"Get in," Logan said curtly, holding the passenger door open.
Rachel hesitated for barely a second before nodding.
"Hmm," she murmured, her voice thin, then slid into the seat. The door closed with a solid thud that echoed louder than it should have in the quiet street.
Logan walked around the car in long, rigid strides. He opened the driver’s door and lowered himself into the seat without a word.
The mont he turned the key, the engine roared to life.
He didn’t look at her.
The car shot forward almost instantly, tires biting hard into the road.
Rachel grabbed the edge of the seat as the city lights blurred past them.
Buildings, streetlamps, passing cars everything sared together as he accelerated, cutting between lanes with reckless precision.
"Logan, stop it," she said, glancing at the speedoter before snapping her gaze back to him.
He didn’t respond.
His jaw was clenched so tightly that a muscle twitched beneath his skin. His hands gripped the steering wheel like he was holding onto the last thread of his restraint.
"Logan!" Her voice rose. "You’re driving too fast!"
Still nothing.They were already well over two hundred, and they were still inside town.
Cars honked as he overtook them rcilessly, ignoring signals, ignoring distance, ignoring everything except the storm burning inside him.
Fear curled in Rachel’s chest.
"If you don’t stop this car," she said sharply, her voice shaking now, "I swear I’ll get out and take another taxi. Are you trying to kill us?"
That finally did it.
The car slowed abruptly, tires screeching as Logan swerved toward the side of the road.
He parked roughly and killed the engine.Silence slamd down between them.
Rachel released a shaky breath. "Thank God," she whispered.
Her hand flew to the door handle, fingers curling around it in relief.
Before she could pull,Logan’s hand closed around her wrist.
"Let go, Logan," she snapped, panic flickering in her eyes.
He didn’t answer.
In one swift motion, he pulled her toward him.
Rachel gasped as she was dragged onto his lap, the sudden movent knocking the air from her lungs.
"Logan!!"
He didn’t let her finish.
His face was already inches from hers, his breath hot, uneven.
The anger in his eyes wasn’t wild anymore it was sharp, focused, terrifyingly controlled.
Then his lips crashed against hers.
Rachel froze.
Her eyes flew open as she tried to push him back, hands pressing against his chest, but it was useless.
He was far stronger, his grip unyielding. When she struck his shoulder in frustration, his hands shot up instantly, trapping her wrists above her head, pinning her in place.
"Mm!" she protested weakly, her voice muffled.
He didn’t deepen the kiss in hunger.
He kissed her like soone drowning desperate, furious, shaken. Like he was trying to confirm she was real, alive, here.
Then, just as abruptly, he pulled away.
Rachel sucked in a sharp breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
His thumb brushed her lower lip once brief, controlled before his hand tightened around her waist, stopping her from retreating back to her seat.
The air in the car felt thick, suffocating.
Neither of them spoke.
Rachel stared at the dashboard, her pulse roaring in her ears.
Finally, Logan broke the silence.
"Why would you do that?" he asked.
His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous.
"What?" Rachel replied quietly, pretending she didn’t understand.
"Why would you go there?" His tone deepened, each word weighed down by fury.
She swallowed. "I needed money."
The simplicity of her answer made sothing snap in him.
His eyes narrowed, jaw tightening until it looked painful."And that’s why you were ready to sell yourself?" he asked, his voice strained as if saying the words hurt him physically.
The idea clearly revolted him.
"That’s not your concern," Rachel said, turning her face away.
A bitter sound left his throat.
"So it’s not my concern," he repeated. "Not my cup."
His free hand curled into a fist.
In the blink of an eye, he slamd it into the steering wheel.
The horn blared loudly.
"Logan!" Rachel gasped, staring at him in shock.
He turned to her slowly.
His eyes were bloodshot, burning with anger and sothing dangerously close to pain.
"Shouldn’t it be my concern," he said, his voice shaking despite his effort to control it, "when you are my fiancée?"
The word hit her like a blow.
Rachel’s breath caught as she stared at him, the weight of everything crashing down all at once fear, guilt, anger, and sothing far more complicated twisting in her chest.
The car remained parked by the roadside, engine silent, tension roaring louder than any speed they’d reached before.
Rachel stared at him, her breath caught in her throat as the word fiancée lingered between them like a wound that refused to close.
"I didn’t have a choice," she said quietly, her voice low but sharp.
"You think I wanted to go there?"
Maxwell let out a short, humorless laugh.
"You always have a choice," he said, eyes darkening. "You just chose the one that would break you."
"That’s easy for you to say," Rachel snapped, finally turning to face him. "You have money. Power. n who listen to you. I have nothing."
His jaw tightened.
"You have ," he said.
Rachel laughed softly, bitterly.
"Where were you when we couldn’t pay rent? When my mother cried herself to sleep? When I counted coins just to buy food?"
Each word hit him. Hard.
"I wasn’t gone," Maxwell said through clenched teeth. "I was right here.
Watching. Protecting you in ways you don’t even know."
"Protecting?" she shot back. "By lying to ?
Silence.
His hands curled into fists.
"I did it to keep you safe," he said. "If you knew who I really was, you’d have been dragged into things worse than that place."
She flinched.
"I didn’t let him touch ," she said, voice shaking. "I stopped it."
"Because I ca," Maxwell said imdiately.
She swallowed.
"Yes. Because you ca."
The anger in him cracked just slightly.
Maxwell loosened his grip, letting her move back to her seat, but his body remained angled toward her, like he was still guarding her space.
"I can’t protect you if you keep choosing pain over ," he said quietly.
Rachel hugged herself.
"I can’t keep waiting in the dark either."
His voice ca without hesitation.
"Then don’t," she said. "But don’t sell yourself to survive. Let carry it with you."
She looked at him then really looked.
Not the man pretending.
Not the shadow.
But Maxwell.
Two broken people sitting in a silent car, neither of them innocent, neither of them willing to let go.
💐💐💐💐
As the year turns its final page and a new one slowly unfolds, I want to pause here with you.
Another year has passed, filled with reading, quiet tears, unexpected smiles, and characters who refused to leave our hearts.
This story was not written by alone. It was shaped by every reader who stayed, every vote that spoke louder than words, every comnt that said "I’m still here."
The new year arrives softly, but what follows will not be gentle.
Secrets long buried will begin to surface. Love will be tested not in words, but in actions. Choices will grow heavier, consequences sharper, and so truths... unavoidable.
Not every character will walk the sa path they started on. Not every promise will survive the storm.
In the coming Chapters, emotions will deepen. The tension will tighten. What was once hidden behind silence will demand to be seen.
So bonds will fracture. Others will be reforged in fire. And so hearts no matter how guarded will finally be forced to feel.
This new year is not about perfection.
It’s about survival.
It’s about love that refuses to die even when it hurts.
It’s about standing at the edge and choosing stay broken, or fight back.
To my readers: thank you for believing in this world, for trusting these characters, and for walking beside them even when the road turned dark.
Your support is the reason this story breathes. Your patience is the reason it continues.
And your presence is the reason the next Chapters will be stronger, deeper, and more intense than ever before.
As we step into this new year together, expect growth. Expect pain. Expect passion. Expect monts that will make you pause... and Chapters that will make you binge.
The story is far from over.
The truth is closer than it seems.
And the new year?
It’s only the beginning.
Happy New Year, my readers.
Thank you for staying.
Thank you for believing.
May this new year bring you courage the kind that helps you face hard truths and still move forward.
May it bring you comfort in the quiet monts and excitent in the Chapters yet to co.
I hope you find pieces of yourself in these pages and strength in the characters who refuse to give up.
Stay with as this journey continues, because every vote, every read, every shared emotion matters more than you know. Let’s make this year unforgettable together.
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