Chapter 12
Since that day, Zaiden vanished from my life, like he’d never been there.
I figured he’d finally come to his senses.
I wasn’t his stepdaughter.
That evening, Mike came over with a sly grin.
“Breaking news!
“Remember Ms. Yost, the one who came with Zaiden a while back?”
I nodded. “You mean Sonia?”
“Yeah, her. Someone just dropped a bomb in the company chat–she’s been cheating. Two–timing!”
I shot up from my chair, startling Mike.
“What did you say?”
“I… I said Sonia cheated on Zaiden.”
I didn’t hear anything after that.
Before I knew it, I was already running.
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When I reached the conference room, everyone was gone–except Sonia.
She froze the moment she saw me.
I pulled down my mask.
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Her pupils shrank, her body trembling.
“What are you so afraid of?”
I stepped closer. She backed away, forehead soaked in cold sweat.
I cornered her and grabbed her collar.
“He wasn’t good to you?
“You didn’t get what you wanted?”
Her eyes were wide with panic. She shook her head hard.
“Then why did you do that to him? Say something!”
Then I saw it in her teary eyes, she wasn’t looking at me.
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Her hand trembled as she pointed behind me.
A crack of thunder lit up the sky.
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I spun around–just enough lightning to catch a glimpse of Zaiden’s face. “This… is enough, right?” Sonia whispered.
She broke free from my weak grip and stumbled out of the room, nearly crawling.
And in that moment, it all clicked.
I’d been played.
My heart stopped–then thrashed wildly, like it would tear through my chest.
“Jam-”
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Chapter 12
I moved to cover my mouth, instinctively.
But what difference did it make whether I called him by his name now?
He’d known all along.
Zaiden walked toward me.
I realized just then–running away isn’t easy.
He must’ve been furious.
Furious, I was alive, so close, yet still pretending not to know him.
“Arielle, how could you think I wouldn’t recognize you?”
God, I was so stupid.
I wanted to say “I’m sorry,” but before I could–he smiled.
But it was the kind of smile that makes your skin crawl.
It scared me.
“Do you hate me?
“Do you resent me?
“Why pretend you don’t know me?
“What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?”
The questions hit me like bricks.
But his voice was calm–too calm.
Like he was talking about someone else.
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اولا
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But in his eyes, there was madness.
I backed up, step by step–until the cold glass behind me reminded me there was nowhere to run.
Then he smiled. Gentle, maybe. Or trying to be.
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“Should I kneel? Or do you want to hit me? Go ahead, make it count. Or maybe we should do something you’d like better. How about that new necklace you bought?
“You know I’d agree to anything.
“I’m better than all those other men. I fit you.
“No one else could ever be this close to you.”
His voice was almost pleading. Desperate.
“I’ve never loved anyone else.
“I only love you.
“So don’t throw me away again.”
And right then, one thought filled my mind, “Is Zaiden insane?”
“You…”
He suddenly grabbed my throat. He cut me off with a kiss–deep and violent.
A kiss that devoured me, yet was somehow still careful.
The rain drummed down.
And I realized-
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I wasn’t the only one standing in the mud, soaked and aching.
Zaiden was just as messed up as I was in this forbidden love rain.
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