Chapter_1
Sadie Roth felt like a lost soul, adrift in a vast desert, aching for the tender kiss of a man whose face she couldn’t quite remember. The touch of his lips had been all that was needed—sweet and fresh, easing the deep, burning ache inside her. The dim lighting blurred her vision, making his features impossible to distinguish.
In the thick silence of the night, only the sound of their labored breaths filled the air…
The morning light broke through, rousing Sadie from her restless slumber. As the man beside her stirred, she reluctantly opened her eyes. In the haze of sleep, she saw only the shadow of his tall, solid frame and, briefly, the vivid tattoo etched across his lower back—a snarling wolf, its jaws wide in a blood-curdling roar as if it might devour her whole.
A wave of unease washed over her as she stared at it, frozen. She wanted to get closer, to examine the ink in greater detail, but her body, still heavy with sleep, wouldn’t cooperate.
When Sadie finally woke again, she was consumed by a profound sense of confusion. The night felt like an unfinished dream, fragmented and unclear, yet the ache in her body told a different, undeniable story.
Clutching her pounding head, she sat up and scanned the chaotic mess of the room. Her eyes caught sight of a torn shirt on the carpet—a painful reminder of the night before. A flash of memory hit her all at once: Ronan Potter, her fiancé, calling off their engagement in a cruel, sudden twist; her cousin Leah White, insisting on taking her to a nightclub for a drink to drown her sorrows; the reckless, drunken promise to get revenge on Ronan; and Leah, arranging for a male escort to fulfill that dark wish…
Sadie’s breath hitched as the pieces clicked together in her mind. Her chest tightened with panic.
Oh my God… she thought, mortified. I lost my virginity to a bouncer.
She hadn’t even seen his face clearly.
Regret surged through her as she grabbed at her hair in desperation. Hurriedly, she dressed and fled, only to be met by a barrage of flashing cameras as she exited the hotel. The journalists were waiting, their questions quick and harsh.
“Miss Roth, is it true you spent the night with a male escort after Ronan Potter dumped you?” one reporter shot.
“Is it true the escort you were with is transgender? Did you know?” another added.
“Miss Roth, what about your father’s bankruptcy? Did you hear?”
A chill ran through her as a fourth question came out of nowhere: “Your father… did you hear he jumped off a building at the company headquarters?”
The words landed like a sucker punch. Sadie’s knees wobbled as the reality of what they were saying set in. Her world, already shattered, now felt beyond repair.
The next morning, the headlines were everywhere:
#Edmond Roth, The Richest Man in the City, Goes Bust and Commits Suicide by Jumping Off a Building
#Sadie Roth, Daughter of Edmond Roth, Drowns Her Sorrows at a Bar and Spends a Wild Night with a Transgender Bouncer After Getting Dumped