Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Elena’s POV

With only four days left until the divorce, I was back at the house, searching every room for the project files my mother had left behind.

I pulled open the drawers in the study, flipped through stacks of old folders, and checked the back of every shelf. Nothing. She had dedicated years of her life to that music project before her death, and I knew Damian had locked the documents away somewhere in this house.

Just as I shut the bottom drawer of the desk, heavy footsteps echoed behind me.

"Looking for these?"

I turned around to see Damian standing in the doorway, his suit jacket unbuttoned. Chloe was wrapped around his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder with a triumphant smile on her face. Damian was holding a thick black folder in his hand—my mother's project files.

"Give those to me, Damian," I said, stepping forward. "You have no right to keep her work."

Damian casually slid the folder into his inner coat pocket and pulled Chloe closer. "Stop searching. There's something far more important you need to do first."

Chloe giggled, stepping out from his arm and pointing at the professional camera setup sitting on the table near the window. "Take some couple photos of us, Elena. You used to love photography, didn't you? Though I wonder if you can even manage it now with your hands shaking like that—haha?"

I held my ground, looking past Chloe straight into Damian's eyes. "My photography skills aren't meant for the likes of you."

Chloe’s face darkened, her polite front slipping for a second. "You're a cripple. I'm giving you an opportunity here—don't be ungrateful."

"I said no," I replied coldly, crossing my arms. "I don't take photos for people like you."

Damian let out a harsh laugh, pulling a stack of cash from his wallet and tossing it onto the desk beside me. "Since you just want money, I'll pay you once the shoot is done. Pick up the camera, Elena."

I didn't even glance at the cash. "I do have a condition, but it isn't your money. Return my mother's project files. You give me the folder, and I'll shoot your photos."

Damian stared at me for a long moment before giving a cold nod. "Fine. Finish the shoot, and you get the folder."

Ten minutes later, we were in the home studio room. Damian and Chloe struck various intimate poses on the leather sofa—Chloe wrapping her arms around his neck, Damian kissing her cheek, and Chloe resting her head in his lap. Throughout the entire session, they didn't stop talking.

"Look how much better I look next to you than she ever did," Chloe purred, adjusting her low-cut dress in front of the lens. "My waist is so much smaller, and my skin is flawless. Elena always looked so plain."

Damian chuckled, his hands resting on Chloe's hips. "You don't need to compare yourself to her, Chloe. You're better than her in every way."

I kept my mouth shut, silently pressing the shutter button repeatedly. Their comments were utterly disgusting, but I forced myself to endure it just to finish the shoot as quickly as possible.

"We're done," I announced, stepping back from the tripod. "Come over and select the photos so I can get my mother's files."

Damian and Chloe walked over to the setup monitor. I plugged the memory card in, and a high-resolution shot of them kissing on the sofa displayed prominently on the large screen right in front of us.

Damian looked at the screen, then turned his gaze toward me with a smug, arrogant expression. "You know, Elena... if you beg me properly right now, I might consider taking a set of couple photos with you, too."

I gave him an unimpressed look and paid him no mind, completely ignoring his offer as I reached out to export the image files to the drive.

Just as I leaned over the desk, a loud, creaking noise came from directly behind me.

I turned around quickly. A massive stack of heavy lighting equipment cases—which should have been securely piled against the wall—was tipping forward, falling straight toward my head.

Panic seized my chest. As I instinctively threw my arms up to protect myself, I caught a brief glimpse of Chloe standing near the base of the rack, a cold, vicious smile on her face.

Before I could dodge, the heaviest steel case slammed directly into me. Pain exploded across my body, everything went pitch black, and I fainted.