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
Edward’s POV The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. I stepped onto the marble floor, shoes hitting with unhurried precision. Heads lifted. Pens stopped mid-stroke. Phones went still. Recognition. Routine. Expected. Monday night's silence still clung to me. The empty mansion. The trace of he
Edward’s POV The revolving doors of Valentine Tower spun behind me as I stepped into the lobby. Marble. Glass. The low hum of controlled efficiency. The investor meeting had run long. Three hours of posturing, reassurances, and carefully worded commitments. But it was done. The deal was locked. M
“I understand,” I said. She didn’t respond. Didn’t look up again. I stayed standing. Didn’t sit. Didn’t move closer. “But we need to talk.” Her jaw tightened. Just barely. “No. We don’t.” “Alicia—” “Edward.” She said my name like a warning. Like a line I shouldn’t cross. Her eyes lifted again.
Alicia’s POV I didn’t breathe until the door clicked shut behind him. Not properly. Not all the way. The sound landed somewhere deep in my chest. It loosened something at first, then cinched everything tight again so quickly my fingers trembled against the table. My eyes stayed on the notebook I







