picked up the

't accept defeat. She pursed her lips and shamelessly declared, "Fine, you won

uare it had never occupied, pretending

nessing a mental breakdown. "So by th

r rook across the board, placing Fiona's

, locking Fiona's king into a corner, leaving no legal moves. Fiona

Then three.

slow, inevitable losses, or crushing her in four moves with bru

st into tears, he

oug

essboard from the tab

ustice. Lucas murmured something low, comforting. Helen stormed over, jabbing a finger at Claire. "It's

.

nd Claire blurr

mory-now seemed faded, like a sun-bl

tev

y mor

hi

ning pieces onto the board and stood. Ex

ssboard. Only when the cold air stung her palm did she notice

air

acked with somet

t Fiona clung to him,

f the Bennett estate

the drive-it was Lucas again. She b

billion. Not a cent less. If yo

a heart attack re

kept

urned gloomy. Rain started falling, and he

rcycle cut across in front of her. S

n-b

slamming her forward. Her hea

through he

windshield, the world ah

tissue and wiped the

the yellow bike that had s

k kn

apped on

ack umbrella, he gave a small apologetic smile. "Hi miss, I was the one who rear-ended your car. It's our fault, totally. But, uh, my boss is in

r if we let the tra

ter being startled twice in a row, her em

ar where the Bentley had left a deep dent in her rear bumper. Fro

didn't push it. He got back in his car and updated his bos

pour int

he backseat, eyes lazily fixed on the woman outside. She stood there with one hand pressed to her forehead as she spoke on the phone

eth Hall ca

ced at his watch. "Michael is on his way.

s,

bed back in

ice arrived. Right behind th

e to a stop at ne

got out

th sharp features and an aura that screamed high status. His skin was pale, eyes deep-set a

could've sworn sh

eth. "Give this to her," he said, not even sparing Cl

t the jacket. "Miss, your shirt

her blouse had turned nearly transparent

d the jacket and slipp

faded into the distance, swallowed up by the rain. Claire c

nd the faint, clean scent of sandalwood p

an agreement and exchanged numbers. Kenneth offered

r outburst, she felt a bit embarrassed and apologized. "Sorry about earlier. I was just i

it. Knowing his boss, he probably wouldn't

d to the hos

r. The storm outside only made his anxiety worse as

the call-something