Chapter 1 Worst New Year

• I always imagined my New Year's Eve ending with a proposal... not with my boyfriend buried between my model's legs.
• “E-Edric? What are you doing?”
• Edric stopped. His hair was a mess, his skin flushed with a heat that wasn't meant for me.
• Amie simply leaned back, a slow, triumphant smirk spreading across her face.
• That bitch.
• She did this to me on purpose.
• Slowly, Edric's eyes fell on me and stared for a while, uncertain how to react.
• “Kristine,” Edric panted, wiping sweat from his brow, “You are early.”
• “What the.. What… How…”
• “Don't look so shocked, Kristine.” Amie smirked, tracing a hand over his chest as Edric didn't bother to push her either.
• Instead, he closed his eyes and let out a frustrated “Fuck.”
• A single tear, hot and stinging, trailed through my makeup.
• “How could you…?” I choked out, “I thought... I thought we were building a life together, Edric.”
• “A life? Together?”
• Edirc slowly curled his lips up wickedly, opening those piercing green eyes to look me dead in the eyes.
• “When did I agree to such an absurd idea?”
• The cruelty of his statement made me flinch.
• My fingers loosened around the pregnancy test.
• I'd spent three days hiding it in my purse because I wanted tonight to be perfect.
• I had desperately waited for the New Year.
• To tell him he was going to be a father.
• His smile.
• His hands on my stomach while asking me to marry him.
• We were supposed to become a family.
• Instead, he was inside another woman.
• How could I tell him now that it was….
• POSITIVE.
• “How…” I managed to speak without falling apart.
• “How could you betray me?”
• My gray eyes burned with pain. My black hair clung to my tear-streaked face as I stared at the two people who had destroyed my baby’s future.
• “Don't act like you didn't see this coming, Kristine.”
• He kissed her knuckles, giving her the most beautiful smile he ever had.
• “Amie is the woman I love. And you?”
• And back to me with a bitter face. “You were never enough."
• The words hit harder than the affair.
• Was that how he'd looked at me all this time?
• Something that was never enough?
• “Happy now?” Amie smirked. “Now, go home, Kristine. You are interrupting us.”
• He laughed when Amie purposely pressed herself harder into him.
• Those bastards…
• My vision narrowed.
• His laugh.
• Amie's smirk.
• My baby's future.
• Everything blurred together. My fingers found the crystal vase before my mind made the decision.
• By the time I realized what I'd done...
• Blood stained the white sheets with Edric’s blood.
• Amie screamed, scrambling back, “What have you done, Kristine!?”
• I didn't remember leaving the hotel afterwards.
• I only remembered crying.
• Two hours later, my world had become a mess.
• I was expressing my grief to my best friend Rose at our usual elite bar.
• “How could he do this to me, Rose?” My hands were shaking badly as I pulled my hair.
• “What is going to happen to my baby now?”
• “Amie was dying for revenge since you brought her campaign down.”
• “Still… how could he…?”
• “Edric had always been a piece of shit. I suspected, but with Amie? That’s bottom-tier behavior,” Rose shrugged, taking a shot of tequila.
• “I hope both of them suffer in the worst way possible.”
• “You don’t have to cry over those losers.” She sighed, pushing a drink towards me.
• “How can I not?”
• “Come on, Kristine, it’s New Year. Maybe this is a sign for you to have a new start.”
• “Or a sign that my life has reached its lowest point and I have to raise this baby alone,” I scoffed, wiping my tears roughly, I almost brought the glass to my lips and it made me feel more terrible.
• “Am I already a terrible mother?” I looked at Rose, my lips quivering. “Drinking while pregnant."
• “You need something to forget the pain.”
• “I.. I…”
• “Come on, Kristine.” She encouraged me, putting the glass over my lips.
• “One drink isn't going to make you a monster.” She tried to be optimistic.
• I was hesitant. Questioning myself, guilty for endangering my child for my comfort.
• “Look at me.”
• I couldn't.
• “Kristine.”
• “...What?”
• “He has already forgotten you.” I flinched.
• “He is taking her to tomorrow’s gala. You are no longer a part of his life, Kristine.”
• I stared at the tempting liquid.
• The guilt slowly evaporated, replaced with an intense need to forget my heartache.
• “Maybe… Maybe you are right.”
• Soon the alcohol started to blur my perception.
• I mindlessly agreed in order to subdue the overwhelming pain.
• Maybe denial was easier.
• “Yeah… you are right… Why should I sob? We don’t need a pathetic baby daddy.”
• I pushed my messy hair, getting pumped for the night and, surprisingly, it worked as I was immersed in the moment.
• “I am done being the victim, Rose,” I hissed , slamming my empty glass onto the table.
• The tequila had finally numbed the fragments of my heartbreak and brought a new fire in me.
• “Look.” Rose called, her eyes darting toward the shadows.
• “Look who has been watching you weep for the past twenty minutes.”
• I followed her gaze… and landed on the most dangerous man in the lounge.
• Sitting in a booth sat the irresistible billionaire who dominated his field like a King and discarded enemies like tissues.
• Zayne Nightwood.
• CEO of Nightwood Corporation.
• He owned the country's one of the largest airline and shipping empires.
• Surprisingly, tonight, he didn't look like a businessman, he looked like a predator and his target was me.
• “Zayne… Nightwood?”
• His breathtaking sapphire eyes didn’t break contact as he slowly raised his glass.
• “Edric’s enemy. How does that sound for ultimate revenge?”
• I was shocked at her suggestion, “How could you say that, Rose?”
• "Why not? Forget him tonight, Kristine."
• “But, Rose–”
• “Don't just move on.” She stopped right near my ears.
• “Burn Edric’s world to the ground.”
• I glanced at the alcohol, back to the pregnancy test untouched on the table. Slowly, my eyes locked back on the man.
• Fine.
• If Edric wanted to destroy my future...
• I'd destroy his…
• “Maybe,” My grip tightened around my glass, forcing a smirk as I raised my glass as well.
• “You are right.”
• I stood up, smoothed my black dress, and walked straight toward the man who made the city tremble.
• With each step I took towards him, the dream life I had imagined began to die.
• Before I knew it, my fingers were already grazing the edge of his table.
• “Mr. Nightwood,” I acknowledged, extending my hand out to him which he grabbed without hesitation, pulling me into his lap.
• “Where is that good-for-nothing boyfriend of yours, Miss Iglesias?” He whispered on my neck, eyeing me thoroughly.
• “Ex,” I corrected him sourly, taking a sip of my drink.
• “Finally decided to raise your standard?” He smirked, sliding his hand to my thigh.
• For a moment, I froze.
• ‘Was it the right thing?’
• He saw the slight hesitation and gave my thighs a tighter squeeze.
• “You do not have to shed tears for that loser. I know you're not here because you want me."
• My smile faltered. My pulse jumped. I hadn't expected him to take control so effortlessly.
• "You're here because you want him to suffer."
• Holding my hand, he kissed my wrist while wrapping his other hand around my waist.
• “Do you want me to help you forget your ex, Miss Iglesias?”
• My eyes narrowed with desperation.
• “Please do. Mr. Nightwood.”