LOGINDamian's POV I almost got caught. I wouldn't say I got caught but we were this close to Derek walking in on us, the way I was completely lost in what I was doing. Invested. Embarrassingly so. I couldn't make sense of myself. Of what I was doing with a man who had treated my family the way he did, who had torn through something I couldn't name yet and left without a single word of apology. Not even a glance back. And still I had folded. Fallen right back into his arms like gravity had been waiting for me to stop pretending I had a choice. Like the whore he'd made me into. I had almost told him too. About the threats I'd received at work that morning the ones that made the walls feel smaller the moment I read them. The words had been right there, pressing against the back of my teeth. But I swallowed them down. I wasn't sure if I was more afraid of him finding out the truth about my past, or of watching his face shift the moment he realized I was more complicated than dangerous. Mo
Here's the corrected and emotionally deepened version: Nickolai's POV Derek was home. I had disappointed my son enough. And today was not going to be about me again. The moment the key jiggled in the lock, I was already moving. My feet carried me before my mind could catch up, ducking into the nearest room as Damian straightened himself quickly, smoothing down his shirt like nothing in the world had happened between us minutes ago. Derek stepped into the mansion. "I heard voices," he said, his eyes scanning the room with that quiet, calculating look he had inherited from me. The look I used in boardrooms. The look that never missed anything. From where I pressed myself against the wall, heart thudding against my ribs, I was certain he sensed something off. He just couldn't name it yet. "Oh, you did?" Damian asked, his voice almost steady, even as his chest still rose and fell faster than normal, his body still carrying the evidence of everything I had done to him. "I
Damian’s POV I sighed as I scribbled my signature on the last piece of paper my assistant dropped on my table before the disaster happened. I was happy I was finally going home to my bed. I had wanted to be here so badly, and here I was rushing to go back home like I hadn't practically begged to come in the first place. Derek had scolded me over the phone the moment he realised I had sent the in-house away from the house. I picked up my bag and walked out of my office, exhaling slowly, willing my mind to go quiet. It didn't work. All my thoughts circled back to him the man who hadn't respected my opinion enough to pretend he cared. His scent, his filthy words that had sent heat crawling up my thighs. The slow, deliberate way he had consumed me like he had all the time in the world and I was the only thing worth spending it on. Even after burying myself in work, drowning in folders and deadlines and signatures none of it helped. None of it touched what was quietly unravelling
Nickolai's POV "All you need to do is meet up with your wife and ask her what her demands are and why she is doing this." My lawyer encouraged me, his face deadpan as he looked at me. I stared outside, grateful for the weather — 65 degrees, a cool sun setting on the horizon. The passing cars made things slightly easier as I thought about my life. His words cut through my thoughts as he cleared his throat. "What did I say?" His eye bags screamed exhaustion, even beneath the rim of his glasses. I hoped he had a life outside the cases he so diligently won for other people. "After resolving things with my ex-wife, I'd set up a press conference with her so people know that whatever came out before was just a rumour." I answered. I picked up my wine and took a sip, the alcohol stinging down my throat. "What are you going to do after this?" I asked, attempting to break the wall we had built around ourselves during business conversations. Alimi, my lawyer, was a very good friend of m
My assistant walked out of the room in slow strides, making sure I was okay before she finally left the office. She patted my shoulders lightly before looking at me one last time and closing the door. I looked around, even while the blinds covered the windows for privacy, trying to see if someone was watching me. But there was no one. It was just an empty threat. “Take a deep breath and you’ll be okay,” I muttered to myself, even while my heart screamed otherwise. I went through my emails, trying to distract myself from the stranger who knew my secret. Childhood had shown me so much while growing up. There were so many things I did before the social worker finally came to save me. I replied to every email and looked through the website, but the canvases kept getting sold out even while I was struggling for my life. I swallowed past the sudden tightness in my throat. The urge to go to the police and find this person was there, but that was going to become an even more difficu
Nickolai's POV I felt betrayed. Nobody had the right to betray me the way Damian's slap did. The sting on my cheek was nothing compared to the fire that had settled deep in my chest, hot and unrelenting. He was going to pay for this in ways he hadn't even begun to imagine. I was not the kind of man who forgave, and I certainly wasn't the kind who forgot. My lawyer's number flashed across my phone screen for what felt like the hundredth time, the dial tone cutting through the heavy silence of my office like an accusation. I let it ring. I paced. Back and forth. Back and forth. My oxfords sank into the thick carpet with each step, and still the rage wouldn't sit still inside me. It clawed at my ribs, demanding to be let out. I needed to release it before it consumed me entirely. I walked out of the office, straightening the lapels of my bespoke suit charcoal grey, Italian wool, the kind of thing that made boardrooms fall silent the moment I entered. I wore it like armour mo







