Masuk[Beatrice]I enter Cyrus’s home office, only to find a woman sprawled on the desk and him balls-deep inside her.“What the fuck?” he curses the moment he sees me, while the blonde woman shrieks.It takes the two of them five minutes to collect themselves, and the woman runs out of the room as if her ass is on fire.“You didn’t have to barge in like that,” Cyrus says once he has all his clothes back on and busies himself by grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the drawer and sticking one into his mouth. “Are the Blackwoods always this forward? Or is it just you?”I watch him through narrowed eyes and realize he isn’t embarrassed in the slightest. If it had been Damon, things would have been completely different.First of all, I would never have caught him like this because he would never be careless enough to take his love life outside the bedroom. And even if I had somehow caught him, he wo
[Griffin]After I drop Elara back at the hospital, I walk her all the way to Cora’s room.I’m pretending to be normal, but I feel anything but that.Today, Elara expressed her desire to know more about me. My past. My childhood. My everything. And even though it shouldn’t feel that way—like a weight heavier than the earth itself—it still does. I feel like I was on the verge of being too exposed. Because if I hadn’t diverted the conversation and she hadn’t gone along with it, I would have told her everything, and that would have been like walking through damn fire.It would have hurt. Singed.Not because my past is the kind of wound that aches when mentioned, but because I don’t know how she would take it all in.Elara is kind and soft, and everything that’s good in the world. So, no doubt, she would pity me, feel bad for me, feel like she owes me something.And I don’t want t
I chuckle when he asks me if I’m jealous.I’m so NOT jealous.And why should I be? Of what?The fact that he has been with other women? Or that he might have slept with many more women before me?The idea never came to me before. But now that it has, it kind of sticks.Something tightens in my chest.I try to ignore it. It’s probably nothing.“I don’t think I have the right to judge your past relationships,” I say, trying to be honest and mean every word. “Mine is a mess, and you’re still here.”He is, isn’t he?So maybe it doesn’t matter. The past is in the past, and what matters is this very moment in the present and the future that still needs to be planned and built.He leans back, cocking his head, and looks at me as if considering my words, processing them. “Are you saying that if someday a woman walks into our life and claims to be my l
When we step out of the back exit of the hospital, very few people can be seen lingering about.The sky has turned dark, and the lampposts cast long shadows on the ground.In the moment, I’m very much aware of the man walking beside me. We haven’t spoken a word since we left Cora’s room, but the silence is comfortable. Easy. The cool evening air feels like a balm against my heated skin, and I can feel the tension slowly draining out of my shoulders.It’s only when, instead of entering the garden that I thought we were heading to, he leads us to the parking lot that I speak. “Where are we going?”“Somewhere I can take care of you.”I raise a brow, struggling to see the grin on his face that I know is there.He raises his hands as if to say, ‘Not like that’.
A fresh wave of tears fills Cora’s eyes as she reaches out for me, her little fingers closing around mine in a grip that’s both weak and desperate. I can feel the tremor in her hands—the faint, frantic flutter of her pulse against my skin.My heart aches with a deep, throbbing pain that’s almost physical. She worries about Vera. Of course she does. My brave, selfless little girl, who is fighting for her own life, is more concerned about the feelings of the sister who has barely spoken a word to anyone since she was rescued.“No, honey, of course not,” I say, my voice a low, soothing murmur as I gently wipe away her tears with my thumb. “Vera was worried, yes. But she doesn’t hate you. She could never hate you. She loves you very, very much.”“Are you sure?” Cora presses, her lower lip trembling. “I don’t want her to hate me. I don&rsqu
Suddenly, he lurches toward me. The flowers and gifts are abandoned, falling to the floor. Arms flying. Anger bursting through his eyes and spewing from his mouth.He swings wildly, trying to land a blow on my face, but his movement is sloppy and fueled by blind rage. I easily step inside his guard, grabbing his wrist with one hand and slamming him back against the wall with the other.He gasps, the air knocked out of his lungs, but I don’t let him go. I pin him there, my forearm pressed against his throat, just enough to make breathing a conscious effort.“Look at me,” I command, my voice low and dangerous. “Do you think I’m afraid of you? Do you think a temper tantrum from a washed-up heir impresses me?”He struggles against my hold, but it’s useless. He’s a child throwing a fit, and I’m the adult who’s had enough.
[Elara]The drive to the mansion isn’t a long one.Barely ten minutes have passed when the cars start circling the roundabout and pulling up in the grand driveway.“Mommy, this place is so huuuuuge,” Cora gasps, her hands pressed against the window, her face glued to the glass. Then, as if struck b
[Damon]I look at the bright red ruby ring sitting proudly in the black velvet box.Nervous—for the first time.What if she doesn’t like it?What if she thinks it’s too little?What if she thinks it isn’t sincere enough?I sigh. Whatever. This is the first time I’m giving her something so expensive
For a full two minutes, I sit frozen in my seat.“Damon? Damon? Can you hear me? Damon!”I jerk awake, blinking too hard—too fast—trying to make sure this is real. I look around, searching for even the smallest hint that this is nothing but a nightmare.But the moment my eyes land on Hannah, my hea
“Elara has always been patient with you,” Grandma says, sighing heavily. “But you, on the other hand, never gave her the time of your life. Even when she was pregnant, you never cared. In fact, you blamed her for taking advantage of you. But have you ever stopped to wonder why she would want to hav







