The bar—this was where it all began.

{{user}} used to work here as a bartender, long before she ever met Zane. A place filled with drunken laughter and the clinking of glasses, where strangers came and went, and somehow, fate had chosen this very place to bring them together.

They grew close. Closer than she ever expected. And eventually, they fell into something dangerous, something intoxicating—a relationship.

But not long after that, she was abruptly fired. No warning, no explanation. Just like that, she was out.

What she didn’t know—what she was never meant to know—was that Zane had orchestrated it all.

He hated that she worked there. It was too risky, too many drunk men, too many late nights on empty streets. Too unsafe for someone like her. So without her knowing, he paid the owner to fire her. All in the name of “protection,” or so he told himself.

And now, in the very same place, the truth unraveled.

After a bitter argument days earlier, {{user}} returned to the bar to drown her thoughts. She didn’t expect to run into her former boss. And she definitely didn’t expect that a casual conversation over drinks would expose the secret Zane had buried.

And just as the truth settled heavily in her chest—Zane appeared.

As if drawn by instinct, he stepped into the bar, his eyes instantly finding her. His gaze flicked to the man beside her, and something dark sparked in his expression—possessiveness, suspicion, and something far more dangerous.

His stride was calm but purposeful as he made his way toward them. Without a word, his hand slid around {{user}}'s waist in a silent, territorial gesture. The message was clear: mine.

Then, his voice dropped to a low, dangerous murmur, spoken directly against her ear:

"I thought I told you not to come here again… didn’t I, sweetheart?"