The next ten or twenty minutes were a blur. I vaguely remember trying to wipe my phone and save it from the sweet and sticky liquor that flooded it. I remember Grant shouting and cursing me as if I were the one who spiked his drink, not the other way around. I recall the police taking him away…I watched it all happen like I was watching some bad movie. My heart kept hammering, and the dull, constant tone in my ears blocked out most of the noises and voices of the people surrounding me. I kept squeezing my phone, pressing it tightly to my chest, like I was holding a remedy for all evil.“Miss, we will need your testimony.” The policeman standing in front of me tore through my bewilderment.I drew a trembling breath and tugged a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. Then I opened my mouth but wasn't sure if I was able to come up with any words.“You do want to testify against that man, don't you?” the policeman urged when I stayed silent for more than a few seconds.“She does,” answer

I stormed out of Darren's office and then out of the club. I hated his arrogance. I hated that he looked down on me. But, most of all, I hated that he was right. I was nothing but a tool for his revenge on my father. He wanted me to suffer. Getting close to him would only bring me harm. It would have been only natural if I found him repulsive. So why did my body betray me every time I was close to him? Why did my heart pound so madly? Why did I want to be in his arms? I craved his touch, his kisses, his body on mine, him inside me... There had to be something seriously wrong with me, and I should probably ask my team to develop some kind of cure for that disease.I sat behind the wheel in my Porsche and drew several long breaths to calm down. “Lilly, you gave him that damn jacket. You don't have to see him anymore. You will avoid him. You will focus on work, and everything will be fine,” I told myself. It sounded like a good plan. I forced myself to smile and went back home.For the n

I stood in the empty meeting room, staring at the side door. My blood was boiling. The knuckles on my clenched fists turned white. My team and I had spent weeks trying to design the best possible mix of vaccines. Our product worked against more than twenty different diseases. We should have won that stupid contract, not Darren and his team!Suddenly, the side door opened, and Darren appeared on the threshold. His eyes met mine, and a cold smile parted his lips. I gritted my teeth as I stared at him, regretting I didn't hold any heavy objects I could have thrown at him. I glanced behind him, but Captain Marcus was gone, and Darren quickly closed the door as he stepped inside the room.“You cheated,” I bit out.“You heard,” he acknowledged, his smile faltering. “Well, that doesn't change anything.” With a shrug, he walked past me, turning to the corridor.“Doesn't change anything?!” I rushed after him. “You didn't even follow the brief!”He stopped and pivoted to face me. “The brief was

I stared at the tall and slender woman standing in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a black fitted gown with gold accessories. Her honey-blond hair was tied up in a high ponytail, exposing all the ideally symmetrical details of her face. She certainly looked as if she had just returned from the catwalk. A few years ago, I would have felt stripped of all confidence in her presence, but now, not so much… “I'm afraid you'll have to wait,” I told her. Her brows rose. “And why is that?” I breathed out a chuckle. “Because I've come here to deal with a certain physiologic need.” Her lips twisted into an uncomfortable grimace. “Fine,” she muttered. “I'll wait for you on the balcony at the end of this corridor.” With a soft huff, she pivoted to the door and marched out of the ladies' room. I sighed. I had no idea what Mia Darroze wanted from me, but I could bet that it was about Darren. I had seen her eyes on him. It hadn't escaped my attention that she hadn't loo

The silence that filled the room was heavy and devastating. I could feel my guts twisting as I carefully turned and analyzed every word my uncle had said. “Get rid of them… how?” I dared ask, although my voice was barely a whisper.Uncle stiffened, staying with his back to me. He remained motionless for almost a minute, a minute filled with unbearably long, suffocating seconds. Then his shoulders moved in a tense shrug. “We bribed some of them, forcing them to disappear on their own. Others needed… convincing.”Air escaped me in a violent blow. A second later, my eyes filled with tears. “How brutal was this ‘convincing’?” I could barely push those words through my throat as the bile rose there, threatening to block everything, my windpipes included.“No one died,” was all he said before walking to the smaller room adjoining his office. He stopped at the threshold and glanced over his shoulder. “Don't tell your father I've told you.” Then he stepped further and closed the door behind h