Novels by JANET WILLS

Sienna POV The morning sunlight slipped through the curtains and landed softly across my face, warm enough to disturb my heavy sleep. I groaned quietly, twisting deeper into the sheets before stretching my arms above my head, my body still sore and tired in places I didn’t want to think about. For a few seconds, I let myself stay there, suspended between sleep and waking, where nothing hurt and nothing had to be remembered. Then I slowly opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my mind. I jerked back against the bed when I found Adrian standing beside it, arms folded across his chest, looking down at me like he had been there for a while. He broke into a wide grin immediately. “Morning, beautiful.” I stared at him for a second before letting out a small, sleepy chuckle, rubbing my knuckles against my eyes like I could erase the sleep completely. “Morning, Adrian,” I muttered, my voice still thick with sleep. He shook his head, amused. “It is almost twelve noon,” he said. “At

Lucian POV “I did you a favour, Lucian. A huge favour!” I stared at my grandfather like I had never truly seen him before. For years, I had mistaken control for care. I had convinced myself that his coldness was discipline, that his cruelty was wisdom, that every decision he forced on me was for the good of the family, the company, the legacy but standing there now, hearing him speak about Sienna like she was some inconvenience to be removed, something disposable, I realized something terrifying. He had never cared about me. He cared about ownership, about power, about bloodlines and signatures and family names carved into buildings. “You met with her?” I repeated slowly, my voice low and dangerous. “You cornered my wife while I was too blind to see what was happening, and you call that a favor?” His expression remained calm, almost irritated by my reaction. “Yes,” he said firmly. “Because someone had to protect what you were too weak to protect yourself from.” I laughed then,

Sienna POV “Dad, you’re too slow!” I shouted over my shoulder, laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Behind me, my father laughed loudly as he chased after me, his footsteps heavy on purpose like he was pretending to be some giant monster and I was his tiny prey trying to escape. “Come back here, little thief!” he called between laughs. “You stole my biscuit!” “You said I could have it!” I yelled back, running even faster. “I changed my mind!” He teased, still chasing after me. “Goodness, you are only eight but you run so fast!” I laughed harder and kept running deeper into the field, past the old tree and farther into the tall grass where my mother always warned me not to go but I was too happy to care. I turned briefly to look behind me, still smiling, still laughing, and that was when the ground disappeared beneath my feet. A scream tore from my throat as I fell. The pit had been covered with dry hay and weak branches, hidden so well I never saw it, causing me to land so hard

Sienna POV I wanted to be away from everyone. It hurts more to be with anyone than to be alone. So, I hid in the hospital's storage room while I heard the hurried footsteps outside the hospital walls, looking for me. While they tried every possible means, including checking the CCTV, the steps eventually subsided, reducing to just typical hospital movement. I had probably passed out from exhaustion, but the time seemed far spent. I stared at the screen of my phone, trying to see if I could call anyone, but I literally had no one to call. Not even Lucian could be called right now. Not him. I checked the time and it was 9:30 pm. I had been inside here for hours, crouched down inside one of the huge cartons discarded in the storage room, my body folded into itself like I was trying to disappear completely. I felt numb. No tears rolled down my face anymore. I had cried too much lately, too many times, and now there was nothing left. I was exhausted. Too exhausted. My mind juggled ba

Lucian POV It had been almost two weeks since I last heard from Sienna, and the silence was slowly driving me to a place I didn’t recognize anymore, a place where nothing made sense and nothing felt worth holding onto. I stood in the middle of my office, staring down at the tablet in my hand, my reflection faintly visible on the dark screen as numbers and charts blurred together in a way that made my chest tighten with every passing second. Everything was falling apart. Not gradually, not in a way I could control or manage, but all at once, like something had snapped beneath the surface and dragged everything down with it. The company’s chart had dropped drastically, the once steady rise now replaced with sharp, unforgiving dips that told a story I didn’t want to accept. Petitions were flying in from different departments, complaints stacked on complaints, and employees were leaving faster than I could even process. Investors were pulling out quietly at first, then not so quietly

Sienna POV A week had passed, and I was still at the hospital, though the atmosphere around me had softened in a way that almost made it feel like I had stepped into a different version of my life where pain wasn’t constantly sitting at the edge of everything. My mother sat on the chair beside my bed peeling an apple carefully, the skin falling in long curls onto a small plate as she focused like it was the most important task in the world, while Asher sat near the window with one leg crossed over the other, scrolling through his phone with a relaxed expression that made him look almost normal for once. My bed was slightly raised now, my back supported by pillows so I wasn’t fully lying down anymore, as I took a bite of the apple my mother had insisted I finish before she even considered listening to any of my complaints. The room felt almost like home in a strange way, and for a few minutes, I let myself sink into it. I looked at Asher from across the room, chewing slowly before