😍Click to continue reading 🔞
The wind cut like a blade. Snow drifted down in icy flakes, dusting the streets in white. Yesterday, Joanna Whitmore had gotten a WhatsApp from her boyfriend, Dylan Shaw, telling her to come to this hotel at seven tonight. He’d even attached a photo of a stage set up like a dream. Today was their one-year anniversary. For the past two months, Dylan had been nagging her—she worked too much, she needed to take two days off, they had to celebrate properly. Thinking of that made Joanna’s heart soften. And guilt pricked at her. She’d been too busy. She’d neglected him. So the moment she got his message, she pulled two all-nighters, finished her work a full day early, booked a noon flight, and rushed back like she was racing time. The second she stepped into the lobby, the hotel’s general manager hurried over. “Miss, we’re not open to the public today.” Joanna nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m here to find Dylan.” “Oh! You’re Young Master Shaw’s friend?” The manager’s whole face lit up. “Right this way, then!” He led her toward the elevator, smiling as he talked. “The engagement banquet starts at six-oh-six. If you go up now, you shouldn’t be late.” Joanna’s eyelid twitched. Engagement banquet? Whose engagement banquet? For some reason, a ridiculous guess rose up in her chest—cold and absurd. But she didn’t ask. She walked straight into the elevator. The manager stayed outside, pressed the floor for her, and casually sized Joanna up. A long, deep-brown cashmere coat. The belt tied into a bow, cinching her slim waist. The hemline framed tight, long calves. Soft leather ankle boots on her feet, the snow clinging to the toes already melted into beads of water under the warm air. She looked expensive. But what stunned him most was her face. Slightly upturned eyes. A bright, captivating gaze. Her features carried their own kind of effortless allure—beautiful enough to steal someone’s soul. And yet, those eyes were also gentle, approachable, balancing the seduction
