LOGINOSTARA’S POVOn the morning of my wedding, London was bright. Gold on the windows, gold on the trees outside, gold turning the whole townhouse into something soft and warm.It felt like a blessing.I stood in front of the bedroom mirror in my robe, hair half-done, face still bare except for moisturizer.My wedding day.Again.Properly this time.The house hummed around me: doors opening and closing, Lucy moving like a military operation in heels, Bethany correcting someone, and my mother asking where the extra pins had gone. Donna’s voice carried through the hallway in bursts of excitement so pure it made my chest ache.A knock came at the door before I could sink too far into my own head.“Come in!” I called.The door opened, and Penny stepped in.She was wearing a pale blue dress and looked beautiful. Behind her, Victoria appeared in soft green, her face composed and warm.Penny had not transformed overnight into some ecstatic daughter. She and Victoria were still finding each other
OSTARA’S POVNatalie arrived just after four in the afternoon.She stood in the entryway with a coat folded over one arm and a small overnight bag at her feet.She looked beautiful… not in the polished way she always used to but softer. More human. Her hair was pulled back simply, her makeup was light, and her dress, though clearly expensive, was not flashy. Donna stood half-hidden behind the living room doorway, staring. Not frightened but not pleased either.Just… wary.Fair enough. Natalie noticed her almost immediately. I saw the change in her face the second she did. Hope flared, then was pulled back sharply under control.“Hey, Donna,” she said gently.Donna stayed where she was and said, very politely, “Hi.”My heart pinched.Natalie nodded like that was enough. Like she understood what it cost a child to give even that much after everything.“Your dress is pretty,” Donna added after a beat.Natalie gave the smallest smile. “Thank you.”That broke the tension just enough for
OSTARA’S POVI woke up smiling and reached for Anthony, but my hand hit cold sheets.I blinked, still tangled in sleep, and pushed myself up on one elbow. The room was pale with early morning light, the curtains only half-drawn, the side of the bed beside me already neat and empty. I got up, wrapped myself in a robe, and padded downstairs where Bethany was already in the kitchen.She looked up when I came in. “Morning.”“Morning,” I said, reaching automatically for the kettle. “Where’s Anthony?”“He left early for work. Said he wanted the update on the Asia expansion and couldn’t wait to get started.”For one ridiculous second, my heart swelled. Bethany watched my face and smiled knowingly.“Ugh, don’t look so delighted,” she said. “It’s indecent before coffee.”“I’m not delighted,” I lied.“Mhm.”Donna came into the kitchen a few minutes later, schoolbag dragging behind her.She accepted a piece of toast from Bethany and climbed onto a stool like a very small queen surveying her cou
ANTHONY’S POVI expected Natalie to need a minute to process what had just happened.Maybe she would sit there in that oversized boardroom chair, stare at the skyline, and let the reality settle into her bones. Maybe she would cry. Maybe she would just sit there, stunned, and tell me she needed a day to process and to basically leave her alone.What I did not expect was for her to call me back in and immediately say, “I want to appoint Robert Cooper as chairman of Montgomery Hospitals and Clinics.”“What?”Natalie stood by the window, one hand resting against the glass, city light pouring in behind her. There was no triumph in her expression… just a strange, settled clarity.“I told you,” she said calmly. “I want to be in Dubai with Valentin. I came here to take away their power, not use it for myself.”For a second, I genuinely had no words.The old Natalie would have devoured this room. She would have sat in that chair and found ten ways to enjoy the view. She would have made sure e
NATALIE’S POVWhen the call ended, I stared at Anthony’s phone for a second too long.The screen had gone dark in my hand, but I could still hear her voice in my head.I wanted to ask if you would come to my wedding.I swallowed and handed the phone back to Anthony.He was standing near the conference room window, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened.“Well?” he asked quietly.I laughed once, helplessly. “She invited me.”His face softened in this infuriatingly sincere way he had whenever Ostara was involved.“Yeah,” he said. “She did.”I looked down, fiddling with my ring as if that would somehow steady the absurd lump in my throat.“She really wants me there?”Anthony gave me a look. “Nat, she’s not exactly easy to force.”That made me laugh again, this time a little more like myself. No one said anything for a moment.Then I straightened and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear because crying over a wedding invitation in front of Anthony Möller felt like a new low, even for me.“I’m no
OSTARA’S POVWhen Anthony finally told me the full plan, I forgot how to breathe for a second.I was in my office at Harvest Bloom, one hand still resting on a stack of packaging drafts, the late afternoon light slanting across the glass wall behind me. His voice came through the phone steady and certain, as if what he was describing was not completely insane.“What?” I asked. Anthony gave a low laugh from the other end. “Yeah. That was more or less my internal reaction, too.”“Is that even possible?”“I’ll make sure it happens,” he said. His tone shifted there, went flatter, more dangerous. “I do not want this sword hanging over my family forever. They deserve to lose everything after the way they treated you once they found out Natalie was alive.”I sank slowly into my chair.Outside the office, the lab moved on as usual. Trays sliding across counters. Lucy’s heels clicking down the hallway. Davina laughing at something. It all felt bizarrely normal while Anthony talked about dism
OSTARA’S POVConsciousness came back to me slowly, like something reluctant to return.The first thing I noticed was the stillness… no gentle rocking beneath me. No low hum of engines or distant wash of waves against steel.That absence was what snapped my eyes open.I lay on my side on a concrete
ANTHONY’S POVThe alarm stopped as abruptly as it began, but the silence it left behind felt louder than the siren itself.Outside, the compound had turned into motion—boots on gravel, radios crackling, flashlights slicing through hedges and palm fronds. “South fence, check the drainage line,” I b
ANTHONY’S POVSaturday mornings with Donna had become my favorite kind of routine.No alarms. No schedules. No boardrooms calling my name before sunrise. Just sunlight filtering through the kitchen windows, the smell of coffee, and my daughter padding around the house in socks that never quite stay
ANTHONY’S POVThe helicopter blades cut through the night like a warning.I barely felt the cold wind whipping against my face as we lowered toward the ship. The Ardent Crown glowed below us, an island of light floating in endless black water. Calm. Pristine. Almost mocking in its normalcy.Nothing







