Chapter 26 [ 472 words ] Chapter 26: Mrs. Thompson bustled into the kitchen, her face flushed with excitement. She grabbed Caroline by the shoulders, her grip tight and manic. “What are you doing hiding in here?” her mother hissed, her grip on Caroline’s shoulders tightening nervously. “Get back out

Chapter 25 [ 493 words ] Chapter 25: “And your last name,” Mr. Thompson whispered, his eyes wide as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “Romero… you’re not… you can’t be one of the Romeros?” The words the Romeros hit the room like a physical shockwave. In

Chapter 24 [ 515 words ] Chapter 24: “Oh, Richard, come sit down,” Mrs. Thompson fluttered, her previous rage entirely replaced by a nervous, frantic energy. She practically shoved her husband toward the sofa. “I’ll go get the good coffee set. The one from Aunt Martha.” She scurried into the

Chapter 23 [ 492 words ] Chapter 23: Seeing Caroline tumbling toward him with a startled cry, Jarrod’s reflexes fired faster than a normal human’s. He didn’t flinch. He simply stepped forward and swept his uninjured left arm out. He caught her mid-air. Caroline crashed hard into the solid wall

Chapter 22 [ 503 words ] Chapter 22: “Caroline.” Jarrod cut her off. His voice shifted, the softness vanishing, replaced by the immovable authority of a commander. “Because they are unstable, I need to handle this personally. I am securing your perimeter. Wait for me.” Click. The line went dead.

Chapter 21 [ 529 words ] Chapter 21: Jarrod sat in the back seat. The interior of the car was pitch black, illuminated only by the harsh white light of the classified tablet in his hand. He was reading the latest intelligence report on the assassin who had attacked Caroline.

Chapter 20 [ 503 words ] Chapter 20: She sat there for a long time. Finally, she stood up. She didn’t take the cardboard box. She opened her locker, shoved the box back onto the top shelf, and slammed the metal door shut. She walked out of the hospital, stepping

Chapter 19 [ 510 words ] Chapter 19: Her throat tightened painfully. The defensive wall she had built up over the last hour began to crack. Her eyes grew hot, and she unconsciously relaxed her shoulders, leaning slightly away from the cold locker. Jarrod was a predator, and he instantly

Chapter 18 [ 492 words ] Chapter 18: Jarrod’s gaze dropped from her eyes to her slightly parted, trembling lips. The coldness in his expression fractured, revealing something incredibly complex and raw underneath. Slowly, he lifted his hand. His rough thumb gently traced the curve of her cheek, a touch

Chapter 17 [ 501 words ] Chapter 17: “This game stops right now,” Caroline said, her voice trembling but her chin held high. “I want an annulment. Today. I want this marriage over.” Jarrod stopped less than two feet away from her. He looked down at the crumpled paper in

Chapter 16 [ 475 words ] Chapter 16: Without waiting for an answer, Jarrod turned and strode toward the VIP ICU wing. In the stairwell, Caroline ran down the concrete steps, her vision blurring. She reached the basement level, pushed open the door to the women’s locker room, and stumbled

Chapter 15 [ 516 words ] Chapter 15: “You didn’t fix anything!” Caroline yelled, her eyes burning. “You just proved to him, and to me, that I have zero control over my own life! You don’t care about what I want. You only care about your own obsessive need to

Chapter 14 [ 497 words ] Chapter 14: Caroline reached up to her chest. Her fingers trembled as she unclipped her plastic intern badge. She slammed it down onto the mahogany desk. The sharp crack echoed in the silent room. “I quit,” Caroline said. Her voice was completely flat, stripped

Chapter 13 [ 491 words ] Chapter 13: His lazy posture vanished in a microsecond. The air pressure in the room plummeted, becoming thick and unbreathable. He stood up. His leather shoes made absolutely no sound on the expensive carpet, but every slow, deliberate step he took seemed to crush

Chapter 12 [ 498 words ] Chapter 12: “Thompson!” Cromwell barked, pointing a thick finger at her. “Did you forget how to knock? Get in here and shut the door.” Caroline took a sharp breath. She stepped inside and let the heavy door click shut behind her. She walked toward

Chapter 11 [ 480 words ] Chapter 11: The black SUV rolled through the dark streets of Alexandria. Caroline sat in the back seat, her fingers still intertwined with Jarrod’s. The heat radiating from his large, calloused palm was the only thing keeping her from shattering into a million pieces.

Chapter 10 [ 1,248 words ] Chapter 10: The SUV pulled up in front of Caroline’s parents’ house an hour later. Caroline stared out the window at the familiar facade, her stomach in knots. The lights were on in the living room, casting a warm glow onto the lawn. It

Chapter 9 [ 1,091 words ] Chapter 9: The car ride to the courthouse was a blur. Caroline sat in the back of the SUV, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She was wearing her rumpled dress from the day before, her hair still damp from the shower. She

Chapter 8 [ 1,281 words ] Chapter 8: Caroline woke up to the smell of coffee. She lay in bed for a moment, disoriented. The room was bright with morning light, and the sheets were soft. For a second, she didn’t remember where she was. Then it all came rushing

Chapter 7 [ 1,291 words ] Chapter 7: The cold air hit Caroline like a slap in the face. She stood on the sidewalk, shivering, watching as Jarrod Romero walked toward a black SUV parked at the curb. He moved stiffly, his injured arm held tight against his body, but