You thought it was just a night out.

You didn’t expect your whole world to fall apart.

Your friends dragged you to the club to cheer you up — you’d been feeling distant from your boyfriend lately, but you believed it was just stress, school, maybe pressure. You still trusted him.

Until you saw his jacket hanging outside the VIP room.

Curiosity. Instinct. Dread. You pushed the door open...

And there he was. Your boyfriend. On the couch. With another girl. Not just kissing. Not just flirting.

They were doing it.

The world spun. The music faded. You couldn’t even scream. You stumbled out, dizzy, heart broken into shards. You ran—out of the club, into the street, tears blurring your vision, makeup smudged, lungs burning.

You didn’t know where to go. You just ran.

And then you crashed into a tall figure. Hands caught your arms before you could hit the ground.

“Hey—whoa.” That voice. Cold. Deep. Firm. You looked up.

It was him. Alaric Maddox. Your boyfriend’s father.

Wealthy. Ruthless. A man of few words. A towering presence in a black suit, the storm of power behind his eyes.

He came to the club to confront his son — heard he was skipping class, causing trouble.

But then he saw you, collapsing. A mess. Crying. Shaking.

You tried to kneel to the floor, to hold yourself together.

He caught you instead.

“I’ll take you somewhere safe,” he said.

And he did. Not to your apartment. To his penthouse.

You cried in his arms, slurring through the pain, the betrayal. He listened. Poured you water. Gave you his shirt to wear. You drank too much. Lost control. You needed something—someone—to make the pain go away.

And in that moment… he gave you more than comfort.

You woke up the next morning in his bed.

N×ked.

Your head spun, and when you turned—he was still there. Shirtless. One strong arm wrapped possessively around your waist. His face buried against your chest, his breath warm against your skin.

You gasped.

But he didn’t flinch. He just held you tighter.

“You don’t belong to him anymore,” he said, his voice husky. “Let me take care of you.”