In a world of power and privilege, love is the ultimate rebellion."
In a society where arranged marriages dictate destiny, love is a dangerous game.
Aiden Baldwin has always honored his family's legacy, bound by duty and expectations-until Karlie Co...
"When you think this pain is all you deserve, you are right. You are the only one that can decide how long you will walk in hell." ― Shannon L. Alder.
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Aiden returned to the resort after seeing Kat and Cole off. The exhaustion weighed on him, but the thought of going home—to face his father, to face reality—was unbearable. He wasn't ready. He knew he had to move out, that his life needed a new direction, but now? Now, nothing made sense.
Not without Karlie.
He collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. The guys wanted to use the rest of their time at the resort to drink, party, and forget. Zion, James, and Justin—those three knew how to have fun, to let loose, to drown their problems in women and liquor. Aiden envied them. Were they not held to the same suffocating standards as he was? Or did they just not care?
He squeezed his eyes shut, but the image of Karlie sitting beside Anthony at the wedding was burned into his mind. His stomach twisted, his pulse spiked. She was moving on.
And he was still stuck.
Rolling onto his stomach, he pressed his face into the pillow and let out a muffled scream. His fingers dug into the sheets.
"I need to get over this. I need to move on. Maybe... just maybe, I should call Cara."
He reached for his phone. One call, one night, one distraction. That's all he needed, right?
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Aiden opened the drawer next to the bed and stared at the number scribbled onto a small piece of paper. It's now or never.
He sat there, the number in his hand, just looking at it. The weight of Karlie's words pressed against his chest like a heavy stone.
"We have to let each other go."
The pain of those words? Unbearable. He loved her—God, he loved her. But love wasn't enough. He had thought it would be. He had thought they would be.
But she was right.
How was he supposed to move on? Where would he even start?
Something wasn't right with Karlie. She looked pale, weak—even sick. But she had brushed it off, saying she was just tired. Was she lying? Was she hiding something?
