Secret Love One Cruel Lie for Revenge novel Chapter 1

I had been in a secret relationship for five years—with my father's closest friend, Dominic Reynolds. At midnight on our fifth anniversary, I slipped into his apartment just to surprise him. The hallway was dim, and the door wasn't fully closed. Before I could knock, voices drifted out.

"Don't tell me you've developed a taste for robbing the cradle. You're really going to marry that little girl?" someone mocked.

Dominic let out a low, contemptuous laugh. I could picture him leaning back lazily, a cigarette between his fingers, smoke blurring the sharp lines of his face.

"Marry her? Who marries a girl who throws herself at you?" His voice was smooth, almost amused. "Brooke Burns is back for a few days. Keep your mouths shut."

"Her father stole my project and sent Brooke overseas. So I've been sleeping with his daughter."

"When Brooke and I announce our engagement," he added, "I'll release the videos from these five years. I want to see her father's face." Laughter erupted, loud and merciless.

The world tilted.

So our relationship was revenge. The late-night promises, the whispered "forever," the way he held me afterward — all of it had been calculated. I hadn't been chosen. I had been used.

If that's how it is… then I'm walking away.

...

"Don't worry about Kristen Dillard," he went on, saying my name like it meant nothing. "Just make sure my engagement party with Brooke is perfect. As for Kristen … I have plenty of ways to make her suffer."

"A girl who sneaks into her dad's friend's bed night after night," he said mockingly. "When those videos go public, how's she supposed to live? And what will her father think?"

The men sitting across from him shifted uncomfortably. One of them finally spoke up, unable to hold back any longer. "Back then, her father's proposal really was the better one. And she was still in high school — she had no idea what was going on between you two." He frowned. "What you're doing to her now… don't you think that's too cruel?"

"A girl's reputation isn't a joke," another added. "She loves you like she's crazy. If she finds out you were just using her to get back at her father, she'll shatter."

Dominic didn't hesitate. "Then let her shatter."

He dismissed their concern with a flick of ash. "Don't act like she's innocent. Didn't she spend her father's money? If someone's to blame, blame her for being born to the wrong man."

"And a girl who sets her sights on her dad's friend — what kind of 'good girl' is that?" His voice turned cutting. "She chose every step that led her here."

Silence followed, heavy and uncomfortable. One of them sighed before asking quietly, "In these five years… you never cared about her? There's no undoing this, Dominic. Some lines, once crossed, you can't come back from."

His reply came like ice.

If I hadn't heard everything, I would have melted into those words.

He took the flowers and pulled me inside. The door shut behind us with a quiet click that sounded strangely final. His body pressed against mine, warm and familiar, and his lips captured mine without hesitation.

The kiss deepened quickly, turning heated and urgent. His hands slid to my coat, tugging it open. I tried to block him instinctively, but he chuckled, mistaking my hesitation for shyness.

Underneath, I was wearing the lingerie I had chosen just for tonight.

His eyes darkened immediately.

Once, I would have believed that look meant desire born from love. Now, all I could see was calculation. In his gaze, I wasn't cherished — I was convenient.

In his eyes, I was nothing more than a shameless girl who had fallen for her father's closest friend. The love I had once been so proud of was nothing but a fragile illusion.

It felt as though a knife had lodged deep in my chest, twisting with every breath I took.

What was meant to be passion became punishment, each movement carving me open until I felt flayed and bleeding inside.