Mag-log inI didn’t cry.
I didn’t shake. I didn’t look back, or mourned the life and the years i will never get back, lost forever. I just went home, time to pack and say goodbye to my old life. The penthouse doors opened with biometric recognition the moment I stepped inside. Floor-to-ceiling glass. Marble under my heels. The skyline bending beneath me like something I owned. Because I did. Oscar liked to call it our penthouse. He liked to imply he bought it. He liked the way people assumed it was his. I walked straight to the security panel by the entrance. Access Control. I entered my master code. Changed the entry sequence. Updated facial recognition. Removed one name. Oscar White — Access Revoked. Then I opened the residents and visitor log. Deleted his name entirely. No hesitation. No ceremony. 5 minutes later the intercom chimed. “Yes?” I answered. “Miss Asher,” security said carefully, “There is a lady requesting acces under Mr. White, per your most recent instructions access was not granted, Mr. White called to aprove her access, we told him he did not have authorization for that, what should we do?.” “ Thank you Levi, i am sorry for the inconvenience, i will leave his belongings at the front desk,” I replied calmly. “ On Black trash bags, be sure to deliever them to Mr. White only.” There was a pause. “Yes, ma’am.” I hung up and turned to the house staff. “All of Mr. White’s personal items are to be packed immediately,” I instructed. “Clothes, shoes, documents, watches. Everything. Nothing stays.” The head maid Silvana nodded. She had always known who signed her paycheck. “And Silvana, from this moment forward,” I added, “no one enters this residence without my written authorization, not for forgotten ítems, or to say hello.” “Yes, Miss Asher.” I didn’t rush. I walked to the bedroom that used to be ours. Opened the closet. Looked at the half that was never mine to begin with. Seven years. Reduced to black bags, my mind screaming at me when i realized this was just a magazine house, it lacked the personal touches, just like our relationship . When I reached the lobby twenty minutes later, I could hear the screaming before the elevator doors opened. “Do you know who I am?!” Amelie shrieked at the security desk. “I am Mrs. Oscar White, wife of Mr. White, when he hears about this you will be fired, i will make sure of that, let me go, let me pass!” The guards didn’t move. “Ma’am, you are not on the approved entry list.” She turned just as I stepped out of the elevator. Her eyes locked onto me. Recognition. Hatred. Triumph—quickly replaced by confusion. “This is your fault!” she screamed, pointing at me. “You’re poisoning everyone against me, you are the one who should leave, not me, this is mine now!” I adjusted my coat slowly. “Yes,” I said smoothly. “It is my fault.” She blinked. “It is my fault for not correcting Oscar publicly when he claimed this was his penthouse,” I continued. “I allowed the illusion to continue. That was generous of me, don't worry, he should be able to purchase another property with ease, just not mine.” Her face went red. “This is my home,” I said calmly. “Purchased with my funds. Registered under my name. I have full control over who enters it.” I stepped closer. Security straightened. “You are not on the list,” I finished. “You never were, and you never will be.” Amelie sputtered. “Oscar said—” “Oscar,” I interrupted gently, “no longer lives here.” The front desk attendant discreetly slid a luggage cart into view. Black trash bags. Neatly tied. Amelie’s expression cracked. “You can’t—” “I can,” I said. And then I walked past her. No rush. No backward glance. The lobby doors opened for me like I was stepping onto a stage. Outside, waiting beneath the covered drive, was my car. Custom build. Designed by me. Modified suspension. Reinforced frame. Interior engineered for performance and comfort. Matte obsidian exterior with subtle emerald trim. My signature touch. I slid into the driver’s seat. The engine purred to life like it recognized me. I entered the destination into the GPS. Sun Family Estate. Private road access authorized. As I pulled away from the curb, I caught one last glimpse of Amelie through the glass doors, still shouting at security. I didn’t feel anger. I felt alignment Oscar took me for granted, and got married to someone else before we Even ended the relationship.. Amelie had married for position. I had walked away with everything that mattered. The city lights blurred behind me as I drove toward the Sun family lands—acres of private territory, guarded gates, old money woven into the soil. Jason wasn’t just powerful. He was rooted. And for the first time in seven years, I wasn’t driving toward someone else’s life. I was driving toward my own.Amber POVThe next two days passed quietly, at least by the standards our family had become accustomed to. I spent most of my time resting, but I was finally able to stay awake for longer periods, and the nurses no longer watched every movement I made with the same urgency as before. Lucas and Ethan remained close by, and having them in the room made everything feel a little more normal. For once, there wasn't an emergency unfolding every few minutes, although Adrian's condition remained a constant concern because he was still unconscious.Emory had spent most of those two days trying to determine exactly what had been done to him. When he finally came to my room with the latest results, I immediately knew there was something important in the folder he was carrying. He sat beside my bed and explained that Adrian hadn't been given the same dose of aconite that I had. In fact, his dose had been considerably higher, enough to cause severe toxicity, and the fact that he had survived long
Amber POVWaking up had been a miracle, but staying awake was proving to be considerably harder. I had been conscious for perhaps twenty minutes, and I was already exhausted enough to feel as though I had run a marathon. Every part of my body felt heavy, weak, and unfamiliar. Even lifting my hand required concentration, and whenever I tried to move my legs, they seemed to belong to someone else entirely. I hated it. I hated lying there unable to do anything, unable to sit up properly, unable to hold my own children, and unable to even speak for more than a few words without feeling like my entire body was demanding that I stop.Jason noticed my frustration almost immediately. "You need to rest." I glared at him, and he gave me an apologetic smile. "I know. You hate hearing that." I tried to speak, but my voice was still weak and rough from the ventilator. "I hate... this." His expression softened as he moved closer and carefully adjusted my pillows. "I know."Lucas and Ethan were slee
Jason POVAmber fell asleep not long after she woke up, and for the first few minutes, I couldn't bring myself to move away from her bedside. I kept watching her chest rise and fall beneath the blankets, listening to the steady rhythm of the monitors while Emory checked her one more time. When he finally stepped back, he gave me a reassuring look. "She's okay," he said quietly. "She's just exhausted. Her body has been through an incredible amount of stress, and waking up after everything she's been through has taken what little energy she had left." I nodded, but I still couldn't stop looking at her. After everything that had happened, hearing the words she's okay felt almost impossible to believe.The doctors decided that she was strong enough to breathe without the ventilator. They carefully removed the tube from her throat while I stood beside the bed, watching every movement. Amber barely stirred, too exhausted even to fully wake, and once the tube was gone, the medical team monit
Amber POVThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was the tube in my throat. For several seconds, I didn't understand what I was feeling. My mind was heavy and strangely distant, as though I were trying to wake from a dream I couldn't quite remember. Then I felt the hard plastic pressing against the back of my throat and the strange sensation of air being forced into my lungs, and panic immediately tried to take over. My first instinct was to reach up and pull it out. I wanted it gone. I didn't care what it was or why it was there. I just wanted to breathe on my own.My body, however, refused to cooperate. I tried to lift my hand, but it barely moved, and the effort sent a wave of exhaustion through me before my arm dropped back onto the bed as though someone had tied weights to my wrist. I forced myself to stop fighting. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious, but some distant part of my mind understood that fighting the machine wasn't going to help me. So I concentrated on b
Jason POVSeveral hours passed before the recovery team finally returned to the hospital. I had been expecting a call the entire time, but when the doors at the end of the corridor finally opened and I saw Mr. Stait walking in with several soldiers around a stretcher, my heart immediately started pounding. Jasmine and Noah were with them, both looking exhausted, and between them was Adrian.He was unconscious.For one horrible second, I thought he was dead. Then I saw his chest move beneath the blanket. Barely. His breathing was shallow and irregular, and an oxygen mask covered his face as the medical team rushed him toward the nearest treatment room."What happened?" I asked.Mr. Stait stopped only long enough to answer. "He was alive when we found him. He hasn't regained consciousness.""Why isn't he breathing properly?""We don't know yet."Before I could ask anything else, Emory appeared and took control of the medical team surrounding Adrian. He immediately began issuing instruct
Jason POVMr. Asher was already furious enough to personally tear River City apart, and I wouldn't have been surprised if seeing that photograph resulted in him trying to commandeer a military vehicle."Are the Wyatts definitely connected to the property?" I asked."Yes."There was no hesitation in Mr. Stait's answer this time. He took the phone back and explained that they'd established connections through the property's control structure, vehicles and personnel associated with the Wyatt branch. Jasmine's photograph had now given them something even more important: confirmation that Adrian was physically being held at the location."So they kidnapped their own family.""That's what the evidence indicates."I looked toward Amber. Mrs. Wyatt had allegedly ordered her poisoned, and now we had photographic evidence that her own grandson had been left unconscious inside a warehouse connected to the family. Adrian had refused to abandon Amber when his father pressured him to leave Asher Co







