Asher finally stepped forward. His heart felt like lead in his chest, his usually steady composure splintering at the sight of Eira’s devastation.He crouched down beside Vera, his large hand resting gently on his daughter’s trembling back.“Eira,” he said softly, his voice lower than she’d ever heard. “Uncle Dorian loved you more than anything. He didn’t want to leave… but sometimes, love isn’t enough to stay.”Eira turned her tear streaked face toward him, eyes pleading. “But you’re strong, Daddy. You can fix things. Please.. please bring him back.”Asher’s throat constricted. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep his expression steady, even though his chest burned with the weight of her words.He brushed a strand of hair from her face, his thumb gentle against her damp cheek.“I wish I could, princess,” he whispered. “I’d do it in a heartbeat if I could.”Eira whimpered, burying her face against Vera’s neck again, her sobs muffled but relentless.Vera rocked her gently, as if
Vera fought at first, her fists weakly pushing against his chest, but she had no strength left. The fight drained from her as quickly as her tears soaked into his shirt.Her voice was muffled, broken against him. “Why him, Asher? Why him? He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve this!”Asher shut his eyes, tightening his hold as though he could shield her from the world itself. “I know,” he whispered, though he didn’t. Not really. Nothing he could say would mend the fracture inside her. But it was all he had. “I know, Vera.”Her sobs slowed only enough to let her breathe, shallow and ragged, her body shivering in his arms. And though Asher’s chest burned with anger, at Sarah, at the faceless enemies, at his mother, he forced himself to be still, to give her the one thing no one else could in this moment.A place to collapse.Vera let herself fall apart in his arms. And Asher realized how terrifying it was to love someone who could break this completely...........................-Th
Evelyn’s throat went dry. She’d seen that look before, the ruthless Donovan steel that could topple empires. But she had never imagined it would be directed at her.Asher leaned closer, his words like knives. “Leave Vera. Leave Eira. Leave me. From this moment on, stay out of my family’s life.”The finality in his tone pierced deeper than any shove could. He wasn’t warning her anymore. He was cutting her off.For the first time in decades, Evelyn felt powerless.And Vera, trembling but unbroken, clung tighter to the memory of the man she had just lost, while realizing she still had the man who refused to let anyone, not even his own mother, destroy her.Evelyn sat frozen on the cold tile for a beat too long, her chest rising and falling with sharp, uneven breaths. Her cheek still burned from Vera’s slap, and her hip throbbed from where Asher had pushed her. But the sting of flesh was nothing compared to the humiliation clawing through her veins.Her own son. Her only son.He had looke
The sliding doors to the hospital parted with a soft hiss, and Evelyn swept inside like she owned the place.Her tailored coat, pristine as always, wrapped tightly around her frame.Her face was the picture of composure, controlled, unreadable, as though the chaos of the last twenty four hours was merely background noise in her world. But her gloved hands, hidden inside the deep pockets, were trembling.She had been forcing herself to breathe evenly ever since she’d stepped out of her car.In the back of her mind, the thought gnawed at her relentlessly, What if Dorian lives? If he opened his mouth, everything could come crashing down.The Hollow Syndicate. Sarah. Her. Asher would never forgive her.The moment she spotted her son down the hall, leaning against the wall outside the ICU with exhaustion etched into every line of his face, she schooled her features into a mask of concern. “Asher,” she called softly, her voice warm enough to pass for motherly, though it felt like acid in he
Sarah sat frozen in her apartment, the glow from the muted television flickering against her pale face.She’d just hung up from one of her contacts in the Hollow Syndicate, and the words still rang in her head, Dorian Fontaine was in critical condition.It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.She had put the bounty on Vera and Eira to send a message, to rattle them enough to run, not to get Dorian, of all people, dragged into it.Yes, she had loathed him since he was playing the doting guardian for Vera, but she’d also known he was… useful. And now, according to her source, he’d somehow learned enough to connect her to the hit.Her stomach twisted.Sarah paced, her manicured nails tapping restlessly against her phone before she finally stopped and scrolled to a familiar number. She didn’t bother with pleasantries when the call connected.“Mrs. Donovan… it’s me.”A pause, then Evelyn Donovan’s calm, clipped voice: “Sarah. I assume this isn’t a social call.”Sarah swallowed hard, loweri
“Vera.” His voice was firmer now, as much as his failing strength allowed. “You need to be happy. And that’s not with me anymore. It’s him. Asher.”She stared at him, her tears falling faster, her heart torn in two.“I’m letting go,” Dorian said quietly, a bittersweet peace in his eyes. “I want to know you’re safe. That you’re… loved. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”Her hand gripped his, desperate, as if she could keep him here through sheer will. “Don’t say goodbye. Please, not like this.”His thumb brushed over her knuckles, slow, weak. “Then let’s just say… I’ll see you again. One way or another.”The monitor beeped steadily beside them, but each sound felt like a countdown. Vera bent over, pressing her forehead to his, her tears soaking into the hospital sheets.“I’ll never forget you,” she whispered.When she finally pulled back, his eyes were closed, but there was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips."Asher… please… take care of her.” He blinked slowly, as if sealing an