Stefan Shepherd, one of the Four. The nation's richest, most untouchable families, a name spoken like myth in the kind of circles Aveline had only danced around in the shadows of. And here she'd been, laughing on her couch with him. Wrapped in his arms. Confiding in him.
He'd hugged her.
Aveline sat back, phone slipping a little in her hand as she stared at the ceiling, her pulse a wild, unsteady thing.
She wasn't ready to let this go. Not yet. sex was fun. Danger was easy. But this? Stefan was something else entirely. A soft life wrapped in silk and power. The kind of man who could give her everything — security, scandal, safety, status. And maybe… just maybe… the kind of love that didn't feel like a punishment.
She smirked, thumb tracing the engraved letters on the watch.
"Well, well, Dr. Shepherd," she murmured to the empty room. "Looks like you're not getting away that easily."
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