
Hate at first sight
littlegladys25 · Ongoing · 90.1k Words
Introduction
Bruno Blackfield is cold, controlled, and hiding from a scandal that cost him everything. Forced to share a home due to a shocking mistake, the two clash instantly, their days filled with tension, sharp arguments, and undeniable chemistry.
When Phoebe’s past refuses to let her go, Bruno offers a solution, a fake relationship. But as the lines between pretense and reality blur, their growing connection becomes impossible to ignore.
With betrayal closing in and secrets unraveling, they must decide if what started as hate… could become the one thing worth risking everything for.
Chapter 1
Three days after leaving my husband, I opened my apartment door and found another man claiming half my home.
At first, I thought he had the wrong building.
He stood in the narrow passage as if it was his house, one hand tucked into the pocket of his black joggers, the other holding a brown envelope. Tall was too small a word for him. He was the sort of tall that made the corridor look cramped. Broad shoulders. Blue eyes too cold for a man dressed that casually. Hair that looked as though he had pushed his hand through it too many times on the way here.
And he was standing right in front of my door.
I tightened my grip on the bottle of water in my hand. “Can I help you?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
I frowned. “Sorry?”
He lifted the envelope a little. “This apartment. I rented it.”
For a second, I only stared at him.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny. Because it was absurd, and absurd things had been happening far too often in my life.
“No,” I said, reaching for my keys. “You didn’t.”
His expression did not change. “I did.”
“Well, I live here.”
“That makes two of us.”
I drew in a breath and slid my key into the lock, but before I could turn it, he held the envelope out to me. “You should probably look at this.”
Every part of me wanted to ignore him and walk inside. I was warm from my run, tired, and carrying the sort of headache that came from too many restless nights. But the look on his face that told me he was not joking, and I was tired of being blindsided.
So I took the envelope.
Inside was a copy of a tenancy agreement.
Same address. Same apartment number.
My apartment.
I looked up at him. “Where did you get this?”
“From the housing agent.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
I went through the paper again, then checked the date. It was recent, signed, stamped and real.
My mouth went dry.
This had to be a mistake.
A stupid, irritating, impossible mistake.
I pulled out my phone and called the agent at once. It rang once, then cut off. I tried again. Switched off.
“Of course,” I said under my breath.
“What did he say?” the man asked.
“He’s not answering.”
He gave a small nod, as though that confirmed something for him. “Same here.”
I looked at him to the agreement in my hand and back again. “So what exactly do you expect me to do? Pack my things and disappear?”
“I want to know why I paid for an apartment that’s already occupied.”
“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“You’re being defensive.”
“And you’re standing at my door sounding like a landlord.”
“I’m not sounding like anything. I’m trying to solve a problem.”
I laughed again, “Good for you. I’m trying not to lose my mind.”.
But it had.
I had spent three days in that apartment trying to breathe without fear. Three days learning how to enjoy silence without waiting for a door to bang open. Three days reminding myself that leaving Richard had not been a mistake.
And now this stranger was standing in front of me with official papers and a composed face, telling me the only place that had begun to feel safe was no longer mine alone.
“No,” I said, more to myself than to him. “No. This is not happening.”
He watched me for a beat. “Look. I’m not interested in fighting with you.”
“Well, that makes one of us.”
“Do you fight with everyone this quickly?”
I folded the document and pushed it back into the envelope. “Only men who appear uninvited and announce they’ve rented my apartment.”
“I never said I owned it.”
“You said you rented it.”
“Which I did.”
I stepped closer before I could stop myself. “And I’m telling you I rented it first.”
His eyes came to my face. Not mocking. Not gentle either. Just steady.
“Do you have your own copy of the agreement?” he asked.
I hated that it was a fair question.
Still glaring at him, I unlocked the door, pushed it open, and walked inside. A second later, I heard his footsteps behind me.
I turned sharply. “Why are you following me?”
“To see the agreement.”
“You could have waited outside.”
“You could have shut the door.”
I stared at him. “That was the plan.”
My apartment was small, but neat. One couch. One rug. An open kitchen. One bedroom. Everything in it had been chosen because I needed peace.
I went into the bedroom, took my file from the drawer, and came back with my own copy. I handed it to him.
He read it carefully.
Same reaction. Same silence.
Then he lifted his head. “It’s real.”
“I know it’s real.”
His gaze moved once around the apartment, taking in the single bedroom, the kitchen boxes I had not fully unpacked, the throw blanket over the couch, the pair of running shoes by the wall.
“You moved in recently,” he said.
“Three days ago.”
His eyes returned to mine. “I was supposed to move in yesterday.”
“Well, congratulations. Life disappointed both of us.”
He ignored that. “There’s only one bedroom.”
I folded my arms. “You noticed.”
He ran his thumb along the edge of the paper, thinking.
I did not like quiet men. Richard had taught me that silence could mean anything. Anger. Manipulation.
The stranger noticed.
His gaze dropped, briefly, to my wrist.
I resisted the urge to cover it.
The bruise there had faded, mostly hidden under my sleeve unless someone was looking closely.
He looked away first.
“We can try the agent again,” he said.
I called, he called but nothing.
I sent a message. No reply.
He sent an email. No response.
By the time I dropped my phone on the counter, I was boiling with frustration.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.” I stared at him. “That’s all you have to say?”
“What would you like me to say?”
“I want you to leave.”
“I paid for the apartment.”
“And I live here.”
He placed both agreements on the counter. “Until we reach the agent, neither of us can prove the other should be the one to go.”
I already knew where this was heading, and I hated it before he said the words.
“So?” I asked.
“So we need a temporary solution.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m about to suggest.”
“I know enough.”
He held my gaze. “We share the apartment until this is sorted out.”
I gave a disbelieving laugh. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s temporary.”
“You’re a complete stranger.”
“And you think this arrangement is ideal for me?”
“I don’t care whether it’s ideal for you.”
“Clearly.” I opened my mouth, ready to throw him out, ready to say something sharp enough to end the conversation there and then, but my phone rang.
his and hated even more that he was noticing it.My heart dropped the moment I saw the number.
Last Chapters
#72 Chapter 72 The airfield
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#71 Chapter 71 My husband had beaten him
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#70 Chapter 70 He came with photographs
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#69 Chapter 69 Just four seconds
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#68 Chapter 68 Our stand
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#67 Chapter 67 A minute with Rosa
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#66 Chapter 66 From day one
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#65 Chapter 65 Matchmont street
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#64 Chapter 64 The name on it
Last Updated: 6/9/2026#63 Chapter 63 Eight o’clock sharp
Last Updated: 6/9/2026
You Might Like 😍
Cursed Fates
A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)
For centuries, she has been on the run, helping the supernatural community under the cloak of anonymity while she works to clear her name and save the very people after her from destruction.
Enemies are closing in, but an unexpected complication befalls her when she realises she’s been fated to someone who wants her species exterminated. After all, an evil chance seldom comes alone.
A Queen Among Darkness is the 4th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.
Books in the series in order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Generation Coming Soon)
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
Twin Prince Alphas Student Mate
As her 18th birthday approaches, her brothers warn her about the powerful pull she might feel toward dominant wolves. But it's not just any wolves they need to worry about—it's her teachers. Cameron and Samuel are more than just older, wiser, and off-limits; they might just be her fated mates.
While navigating complex relationships, academic pressures, and the normal trials of young adult life, an unexpected threat jeopardizes the academy. Explosions rock their world, forcing Lyla and her love interests into a chaotic swirl of heroism, heartbreak, and hard choices.
Will Lyla follow her heart and let destiny lead the way, or will the very rules that bind their world tear them apart? Amidst turmoil and taboo, Lyla must make choices that could forever change the course of her life and the lives of those she holds dear.
Discover a story where love isn't just complicated—it's forbidden, ageless, and defies all rules. In a world of supernatural beings and extraordinary stakes, will Lyla's love life be another casualty, or her saving grace?
The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)
The saint to my sinner. with her innocent eyes and devilish curves.
A Madonna that was meant to be admired but never touched.
Until someone took that innocence from her.
She left.
The darkness in my heart was finally complete.
I avenged her, I killed for her, but she never came back.
Until I saw her again. An angel dancing around a pole for money.
She didn’t know I owned that club. She didn’t know I was watching.
This time I won’t let her escape.
I will make her back into the girl I knew.
Whether she likes it or not.
2/ Judge and Jury- I can’t stop watching her.
I’m not even sure I want to.
Taylor Lawson, blonde, beautiful, and totally oblivious to how much dangers she’s in.
She’s also the one juror in my upcoming murder trial that hasn’t been bought.
The one who can put me behind bars for a very long time.
I know I should execute her.
After all that’s what I do.
I am the Judge.
I eliminate threats to The Family.
And Taylor is a threat.
But I don’t want to kill her.
Possessing her, making her love me seems like a much better plan for this particular Juror.
3/ Rags and Ritches-
Reborn: My Biased Brothers Beg Me To Come Back
She genuinely took in Regina, the butler's daughter, only to be constantly manipulated by this cunning and manipulative woman.
Regina gradually stole the love from her three brothers.
Arabella was forced to give Regina blood transfusions time and again, her weight plummeting to a mere eighty-eight pounds.
Ultimately, under the relentless pressure from her brothers, she jumped out of a window in despair and died. Her last words were,
"What about Regina's blood transfusions?"
When she opened her eyes again, Arabella found herself reborn three years earlier—the very day Regina appeared at her doorstep crying, begging for help.
Looking at the pitiful, tearful girl before her, Arabella smiled.
No more soft-heartedness.
No more groveling.
Instead, she "kindly" arranged for Regina to move into the servants' quarters, to earn her own living through honest labor.
Faced with her brothers who sided with her, she no longer bothered to please them.
And towards her former fiancé, Theodore, whom she had once fawned over, she remained cold, distant, and indifferent.
Moreover, in this life, they would discover that her identity was far more than just the eldest daughter of the Oberon family.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
Human Capture (Up North #2)
Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.
Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.
One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.
But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
The Ice Between Us.
Then comes Jax Miller.
Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.
Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?












