Cole Scott glared down at the pathetic, crumpled mess on the floor, his jaw clenching so hard that his back teeth groaned under the pressure.His son was curled into a helpless, shivering ball in the corner of the grand entrance, his left cheek burning a deep, angry red from the force of the slap, his tear-filled eyes wide with unadulterated terror.In moments like this, staring at the trembling boy he had raised, Cole genuinely wanted to question whether Lucas was truly his biological son or some cruel trick of fate. How could someone who had been given every conceivable advantage, every layer of structural protection, and unlimited wealth grow up to be so utterly, catastrophically reckless?In the past, Lucas’s missteps had been mere petty indiscretions, bribing traffic officers, covering up minor vehicle crashes, or paying off disgruntled venue managers. Those were simple, everyday messes that Cole’s legal teams could easily sweep under the rug before a single journalist caught win

The phone abruptly rang in Selene's shaking hands, the sudden vibration so violent that she almost dropped the sleek device onto the table.Numb with panic, she practically shoved the phone toward Jenna, who collected it with a practiced, fluid motion and immediately answered. Selene’s heart pounded against her ribs like a sledgehammer, her mind racing in a chaotic whirlwind of fear. Lucas Scott's mess had tainted her, any proximity to him cast one in the ugliest light.An abuser.And even though Selene had been a partner in the scheme against Miyu, she had done it in secret, no one could really tell of her involvment. Somehow people's pointing fingers would land on her.She glanced up at Jenna's face."Yes... of course, I understand completely," Jenna spoke into the receiver, trying her best not to eye Selene directly. Her voice was clipped, intensely professional, but underlying her tone was a sharp, frigid edge that Selene had never heard from the columnist before.She had always b

"Just who the fuck do you think you are to stand there and threaten me?" Selene snarled, her carefully cultivated angelic persona completely shattering into raw, unadulterated venom.Her dark eyes narrowed into razor-sharp slits, her voice dropping into a low, terrifying whisper that practically dripped with malice. "I know everything there is to know about Reed. I know his mind, his past, and his weaknesses. An insignificant, nameless bug like you is not going to stand in the way of what I want."She took a deliberate step back, her sharp gaze sweeping over Jessie with barefaced contempt. As far as Selene was concerned, this elegant intruder was a nobody, an inconvenient obstacle, a mere servant who possessed zero understanding of who she was truly dealing with."I am an international star," Selene declared, a sly, supremely confident smirk spreading across her crimson lips as she leaned into her celebrity status. "And if I decide to throw a full-blown public tantrum right here in yo

Jessie shifted subtly on her heels, a quiet spike of discomfort surging through her chest.When she stepped through the double doors of the waiting lounge and caught sight of Selene draped lavishly across Reed's lap, her stomach had dropped into a bottomless abyss. She had been caught entirely off guard, her usually impenetrable professional composure cracking for a painful fraction of a second.When she had originally received a terse text message from Reed requesting that she bring up a set of corporate ledger books to the top floor, she had naturally assumed his tense confrontation with Selene had already drawn to a close. It had seemed remarkably fast, Jessie had calculated that unpacking years of bitter history, high-society drama, and emotional betrayal between Reed and his ex-wife would consume at least a couple of hours.Yet, under twenty minutes after he had stepped into the executive elevator alongside Selene, Reed had summoned Jessie to his side.However, discovering that n

With the way Lara lay stretched out across the plush velvet couch, lounging like an oversized alley cat sunning itself on a window sill, one could easily assume she was the owner of the sprawling penthouse. Her posture was completely relaxed, her dark eyes half-closed in a lazy squint, her athletic body utterly at ease amidst the opulent glass-and-marble surroundings of Reed Hawke's private sanctuary.Reed stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows, quietly studying his top operative over the rim of his espresso cup. He couldn't help but notice that she somehow looked as though she had just returned from a luxurious, week-long Mediterranean cruise, rather than a brutal, multi-week intelligence mission that had sent her burning through interstate highway lines. Her sun-bronzed skin radiated vitality, her dark hair looked naturally sun-kissed, and her sharp energy remained vibrant. She appeared rested, refreshed, and dangerous, not like an investigator who had spent nineteen consecutive da