LOGINARI'S POV:You remember when I said the universe is never on my side? Well, it's not.I was sitting there in the most beautiful kitchen I had ever seen in my life, the kind you only see in fairy tales. Not the live-action movie version of a fairy tale, but the actual fairy tale. And I was just starting to relax, just starting to let myself breathe, when I heard footsteps behind me.I turned around on the stool, a glass of orange juice in my hand that Martin had slid across the island to me a few minutes ago, and there he was. My husband.He was dressed in a navy blue suit, the jacket fitted perfectly across his shoulders, with a matching blue striped tie knotted tight at his throat. His hair was styled back, neat and professional, like he had just stepped out of a magazine or a board meeting. Or both. And his eyes. They weren't looking at me, which was fine, because I knew if they were they wouldn't be carrying anything nice.Martin crossed over to him before I could even process that
ARI'S POV:I took one last look at the hotel room before walking out. This place was bigger than my entire house back home. The bed alone could fit three of me. And the food they kept bringing up, I barely touched any of it. What little I ate was just so I didn't pass out from hunger.I couldn't enjoy any of it. Not while my mom was lying in a hospital bed and Lena was probably worried sick about me. One day I'll tell myself that I deserve nice things too, but I know that's a lie. That day isn't coming.Martin showed up about an hour ago and told me to start packing. Then he went back downstairs to handle the checkout and whatever else people do when they leave places like this. He apologized for being late, said he got held up in a meeting with Mr. Thorne.The clock on the nightstand kept ticking. Past eleven in the morning.I switched my phone off completely last night after sending Lena a quick message. I just told her I was okay and would explain everything soon. My fingers kept i
ELIAS’ POV:"Are women always like this?"I looked up from my computer to find Martin walking into my office. My executive secretary, the same man who barely spoke unless it was about work and work-related things, actually had words coming out of his mouth that weren't about spreadsheets or meetings.I leaned back in my chair and let my fingers tap against the desk. "I take it my dear wife didn't meet your standards."Martin gave me a look that was probably disrespectful but I let it slide. "I thought she was suitable for you when I saw her determination hours ago. The fight in her eyes." Martin was always collected, always professional, always so put together that I sometimes wondered if the man had feelings at all. It was one of the reasons I hired him. He didn't crack under pressure. He didn't make mistakes. He was exactly the kind of person I needed around me.But here he was, his face having an expression, apart from his usual blankness, over a girl who'd been my wife for a few
ARI'S POV:In the end, I couldn't make myself go in.I stood there outside her door, my hand reaching for the handle. And before I could think about it, I was turning around until I was basically running out of that building like something was chasing me.I made it back to the car and slid into the back seat, my heart pounding hard in my chest. Martin looked at me from the front, a silent question in his eyes, but I just shook my head."Please drive," I said, and that was all. I turned my head and rested it against the cool glass of the window.The car started moving but I didn't see anything outside. I was in my head again. I don't know why I was hit with such negative energy, a crushing weight in my chest I didn't want to name, something ugly rose up inside me. I hated my mum.I hated that she was lying in that bed, sick and weak, with no idea what I was doing to keep her alive. No idea what I'd just signed away. No idea that her daughter was out here breaking herself into pieces j
ARI'S POV:Whoever said money wasn't good was either a liar or some bitter person who never had enough to know better.I was told to tie up whatever loose ends I had left untied, and that's what I was doing. Except I didn't expect to be doing it in the back of a Bentley. A real Bentley, the kind a person like me could only dream about. The leather was so soft underneath me that I had to stop myself from running my hands all over it like some kind of weirdo.If Martin wasn't sitting in the car with me, I would have laid all the way down and taken a nap. The seats were warm too, like they had some kind of magic heating built into them. I couldn't help myself. Every few minutes I shifted, just to feel the smooth leather against my legs.Each time I moved, Martin's eyes would find me in the center mirror, and my face would go hot. I'd look away quickly and stare down at my purse.The inside of this car was something else. Dark wood
Ari's POV:I held my phone tight in my hands, staring at the dark screen like it could give me the right words to say. How was I supposed to tell my sister that I just married a stranger to save our mother? That I was moving into some billionaire's penthouse and changing my name for forty-five days?The phone buzzed unexpectedly and rang in my hands. I flinched so hard I dropped it.It hit the ground with a loud crack. "Fuck." I muttered a curse as I bent down to grab it, praying the screen wasn't broken. When I flipped it over, Lena's name was staring back at me.I swiped to answer immediately. "Lena? What's wrong? Is it Mom?"Her voice came through the line, shaky and wet with tears. She was still crying. My heart immediately stopped.If she tells me they took Mom off the machines, I swear I'll kill both that bastard Thorne and his stupid secretary. I don't care how much money they have or if I land in prison."Ari," Lena sniffled. "They put her back on the machine. They're runni







