LOGIN"I don't want to go back to what we were," she said. "I'd burn it down before I let that happen." Her chin lifted slightly. "So whatever this is," she said, "it has to be something we've never been." "From the ground up." The air between us had changed. Nothing had moved to change it. My finge
Edward's POV A flight of stairs. Elena's door was ajar when I reached the landing. I pushed it open and stepped inside. She was at the window. Coat still on. I shrugged mine off and set it on the chair by the door. The click of the latch made her shoulders tighten once before they released. "Y
Thursday. The registry doors opened before I fully reached them, air still adjusting around the gap, carrying paper dust and ink heat and the low sound of decisions being processed without ceremony, none of it pausing for me. My name came almost immediately. Not because I was expected—because the
Alicia's POV Apartment light warmed the room before I crossed the threshold. Elena stood at the counter, spoon tracing slow circles through a pot resting on low heat. Steam rose in thin strands, breaking apart under the ceiling light before it could gather into anything defined. My shoes paused b
Edward's POV I didn’t remember walking into the estate. I remembered the gate. Then nothing clean after that—just fragments of motion stitched together without pause. Headlights fading into the drive. The slow roll of tires over stone. The way the house lights adjusted as if it had already antic
The car didn’t stop at the main entrance. It passed the glass frontage of the building, continued past the visible entry point, and turned into the service approach that only functioned as an entrance once the guard stepped aside. No signage. No announcement. Just controlled access. I didn’t que
Alicia's POV My phone buzzed on the desk. Delivery outside. I glanced at the time, it was already past noon. I'd been formatting campaign materials since mid-morning—budget breakdowns, stakeholder templates, contact sheets. The kind of work that requires focus but not creativity. I stood. Stret
Edward's POV I pulled into the family estate just after noon. The gravel crunched under my tires. The house rose ahead: stone, ivy, windows catching the afternoon light. I turned off the engine. Sat there. My phone had been silent all morning. No messages. No calls. Nothing. I got out. Walked
"You threw that." "Yeah." A pause. "That's... unexpected." "I'm full of surprises." His jaw moved. Just barely. But I saw it. "I came to see Lily," he said. Calm and measured. "Make sure she's getting proper follow-up care." I laughed. Sharp. Bitter. "Right. Because you care so much about my
Edward's POV The elevator doors closed. And she was gone. I stood there. Staring at brushed steel. My heart was pounding. I know what you did to my father's company. The words looped. I turned. Looked down the empty hallway. What the hell was she talking about? I walked back to where we'd b







