Ava Bennett collapsed on the hotel bed, her body burning up, and half-consciously yanked her clothes off.
“Click!”
The door opened with a strong push. A man stepped in—and instantly froze at the scene in front of him. He’d had more than a few drinks too, and his brain shut down for a beat.
By the time he realized this wasn’t the right place and tried to leave, it was already too late.
Ava grabbed his hand and yanked him onto the bed, pleading, “James, stay with me, please… I feel awful.”
As soon as she touched his cool skin, she wouldn’t let go. She kept pressing closer. She was dazed, completely unaware of what she was doing.
Her long, dark hair was a tangled mess against the sheets, the white bedding making her glowing skin stand out even more. Her figure was stunning—slender waist, long legs, and curves that moved subtly with every shift.
The man's eyes darkened slightly, and a heat surged in him that he couldn’t fight.
His ragged breaths tangled with her soft moans, sounding almost like some twisted, feverish symphony.
By the time everything finally quieted down, it was already deep into the night. Ava had fallen fast asleep, a faint smile on her lips. But when she woke, he was gone.
All that remained was the messy bed, its chaos the only evidence of what had happened.
“James, where are you?” Still wrapped in a bathrobe, Ava’s first instinct after waking was to call James Smith.
His voice over the phone sounded cold and distant. “I’m gonna be out on a business trip for a few months.”
“What? When are you coming back?” Ava pouted, clearly unhappy. Who disappears without a word the very next day?
But all she got in return was the long beep of a call cut short.
She stared at her phone, blank for a moment. It took her a while to shake off the gloom, then she got up, took a shower, and headed home.
As soon as she stepped into the living room, her father, Sidney Bennett, who had been laughing with Lily Bennett just a second ago, instantly switched faces as if she’d owed him millions. His expression was long and cold.
“A whole night out? Where the hell did you go messing around this time? Why can’t you be more like your sister?”
Ava snorted. She’d seen this kind of scene too many times. She was the Bennetts’ real daughter, and yet nothing she did could ever match Lily, the adopted one.
She used to try all kinds of things just to get Sidney’s attention—sometimes even on purpose—but it always backfired. That didn’t matter now. She had James. No matter how rough things got, she’d stick it out. As long as she could be with him, nothing else mattered.
She didn’t say a word. Tired, she simply went back to her room, not wanting to watch her dad and Lily play happy family.
Still, they didn’t skimp on her when it came to the big stuff. Like the regular family health checkups every quarter. That day, while hanging out with friends, she got a call from Sidney telling her to go to the hospital. She showed up and did the normal tests without thinking much.
She wasn’t expecting anything. But when the results came back, her whole world flipped.
She was pregnant. She was actually pregnant?!
