LOGINHARPER: The room was dark. The curtains were drawn, the lights off, the world outside reduced to a muffled hum. I lay in bed, my body heavy, my mind blank. I hadn't moved in hours. Hadn't eaten. Hadn't slept. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember how to feel. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I ignored it. It buzzed again. And again. Finally, I reached for it, my fingers clumsy, my eyes blurry. The screen glowed with messages from Liam. Liam: How are you holding up? Liam: Harper, I need you to talk to me. Liam: Please. Just let me know you're okay. I stared at the words, feeling nothing in my chest. I wasn't okay. I hadn't been okay in a long time. But I couldn't tell him that. Couldn't admit how broken I really was. Harper: I'm here. Liam: Thank God. I was getting worried. Harper: Samuel filed a custody claim. He's trying to take my sons. Liam: I heard. James told me. I blinked, surprised. James had told him? When? Harper: He did? Li
HARPER: The tears came before I could stop them. One moment I was standing there, shaking from the uncontrollable weight and the next, I fell to the ground , not caring that Liam was watching me. He was thd least of my problem. My mother. My bakery. My sons. My entire life, reduced to ash and rubble. I screamed. The sobs tore out of me, raw and guttural, the kind of crying that left you breathless and hollow. I tucked my head between my knees, my arms wrapped around myself, trying to hold myself together. But I couldn't. I was falling apart. Liam was beside me in an instant. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest. He didn't say anything. He just held me, his hand stroking my hair, his presence a steady anchor in the storm. "That was my only business," I choked out. "That was where I got my money. That was everything I built. And now it's gone. All of it." "I know," Liam said softly. "I know." "I worked so hard. I worked so hard to make something of myself, t
HARPER: Liam takes me to his home. It wasn't what I was expecting Marble floors stretched for miles, crystal chandeliers that sparkled like diamonds, paintings on the walls that probably cost more than I'd make in a lifetime. Everything about it screamed wealth, power, excess but Liam didn't act like it. He took me into the living room. "Sit," he said, nodding to a nearby couch. I sat and it felt like I was sinking into a cloud, that was how soft it was. Minutes after, he walked back into the room with a cup in his hands. He stretched it towards me in expectation, "Drink. It'll help." I nodded, taking the warm cup of tea from his hands. My clothes were still damp and my hair clung to my face but I barely paid attention to them as I fought the hollow ache in my chest, trying to hold on to the weight of everything that had happened pressing down on me without falling. Liam sat across from me, his eyes boring into me like he wished to take away all my pains. He'd changed into
HARPER: Alexander's words died in my ears because the only thing that I could hear repeatedly was... I never paid for your mother's care. Not a single penny. She died because you couldn't save her. My mother didn't deserve to die. I had married Alexander because I thought his father was going to pay my mother bills. I stayed in the loveless marriage because I felt indebted to him even when my mother died. But now my sacrifice was nothing. My mother had died because of me. My knees buckled. The ground rushed up to meet me, but before I could hit the floor, Alexander's arms were around me, pulling me against his chest. "Harper. Harper, I've got you. I've got you." I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. The tears were streaming down my face, hot and relentless, but I barely felt them. All I could feel was the crushing weight of guilt, pressing down on me like a physical force. God, I didn't know when Ethan and Elias pushed open the door and rushed to my side but suddenly they were t
HARPER: I wished Ross were here and I could tell her everything but for now all I could focus on was Rowena. The motherfucker stole my baby. Even though I had already suspected it... It still came as a shock to me. Worse, Samuel was an accomplice. I didn't know what to do with the anger boiling inside me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to find Rowena and make her pay for everything she'd taken from me. But first, I needed to see her. I needed to look into her eyes and ask her why. Why had she done this? Why had she stolen my son? Why had she destroyed my life? I thought back to the day I'd given birth. The pain, the fear, the exhaustion. I'd held Ethan in my arms, his small body warm against my chest. And then the nurses had come, their faces cold and professional. They'd injected me with something, and everything had gone black. When I'd woken up, Ethan was beside me. Ross had told me he was fine, that he was healthy, that everything was okay. But I'd always f
ALEXANDER: I still couldn't believe it. My father. My own father had orchestrated all of this. He'd stolen my son, destroyed my marriage, and manipulated me into believing a lie for years. And for what? For power? For control? For the sake of a legacy that meant nothing compared to the lives he'd ruined? I stood in the hallway, trying to calm myself down. Rowena was still screaming inside the room, thrashing in the hands of the guards, trying to find a way out of the mess she'd created. But I was done. Done with her lies, done with her games, done with everything she'd taken from me. "Guards," I said, my voice cold and commanding. "Make sure she is locked in this room. She is not to leave. She is not to speak to anyone. Is that understood?" The guards nodded at my command. They finally grabbed Rowena in their hands and dragged her out. "Alexander, please," Rowena sobbed. "You can't do this to me. I love you. I've always loved you." "Love?" I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "You
HARPER: My plan? Cook one last meal for Alexander as Mrs. Banks and then give him the divorce papers. I had wanted that title for a reason… and not just because it sounded good. Until I woke up from my phone buzzing. My love. It was a voice note. At first, I thought it was just him apologizing
HARPER: I caught my husband cheating on me again on our third wedding anniversary. Minutes earlier, I had found out I was pregnant with his child. For three years, I had loved Alexander Banks with everything I had. For three years, I had forgiven things no wife should forgive. That day, I finall
HARPER:Knock. Knock. Knock.Ethan bounced beside me with too much energy for someone who had nearly burned up with fever yesterday. His dinosaur backpack hung crookedly on one shoulder while he pressed his face against the apartment door. “Do you think she’s home?” he whispered, turning to me. “
HARPER: I didn’t cry when Alexander left. Which was shocking, honestly. I used to cry over everything. Sad movie? Cry. Burnt toast? Cry. Alexander ignoring me for three days? Cry, cry, cry like my life depended on it. But that day? Nothing. I just stood there. The marble floor was cold







