to save strangers," Grayson interrupted. "You survived twelve years alone and kept your kindness. That's worth more than anything the Reeds could ever claim.”Ava tried to pull her hand away but was too weak. "You're seriously talking crazy. I should leave. I should—”Grayson knelt before her properly now, this man who'd led armies and crushed warlords, and spoke with raw emotion that had been locked away for three years."My mother's last words were to find you and marry you. I'm three years late, and I failed you in
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: PLEASE DON'T HURT METhe woman in Grayson's arms was dying.He carried her through the storm toward his car, her blood soaking into his already-drenched uniform. Her breathing was shallow, irregular. The knife wound in her side wasn't immediately fatal, but she'd lost too much blood. Minutes mattered.Grayson laid her across the back seat and drove like hell toward the one place nobody knew existed—his penthouse in Apex Tower. Not the delivery driver's life the Reeds thought he lived. His real sanctuary, registered under shell companies so layered even government agencies couldn't trace them.The tower's underground garage was empty at this hour. Grayson carried the woman to his private elevator, punching in the security code with bloody fingers. The ride to the top floor felt eternal.His penthouse door swung open to reveal what he'd kept hidden for three years—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, minimalist furniture that cost more than most people's cars, a space that screamed wealth and powe
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
Chapter: BLOOD ON GRAVENo one would believe Grayson had just spent fifty thousand dollars on roadside flowers—especially not for a grave.He clutched them as he drove through sheets of rain toward Clearwater Cemetery, windshield wipers barely keeping pace with the storm. The old burial ground sat on the city's edge—abandoned for years, overgrown with weeds, forgotten by everyone except those with ghosts to visit.Grayson parked near the rusted gates and walked through mud and darkness until he found the weathered tombstone half-hidden by wild grass.Sarah Wells. Beloved Mother.He knelt in the mud and placed the flowers against the stone. Rain hammered his shoulders, soaked through his clothes, but he didn't move."I failed you, Mom."The words came out raw. Three years of holding them back, and now they spilled like blood from a wound."Even when you were dying, you kept telling me about her. The girl with the butterfly birthmark who saved us fifteen years ago." His voice cracked. "I came back from the bor
Last Updated: 2025-12-22
