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Do You Hate Me That Much Now?

2025-08-04 01:24:27

The least I should've felt was pride or happiness....I think.

That was the appropriate emotion, wasn’t it? Expected of me. A proud smile, a firm handshake, a toast raised in congratulations. But all I felt was the slow grind of fury that was speedily clawing up my spine as it left behind nothing but smoke and resentment.

Standing at the edge of the grand executive atrium of Hale Corp, I watched the champagne flutes clink as laughter bubbled through the polished air. The crowd buzzed around Cassian like he was a newly crowned king. The announcement had just been made: Chief Operating Officer.

That position had belonged to my mother, as she was a genius in business. Cassian now got to sit on her chair. Her name was still engraved on the office door. And now, it had all been handed over to Cassian in a box wrapped in tiny golden bows that reeked of fancy b

The applause still lingered, thudding against my temples like a drumbeat I couldn’t shut out.

Cassian looked the part, I’ll give him

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Spilled Light.
April’s POVI felt warmth pressed against me. It was soft and steady, and definitely wasn't mine. Stirring, God I felt so groggy and disoriented, my whole body ached in places that I had no idea could ache just because I sat for too long. I had my back pressed against something.....or someone firm.Their chest kept rising and falling beneath my cheek in a rhythm too calm and too human ish to be Sinclair. But on a more reasonable note, the person I was trapped with was....Oh God.Sinclair.I blinked hard. Once. Twice. The dim emergency lighting from earlier was gone and was now replaced by the harsh fluorescent glare of restored power. My heart lodged itself into my throat as I registered the unmistakable mechanical ding.The elevator doors were open.Wide openAnd Quinn stood there with his arms crossed with an unreadable expression on his face. Veronica was there too and she looked like she'd just walked into something deeply diseased.Some employees were standing, littered all over
The Quiet Between Us.
April's POVThe office was as good as an empty mausoleum by the time the clock hit 7.Most of the lights were now dim, and silence enveloped the executive floor. Nothing could be heard, well, except for the quiet droning of the air-conditioning and the faint, traitorous click of my keyboard.My shoulders ached so bad, I almost cried. My lower back wasn't even making things better. It felt like a live wire of tension. My eyes were starting to burn from the too many spreadsheets that I'd seen today.That didn't make me stop though.Because the only thing worse than my really bruised leg was the stack of ancient files that'd been spread across my desk like the remnants of a crime scene.Cassian had left them there about an hour ago.I know what you're thinking. "Already? It's not even been long since he took over the COO position and he was already acting petty?"Yeah, because apparently, he hates me more than he hates my boss. I blab too much. The hell?The bastard had approached my tabl
Things Better Left Unsaid.
My heart had no business behaving like this. Not after everything. Not for him.Shutting the door to Sinclair’s office with a little more force than necessary, I silently prayed the sound didn’t carry that much. I didn't have cash to pay for a broken window or something. My breath was in a hitch as I walked down the hallway, as my heels clicked with every step. Even my mind was becoming stormy.Turns out seeing my boss shirtless and dripping with water with a towel on his neck and his hair curling from steam wasn't exactly good for my health. Because can someone explain why the image refused to stop burning in my fucking mind? He looked too gorgeous not to even be acknowledged.Beauty did run in the Hale family after all.No. No, no, no.“In the name of Jesus, stomach, you will rest.”I held on to my tablet tightly as if my life depended on it. Because it kinda did since it was the only thing that kept my hands from shaking so bad.Come on, April. You're not some high school teenager
Boss On The Edge.
Sinclair's POI swear to God, if I'd stared at one more quarterly projection, I probably would have set my laptop on fire and then told the IT an electrical short caused it.I was so drained.Slouching deeper into the leather chair behind my desk, I aimlessly clicked through the eleventh financial report of the day. Or maybe it was the twelfth. Time had become a flat circle, and I kid you not when I say my brain was pudding.Somewhere between comparing line-item expenses and wondering if the intern who formatted this spreadsheet was actively trying to kill me, I tapped the side of my phone, checked for the fiftieth time today.I still hadn't gotten any reply from Quinn.The last message I sent had been short and probably made me look slightly pitiful.Me: Update me, or I’m legally declaring you missing.No read receipt. No typing dots. Just one lonely blue tick.Didn't they have any reception where he went off to?Staring at my screen, I let it fall with its face down on my desk as I
The Line They Shouldn’t Cross.
Sinclair's POVI watched Cassian grin like a man who thought he’d already won.Stepping out of the private elevator, I walked into the thirtieth-floor boardroom, the glass doors parted like the jaws of a trap. The air felt too still, the tension was too curated. I could smell it the moment I walked in. It was fake calm, like perfume on a corpse.Everyone was already seated, a little too comfortably.Veronica was seated next to Cassian at the oval table with her legs crossed as her face tilted in a performance of concern and poise. She looked radiant, and it truly disgusted me than when she’d looked smug. Because this version of her, the doting wife, the loyal second-in-command bullshit, wasn't exactly something I liked.And Cassian? Oh, he practically sparkled with misplaced confidence. The bastard never failed to amaze me."Morning, everyone," I said flatly as I ignored the chorus of fake greetings that flew past my ear. Walking slowly to the head seat at the table, I pulled it out.
The Line They Shouldn’t Cross.
Sinclair's POVI watched Cassian grin like a man who thought he’d already won.Stepping out of the private elevator, I walked into the thirtieth-floor boardroom, the glass doors parted like the jaws of a trap. The air felt too still, the tension was too curated. I could smell it the moment I walked in. It was fake calm, like perfume on a corpse.Everyone was already seated, a little too comfortably.Veronica was seated next to Cassian at the oval table with her legs crossed as her face tilted in a performance of concern and poise. She looked radiant, and it truly disgusted me than when she’d looked smug. Because this version of her, the doting wife, the loyal second-in-command bullshit, wasn't exactly something I liked. And Cassian? Oh, he practically sparkled with misplaced confidence. The bastard never failed to amaze me. "Morning, everyone," I said flatly as I ignored the chorus of fake greetings that flew past my ear. Walking slowly to the head seat at the table, I pulled it ou

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Latest Chapter

Spilled Light.

The Quiet Between Us.

Things Better Left Unsaid.

Boss On The Edge.

The Line They Shouldn’t Cross.