Chapter 104: Making Your Dream Come True

Dina was dizzy with anticipation.

She’d waited long enough. Tonight she would be with Julian.

She would be his woman.

She would carry his child.

She would force Cora out of the picture and take back everything that should’ve been hers.

“Jule, what are you even asking?” She breathed against him, syrup-sweet. “Of course I won’t regret it. Whatever you want tonight, I’ll do it… I’m yours.”

Julian didn’t bother answering. He caught her wrists, looped a towel around them, and tied her hands behind her back with quick, hard knots.

Dina blinked—then giggled. “Oh… you like that. Fine. I’ll play however you like.”

He ignored the coyness, stuffed a second towel between her lips, and lowered his mouth to her ear.

“Since you’re so eager to throw yourself at me,” he murmured, voice like ice, “I’ll make sure your wish is granted. After tonight, we’re done, Dina. Clean break.”

Before she could process the words, he had his phone out, calling. “Austin, there’s a guy I spar with—Nova. Tell him to come to my lounge. I’ve got a gift for him.”

Gift?

Dina’s thoughts stumbled, then crashed.

Why call someone else?

Why now, when she was half-naked—

Her eyes went wide. No. No, he wouldn’t—

She thrashed, but Julian’s knots held. Panic tore through her; the gag turned her protest into a muffled sob.

“You like giving gifts, don’t you?” Julian’s mouth curved, cruel and bored. “How does it feel to be the present?”

She shook her head violently. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Jule, don’t—please—

A knock. The door opened. Nova stepped in—and stopped, staring. Dina’s struggling only made the lines of her body more provocative; hunger flashed across his face.

“This is for you,” Julian said, clapping Nova once on the shoulder. “Relax—she’s untouched.”

Then he walked out without a backward glance.

Dina tried to scuttle away, but the room was small, and Nova was already moving. As he loomed, terror swallowed her whole.

Julian, your heart is made of stone.

Julian left the lounge, changed with Austin’s help, and exited the gym without a word. Whatever was happening behind that door, he had no interest in it anymore.

—

When Cora finished work, she discovered her assigned car had been… reassigned.

Classic Julian.

He could remember to send a juicer and fresh fruit to Riley’s place and text a reminder about “attendance,” but not a ride home? Please.

She stepped to the curb into rush-hour chaos. The street was a river of cars; cabs flew by already full. After ten minutes of standing there alone, her feet ached and the fatigue of the day pressed down hard.

A sedan eased to a stop in front of her. The passenger window slid down.

“Cora? What are you doing out here?”

She turned—and her face went cold. “Matt.”

Of course he was in a convertible—top down, music up, ego louder than both. A surgically pretty influencer in the passenger seat sized Cora up with open hostility.

“On your own?” Matt said, faux-concerned. “Don’t tell me you already divorced. That fast?”

Cora didn’t dignify it. She shifted her weight and said nothing.

“Wow. Married a few days and dumped already?” He glanced at the woman beside him, smugness all over him. “Guess I was right to move on. Best decision I ever made.”

He’d flipped the car she’d given him, used the cash to open a small company, and now strutted around town like a budget tycoon. Women lined up. He lapped it up.

“Cora, you look… fuller,” he added, as if it were a compliment. “But still the same old airs.”

Revulsion crawled up her spine. I actually loved this man once? Ran from my own wedding for him?

Julian might be infuriating and impossible to read, but next to Matt he looked like a different species—class, power, self-control. Matt wasn’t even in the same ocean.

She let out a thin smile. “Appreciate the concern. My husband and I are doing fine, and no, we’re not divorcing. As for you and your… companion, I’m curious how long the honeymoon lasts.”

“Cora, don’t be stubborn.” His tone turned patronizing. “If your marriage were solid, you wouldn’t be out here alone with no ride. Get in. I’ll take you home. I still remember your old rental.”

She almost laughed. My eyes really used to be this blind.

“Come on,” he pressed, voice oozing charity. “For old time’s sake, I won’t judge. We can’t start over, but I’ll take care of you. Be the good, obedient girl you used to be, and I won’t let you fall.”

Get lost.

The words burned on her tongue.

“Don’t pretend with me,” he went on, sighing. “We were classmates for years, dated for two. I know you. Always saving face, always suffering quietly. You short on cash? Here—have dinner with me tonight, I’ll give you some money. We’ll call our past even.”

Cora’s vision went red for a beat. A knife would be nice. One clean cut.

Short on cash? Short on your grand illusions, maybe.

Across the street, a Rolls-Royce idled, silent and sleek.

Inside, Julian was laughing so hard he had to cover his mouth. The assistants were doubled over, pretending to cough. One wrong sound and they’d be dead men.

With the convertible’s top down, every condescending line from Matt drifted over clear as a bell.

Julian had been livid with Cora an hour ago. Now, watching her hold her ground, the anger thinned into something else—something sharp and protective.

He pulled out his phone and typed:

Need me to help you? Condition is one home-cooked dinner tonight.