Ava glanced at the incoming message, her eyes barely flicking away from the mountain of documents piled high on her desk. Contracts, personnel files, quarterly reports—all demanding her signature, her insight, her attention.With a muted sigh, she picked up her phone and tapped out a reply.Ava:[I might be a bit late.]A beat later, his response arrived.Alexander:[Okay.]The screen dimmed, and so did her thoughts of him. She slid the phone aside and returned to the work with a sharpened focus, determined to push through before the evening swallowed what little energy she had left.Time blurred into stillness as the pages turned under her hand, her pen gliding steadily over signatures and notes. When she finally looked up again, the sky outside her office window had deepened into a dusky charcoal. Streetlights glowed faintly against the glass. Her pulse kicked—had it really been four hours?She reached for her phone again, her fingertips cold with guilt.Ava:[Mr. Vanderbilt, where
In a glass-walled conference room perched high above the city, the overseas meeting—originally scheduled for two hours—dragged into its fifth. The late afternoon sun had long disappeared behind the skyline, and the room was now bathed in the sterile glow of recessed lights.The executives seated around the polished mahogany table grew increasingly tense. Alexander Vanderbilt sat at the head, his sharp features carved from stone, his lips pressed into a hard line. Every glance from him was like ice. No one dared speak unless spoken to.The atmosphere was suffocating.He stared at the projected slide with a kind of clinical detachment, but inwardly, a strange, unshakable agitation simmered. It clouded his thoughts, disrupted his focus, made the numbers blur together.He didn’t understand it—this gnawing sense of restlessness.Still, his voice was steady as he broke the silence.“That’s enough. Dismissed. Assign two leads to handle negotiations with the local branch.”The instant relief
Serena was wheeled quietly into the hospital ward, a ghost of herself, pale against the sterile linens.When she finally opened her eyes, all she saw was white—walls, ceiling, bedsheets—blinding and clinical, the color of silence and loss. Her lashes fluttered against the stark brightness as her mind struggled to catch up to her body.A voice cut through the stillness, flat and indifferent."You're awake. The procedure was a painless abortion—no need for hospitalization. You’re free to leave. Mrs. Vanderbilt has already settled the bill."The words hit like a hammer. Serena’s vision tunneled, her chest tightened, and for a brief moment, the world dimmed at the edges. She barely managed to remain upright.The doctor went on, unaffected."Try to rest when you get home. Eat something warm. You’ll regain strength in a few days—it won’t affect your work."Serena opened her mouth, struggling to speak, but her voice caught in her throat—raw, brittle, unusable. It felt like Alexander’s hand w
It felt like a lightning bolt had cracked straight through Cordelia’s skull.She stared down at the pregnancy test in her hand—two unmistakable pink lines glaring back at her like a slap across the face.Her heart pounded.That wretched woman!Serena had the gall to defy them—to defy her—and go crawling back into Alexander’s bed?Cordelia’s grip tightened on the test as rage surged through her like wildfire. Hadn’t she warned Serena? Hadn’t she made it crystal clear that any delusions about staying in the Vanderbilt family would be crushed?Yet here she was, not only staying—but carrying what might be Alexander’s child.Cordelia took a sharp breath and quickly fished her phone out of her purse. Her fingers, trembling with adrenaline, flew across the screen as she dialed Alexander’s number.But it wasn’t him who picked up—it was Jonathan."Ms. Cordelia," Jonathan greeted calmly, his tone clipped and professional."Jonathan," she snapped, "hand the phone to Alexander. I need to ask him
Alexander sat on the sleek leather couch, the city lights from the window casting faint reflections across the polished floor. He opened his laptop with one hand, the soft click of the keyboard keys quickly filling the room as he began pulling up documents. The screen glowed coldly in the dimness of his penthouse.There had been turbulence with one of the Vanderbilt Group’s overseas branches, and it required his direct intervention. He was likely flying out within the next forty-eight hours—another transatlantic trip, another round of negotiations. Time was tight, and the pressure mounting.He worked silently, laser-focused, until his phone buzzed. Victoria's name lit up the screen.He hesitated a moment before answering.On the other end, Victoria’s voice trembled with suppressed emotion. She hesitated, trying to mask her panic with composure, but the waver in her tone betrayed her.Just that morning, she had paraded her so-called victory with pride, telling him how easily she'd conq
After Victoria left, Alexander remained seated at his desk, the soft glow from the monitor casting stark shadows across his face. The data on the screen blurred before his eyes as his fingers stilled on the keyboard.No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus.He hadn’t slept a wink the night before. Every time he closed his eyes, that same image flashed behind his eyelids—Serena’s pale skin and the dark, unmistakable mark on her neck. He had told himself over and over that it didn’t matter, that she was just a woman. Disposable. Replaceable. Nothing special.But that lie was beginning to crack.He leaned back in his chair, pinched the bridge of his nose, and exhaled through his teeth. The room was silent, save for the soft hum of the central air and the distant ticking of the antique clock in the corner. The silence should have been soothing. Instead, it grated on him.His thoughts drifted again—to her.Why hadn’t she messaged? Not a call, not even a meaningless emoji. Nothing.W