LOGINALEXANDER POVI needed clothes. Normally I would have called the hotel and had someone bring everything to me. But today I couldn't sit in that room anymore. My head was too crowded. Selena. Her face. Her voice. The way she had looked at me before walking away. Maybe a walk would clear my head.Greg followed beside me as we entered the mall. "Sir, are you sure you don't want me to handle this?""I'm fine."He didn't argue. We walked toward the men's section and an attendant immediately approached. "Good afternoon, sir. Welcome." I nodded and glanced over the racks without really seeing them. My mind was somewhere else entirely.Then I heard a familiar young voice. "Excuse me, where is the announcement room?" I turned. The voice was coming from somewhere behind me. I don't know why I looked. But the moment I did, my breath caught.Him. That boy. Adrian. He stood beside an attendant, looking around with that same composed expression I remembered from the academy. Our eyes met. He recog
ALEXANDER POVMy hand was still wrapped around her arm. She looked down at it. "Let go of me." I didn't. Not yet.I had spent six years searching for this woman. Six years wondering if I would ever see her again. And now she was standing right in front of me … alive, beautiful, and looking at me like I was a stranger."Six years, Selena."She said nothing."You disappeared."Her eyes remained fixed on mine."You changed your name."Nothing."You got married."That finally got a reaction. Her eyes flickered toward the ring on her finger. I followed her gaze. That damn ring. My chest tightened. Someone else had put it there. Someone else had apparently taken the place I had spent six years trying to find.I swallowed. "Do you love him?"The question left my mouth before I could stop it. And the moment it did, I hated myself for asking. Because suddenly I was waiting, actually waiting for her answer. My heart pounded against my ribs.She stared at me for a long moment. Then she pulle
ELENA POVI woke up earlier than usual. For a few seconds I simply stared at the ceiling before the memories of last night came rushing back. Alexander was here. After six years of running, hiding, and convincing myself that the past was exactly where it belonged, I was finally going to sit across from him.I pushed the blanket aside, got out of bed, and got ready. By the time I walked downstairs, Adrian was already dressed, sitting at the kitchen island eating breakfast with his little legs swinging beneath the chair. He looked up when he saw me."Morning, Mum.""Morning, baby."I walked over and kissed his forehead. "You're up early.""So are you."I smiled. "Are you going to work?" "Yes." His spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. "You're meeting the Blackwood company?" My fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the counter. "Yes." "Is it the same Mr. Blackwood I met at school?" "Yes." He nodded slowly. Then, to my surprise, he didn't ask to come along."You aren't comi
ELENA'S POVAdrian was still curled against me, his small body completely limp with sleep. One arm wrapped around my waist while his cheek rested against my chest. I slowly ran my fingers through his hair.I couldn't stop thinking about the way he had looked at me earlier, trying so hard to be strong, making jokes, trying to make me laugh. And I had still brought him into the middle of everything.My eyes burned. "I'm sorry, baby," I whispered. He didn't move. I pressed a kiss to his forehead. I should have protected him from all of this. That was the one thing I had promised myself six years ago. No Alexander. No past. No pain. Just me and my son. Yet somehow, the past had found us anyway.My phone vibrated on the couch. I glanced at it. Mama: Mr. Blackwood is here.My breath caught. I stared at the message for several seconds before locking the screen. Of course he was. I should have known he wouldn't simply walk away after finding out I was here.I looked down at Adrian, sleepin
ALEXANDER'S POVThe moment she said Selena was here, everything inside me stopped.Selena. My Selena. For six years I had searched for her. Six years. And now she was here. My mind couldn't process anything else. But Vanessa was still sitting in front of me, trembling, tears running freely down her face. Whatever she was about to tell me, I already knew it was going to change everything."Six years ago..." Her voice was barely above a whisper. I waited, every muscle in my body pulled tight. "Six years ago, I caused it." My brows twisted. "What?" "I was the reason Selena left."I stared at her. My mind went completely blank."How? Why?"Vanessa swallowed hard. "I was obsessed with you." Her voice cracked under the weight of it. "I wanted you, Alexander. I wanted you so badly that when Miranda called and told me you were happy, I became jealous." I said nothing. "I was angry. I convinced myself that everything you had with Selena was fake, that you were only doing it to move on from Gra
ELENA'S POV "...Selena?"My entire body froze. That voice. The voice I had buried for six years. Slowly, I raised my head.Vanessa. She stood a few steps away, her eyes impossibly wide. The confident woman I remembered was gone. Her gaze drifted slowly from my face to Adrian, then back to me. Her lips trembled. "Selena..."I didn't answer. Not a word.She took one hesitant step toward me. Her eyes dropped to Adrian again. "Is he…" Before she could finish, I cut her off. "Don't." My voice came out colder than I expected. She stopped immediately. "Selena, please, just…." "Don't call me that."Silence stretched between us. The restaurant felt too small. Too suffocating. Too close.She swallowed. I could see it.. the guilt, the panic, the disbelief. But none of it mattered anymore."If you call Alexander…" I took one slow step toward her, my voice perfectly even, "—I don't mind killing you."No shouting. No rage. Just a warning from a mother protecting the only thing she had left.
SELENA'S POV "Let's go." Kelvin didn't wait for my response before turning away, but I didn't bother replying either. Something inside me had already gone quiet, A quietness that comes after the last thread finally snaps. I knew it was over. Completely. The desperate wife of Mr. Hale was gone. I
SELENA'S POV My eyes slowly opened as the warmth of the morning sun brushed against my face. For a moment, I didn't move. My head was heavy, my body sore in places that made memories of last night rush back like a sudden wave, the club, the drinks, the stranger. My heart skipped. Slowly, I turne
SELENA POV I stood frozen. Tears poured down my cheeks, my body shaking violently. I wanted to go there, to tear them apart with my bare hands, to scream until my lungs gave out, but I couldn’t move. My husband… fucking my best friend. My best friend… I could barely breathe. I turned to leave,
SELENA POV“Congratulations, Mrs. Hale. You’re two weeks pregnant.”The doctor’s voice stretched forward with a smile, hands reaching out as if expecting joy. But my body refused to follow. My temple throbbed, sweat prickling against my skin. My hands trembled, my legs vibrating under me. No. No,







