Chapter 2

• Nathaniel’s POV
• I wasn’t a man easily swayed by temptation.
• Discipline had been ingrained in me since childhood, work hard, stay focused, and never let emotions cloud your judgment. That was how I built my success, how I earned my father’s approval, and how I maintained control over every aspect of my life.
• So why was it that, for the first time in years, I felt that control slipping?
• Her name was Lillian Carter.
• She worked in the finance department, buried in numbers and reports, efficient and professional. I had barely noticed her before, not because she wasn’t noticeable, but because I never allowed myself to notice.
• But today was different.
• Today, I walked into the office, expecting just another ordinary morning of back-to-back meetings, mind-numbing negotiations, and my usual routine of drowning in work. Instead, my eyes found her.
• She wasn’t even doing anything spectacular, just standing near the break room, laughing at something a colleague had said, her eyes bright, her lips curved into a soft smile.
• And just like that, I was staring.
• The realization hit me like a punch to the gut.
• I dragged my gaze away, gripping the file in my hand a little too tightly.
• “This is ridiculous, Nathaniel.” I told myself.
• I had no business noticing her, no business admiring the way her dark hair framed her face, or the way she absentmindedly tucked a strand behind her ear as she listened to her coworker.
• I was engaged.
• To Isabelle, the daughter of my father’s closest friend, the woman who had been by my side for the past three years, the woman everyone expected me to marry.
• And yet, in this moment, Isabelle might as well have been a world away.
• Because for the first time in my life, I felt something I shouldn’t.
• Lust.
• For someone who wasn’t my fiancée.
• I clenched my jaw and turned away, heading straight for my office without acknowledging anyone. The moment the door shut behind me, I exhaled, setting the file down with more force than necessary.
• This wasn’t happening. I wasn’t going to let it happen.
• Lillian Carter was just an employee. Just another face in a sea of workers who came in every morning and left every evening. She would remain exactly that.
• Even if my hands still tingled from the moment I had brushed past her in the hallway yesterday.
• Even if my mind replayed the way her lips had parted in surprise when I had accidentally locked eyes with her in the boardroom.
• Even if I knew, deep down, that ignoring this wouldn’t make it go away.
• But I had no choice.
• Because if there was one thing I knew with certainty, it was this. Nathaniel Montgomery didn’t break rules.
• And wanting Lillian Carter would be the biggest mistake of my life.
• I needed to clear my head. Noticing her effortless grace was driving me insane.
• This. Whatever it was, needed to stop. And I knew exactly how to make it stop.
• I needed to remind myself of the woman I was supposed to be with. Isabelle. My fiancée. The woman I had spent three years building a future with. She was beautiful, sophisticated, and from a family that made perfect sense alongside mine. Everything about us made sense.
• So tonight, I was going to remind myself why I chose her.
• I left the office early, ignoring the questioning looks from my assistant, and drove straight to Isabelle’s house. No calls, no texts. I wanted to surprise her.
• I imagined how it would go. I’d walk in, she’d be delighted to see me, and we’d spend the evening together, reconnecting. I’d channel every bit of this restless energy into her, where it belonged. All pun intended.
• By the time I reached her apartment, the tension in my body had turned into anticipation. I loosened my tie, raking a hand through my hair as I stepped out of the car.
• The lights inside were on. She was home. I smiled to myself, stepping up to the front door. I didn’t knock. I had a spare key, we were engaged, after all. I pushed the door open, ready to call her name.
• But then I heard it.
• A sound I knew too well.
• A low moan. A breathy gasp. The unmistakable rhythm of bodies moving together. Skin slapping against skin.
• The blood drained from my face.
• For a split second, I froze. My mind tried to rationalize it, maybe I was imagining things, maybe it was the TV, maybe…
• Another moan. A deep, masculine groan. Definitely not mine. Rage surged through me.
• I stepped forward, moving through the hallway in a daze. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to turn around, to leave, to not do this to myself. But I couldn’t.
• I reached her bedroom door, which was half open, and I saw.
• Isabelle.
• My fiancée.
• Beneath another man.
• Her head was thrown back, her nails digging into his back, her voice breathy and desperate as she whispered things to him that she had once whispered to me.
• For a moment, I couldn’t move.
• Couldn’t breathe.
• A sickening feeling spread through my chest, she didn’t even notice me standing there.
• I didn’t know how long I stood frozen at the doorway, watching my perfectly controlled life shatter.
• And then, finally, something inside me snapped.
• I stepped forward, deliberately.
• The sound of my shoes against the hardwood made them jerk apart.
• Isabelle’s eyes flew open. She turned, still breathless, still tangled in sheets and sin, and when she saw me, all color drained from her face.
• “Nathaniel…” she gasped, scrambling up, clutching the sheets to her chest. “I…I can explain…”
• I laughed. A cold, empty and dangerous laugh.
• Explain? What was there to explain?
• The man beside her had gone rigid, with panic. I didn’t even look at him. I didn’t care who he was.
• My eyes were on Isabelle. The woman I had planned to marry. The woman I had just spent the entire drive here convincing myself I wanted.
• The irony burned.
• “Nathaniel, please, let me…”
• I turned around and walked out.
• Not another word. Not another glance.
• I refused to let her see how much she had just wrecked me. She called after me, her voice frantic.
• I didn’t stop. Didn’t look back.
• The moment I stepped outside, I exhaled, shoving a hand through my hair, my heart pounding in my ears.
• I should have been devastated.
• Should have been furious.
• But all I felt was…
• Relief.
• A dark, twisted sense of relief.
• Because now, there was nothing holding me back.
• Now, I didn’t have to restrain myself anymore.
• And for the first time, I allowed myself to think about Lillian Carter.
• And I didn’t feel guilty at all. To make the matter beautiful, she was handed to me on a silver platter…
• …and I just couldn't resist.