Jackson shifted in his seat, his skin itching with the desperate urge to tear off his tuxedo and dive headfirst into the pool. He fought the temptation, forcing himself to stay put while he picked at a slice of chicken pot pie, the very same pie he’d claimed he didn’t want earlier.Cindy approached him, a look of pure triumph on her face as she sat down.“Honey, you won’t believe the tea I just spilled!” she whispered excitedly. “Emmanuelle Andrade just showed up wearing a dress my mother wouldn’t have even touched since 1985!”Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Really?”“Oh, it was tragic. She tried to humiliate Linda in front of everyone, but Matt shut her down instantly. Now Sheila’s dragged her upstairs to find something that doesn’t scream ‘vintage nightmare.’“Cindy slid her phone across the table. Jackson took a look and immediately began to choke on his mouthful of pie, coughing loudly as he beat his own chest. “Cough... ghack... COUGH! Whew... went down the wrong pipe.”“Do you thin

A sharp knock echoed through the room. Matthew rose from the sofa, smoothing out his tank top.“Who is it?” he called out.“Young Matthew? It’s Jarbas,” the butler’s voice drifted through the wood.Matthew crossed the room and pulled the door open. Jarbas offered a quick, formal bow before stepping inside, his expression uncharacteristically strained.“What’s the matter?” Matthew asked.“There is an unidentified car parked outside near the garden, right where the guests’ vehicles were yesterday. It appears to have been there all night.”A flicker of realization crossed Matthew’s face. Remembering the conversation from the night before, he gave Jarbas a sharp gesture that said, ‘I’ll take care of it.’Matthew and Jarbas moved down the hallway toward one of the guest suites. Matthew leaned in, pressing his ear against the doorframe. He could hear it perfectly: the rhythmic grunts of Walter and the soft whimpering of a very wrecked Linda. It was clear the two of them had absolutely no id

Inside the Sterling Mansion dining room, Matthew sat for breakfast with Alice and Abner. The household staff laid out various options on platters and under silver cloches before discreetly retreating to the kitchen.“So,” Abner began, breaking the morning quiet, “my son only showed up here to stop Matthew from moving on, all so he can chase a woman who clearly doesn’t want him.”“Exactly,” Alice added. “And he’s doing it by trying to breed resentment within that poor girl’s family just because she rejected him.”Matthew looked up from his plate. “We aren’t living in the dark ages anymore. This isn’t the century where women are forced to marry whoever their parents point at.”“Amen to that!” Alice exclaimed.Abner reached across the table, gently taking Alice’s left hand in his. “I’m just glad to know that you chose me from the heart, darling,” he said with a warm smile.Alice’s heart hammered against her ribs, and she offered a nervous, tight smile in return. She knew exactly what he

Inside Charles’s office at the Andrade Clinic, Emmanuelle’s eyes were comically wide. Her mind struggled to grasp why her husband would hurl objects across the room over a “simple” comment about their daughter no longer being a chaste virgin.“Will you stop instilling these indecencies into my little princess’s head?!” Charles shouted with rage.“Oh, so it’s my fault that our son-in-law takes our daughter ‘from behind’?” Emmanuelle shot back with sarcasm.“SILENCE!” Charles exploded.He stood up so abruptly that his chair screeched across the floor, slamming into the filing cabinet behind him.Emmanuelle crossed her arms, refusing to back down or acknowledge that she might be the one in the wrong.“This is exactly why daughters need to talk to their mothers about these things,” Emmanuelle said. “Overprotective daddies like y

Wednesday dawned over Blue Cove, contrasting to the previous gray days. The sun was out in full force.Inside the Borges house, Jackson sat at his computer desk, dressed down in sweatpants and a tank top. He was engrossed in an article about ‘Tropical Romance’.“A bizarre phenomenon is sweeping the nation. Several married men have gone missing for days at a time. When they finally reappear, they explain in a mix of embarrassment and pleasant surprise that they were kept handcuffed to their beds by their wives after the women read Vanda Borges’s spicy new romance. At the time of this writing, several husbands are still reported missing...”Jackson couldn’t help but smirk. His mother wasn’t just writing books; she was rewriting the rules of the bedroom.“That’s my mom,” he muttered to himself. “Always dictating the trends.”Cindy emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a plush white robe and drying her hair with a towel.“What did your mother do now?” she asked, noticing his grin.“She’s