LOGINAmber. Zeden opened his mouth, but I slid my hand under the table and squeezed his thigh hard, signaling I had this.“I’m sorry, Mrs. Rossi,” I continued, reaching over to take the plate she’d been dishing out even though she hadn’t offered it to me. “I thought the most logical thing after becoming Zeden’s wife was to step up as a mother to his child. After all, someone has to actually be there for her—warm, present. Blood doesn’t automatically make you a parent. Raising her, loving her, earning her trust—that does. And lucky for Zam, she’s finally got that now.”Thalia’s fork clattered against her plate. “Zeden, what kind of nonsense is this? Why is your little maid of a wife trying to mother my own grandchild? And why on earth is Zameera calling another woman ‘mother’?”Zeden leaned back, a smug satisfaction curling his lips. “What else should she call her? Who else does she have to call that? Do you have someone better in mind?”Before Thalia could snap back, a deep male voice c
Amber.We pulled up to the Rossi mansion.It’s sprawling stone facade just as imposing as the last time I’d been dragged here like a prisoner. Back then Zeden had nearly killed Enzo in cold blood while I stood there, treated like nothing more than his disposable toy. Today I was his wife.Pregnant with his child, yet the memory still left a bitter taste on my tongue.I’d tried to change into something more modest before we left, but Zeden had shut that down with one sharp look. So here I was, stepping out of the car in the same revealing outfit I’d worn to mess with his head earlier. The long slit in my skirt kept parting with every movement.Flashing too much thigh. I quickly tried to tug the fabric back together with my free hand.“Leave it,” Zeden said the moment I stood beside him. His voice was low, rough with something darker than anger. “I don’t give a fuck who sees it like that.”“Zeden, you should have let me change,” I muttered. “I could have worn a proper dress.”“
Amber“Marissa is still alive?” The words stumbled out of me, thick and heavy, like my tongue had forgotten how to shape them.My hand slipped from Zam’s without me realizing.My fingers going numb as the shock settled deep in my stomach.I walked toward the dining room on unsteady legs, each step echoing too loud in my ears.Zeden’s first wife, the woman everyone swore had died years ago, was breathing somewhere out there, and he had known.Or at least suspected.And he hadn’t said a single word to me.My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.A sharp knife-like pain slicing behind my eyes.“What do you mean by that, Zeden?” I asked, my gaze flicking to Daya, who was suddenly very busy pretending the plates in front of her needed her full attention.Zeden turned slowly, his expression hardening. “Did you hear me say anything like that? You can’t just walk in on half a conversation and assume you caught every word perfectly, Blondie. I didn’t say that.”I let out a sharp, disbelievi
Amber.My head was throbbing so violently it felt like someone had taken a hammer to the inside of my skull and kept swinging.Every beat of my pulse sent sharp little cracks through my thoughts, and none of them made sense.Pieces of last night kept breaking loose. Zeden’s cold voice, the way he’d dragged his mother down those stairs, the blood on his knuckles, the casual way he’d admitted he’d killed Irina like it was just another Tuesday morning task.How could he be so ruthless?I knew he’d been ruthless with me once.I knew he could still be if he chose to.I’d tasted that side of him more than once, but this?Talking about ending someone’s life like it was just another item on his to-do list?How could he stand there and decide who breathed and who didn’t, like God himself had handed him the gavel?I was standing in front of the mirror now.Just a few minutes after Zeden had left, I’d headed straight to the bathroom, needing the hot water to wash away the smell of the warehou
Zeden.I turned my head slowly back to her, jaw tight, the red mark of her hand already blooming on my skin.For a long second, neither of us moved.Then I stepped back, giving her space she clearly needed.I turned and walked out of the room without looking back, the door closing behind me with a soft click that felt louder than any shout.The hallway stretched long and quiet.My knuckles still ached from last night.My chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped barbed wire around my ribs and kept pulling.I hated fighting with her.Hated the way her tears made me feel like the villain even when I was trying to protect what was mine.But I couldn’t change who I was.Not for her. Not for anyone.I slipped into Zam’s room without a sound.The door barely whispering shut behind me.She was still curled under the covers, breathing soft and even in the low glow of her nightlight.For a second I just stood there, watching the small rise and fall of her chest, letting the sight of her safe a
Zeden. I couldn’t scrape Rukov’s words out of my head.They kept circling like vultures, picking at every rational thought I tried to hold onto.Marisa alive?The woman we both burned in that car wreck?The one whose funeral I held for the second time? The one I stood through like a statue while my mother wept crocodile tears for the cameras?Bullshit.Pure, poisonous bullshit.I was furious.More than furious.The kind of anger that made my hands shake and my jaw ache from clenching it all night.I’d wanted to wake Amber the second I got back from the warehouse, crawl into bed beside her, and apologize for dragging her into that nightmare with Irina.But she was already asleep, curled on her side with her back to me, and I couldn’t bring myself to disturb the small peace on her face.So I’d just lain there, staring at the ceiling, listening to her breathe while my mind tore itself apart.By the time the sky outside started to lighten, I couldn’t take it anymore.I needed to see for
Zeden.An hour later I was pacing the hospital corridor outside Amber’s room like a caged animal. Restless. Wired. Every muscle in my body felt coiled too tight, ready to snap. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Not in this sterile white hallway that smelled of bleach and bad decisions. Not hove
Amber.I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep. Or whether I should have woken up at all. Part of me felt certain I was already gone—dead, finished, done with this nightmare. But slowly my eyelids fluttered open. Sunlight poured through the window, bright and unforgiving, stinging my eyes unti
Zeden.My legs moved faster than they ever had, carrying me through the corridors like the house itself was trying to hold me back. I kicked the door to the maids’ quarters open so hard it slammed against the wall and bounced. The room swallowed the sound, but it couldn’t swallow the sight in f
Amber.I made small whimpers that tangled pain with shame—the shame that bloomed from wanting him anyway. From craving the very thing that was tearing me open. Lust and hunger twisted inside me until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. How was my body responding so eagerly,







