MasukAyla’s POVGetting dressed like this to resume in a new company had to be one of the worst decisions I had ever made, and of course, the mastermind behind it was Ivana. Even as I walked through the polished floors and intimidating walls of Blackthorne Company, her voice kept replaying in my head like she had personally followed me here to ruin my life.“You must get that dickhead out of your heart. Step one, dress like you mean trouble. If you want to forget a devil, you attract a bigger one.”I nearly groaned out loud.“Damn you, Ivana,” I muttered under my breath, adjusting the hem of my outfit that suddenly felt too loud, too bold, too everything for a first day.This place was too big. Too clean. Too serious.And I did not belong here looking like… this.I was still battling between turning back and pretending I never accepted the job when I walked straight into something solid.Or someone.
Evelyn’s POV “Evelyn, what exactly is wrong with you?” Sophia’s voice came sharp the moment she shut the door to Aveillie’s room, careful enough not to wake her, but not careful enough to hide her anger. I leaned against the wall for a second before pushing myself toward the couch, already tired of a fight I knew I couldn’t avoid. “Can you lower your voice?” I said, glancing toward the hallway. “You’ll wake her up.” “Oh, now you care?” she snapped immediately, turning to face me fully. “Because if you really did, you wouldn’t be here right now. Do you even realize that child is the one paying for all this? On your birthday, Evelyn. Your birthday. She didn’t get to celebrate with you because you were not there. And the one thing she asked you for… the one simple thing… you couldn’t even give her that.” I sat down slowly, my body sinking into the couch like it suddenly weighed more than it should.
Damien’s POV I waited for her to come back from the call, expecting things to settle, expecting the weight between us to either break or be explained, but the woman who returned wasn’t the same one who had walked away. She didn’t even look at me properly. She simply passed by like I was air and made for the stairs, like whatever we had been standing on earlier had already collapsed in her mind while I was still trying to hold it together. Something inside me snapped at that silence, at that avoidance that felt too familiar. “Don’t I deserve an explanation, Evelyn?” I called out, my voice sharper than I intended, but I couldn’t stop it now. “Or are you just going to walk off again, just like you did five years ago without a word?” That made her stop. She turned slowly, and when she did, I saw something in her face I wasn’t prepared for. It was anger, pure and contained, like she had been pushed past a point I didn’t even
Damien’s POV I was in the office with Charles when my phone buzzed, and I picked it up absentmindedly, not expecting anything that could shift my entire day, my sense of everything. When I saw Micah’s name, I almost ignored it, but something made me open it anyway. The first thing that came up was a picture, and for a second, I didn’t understand what I was looking at. It was Evelyn. My Evelyn. Standing beside a hospital bed. And on that bed… was a child. I frowned, my mind trying to rearrange the image into something that made sense, that fit into the version of my life I thought I understood. But before I could settle on anything, another message came in. A video. I pressed play. “Mummy…” That one word didn’t just enter my ears, it settled somewhere deeper, somewhere I couldn’t ignore. I watched the video like a man waiting for it to change halfway through, like maybe it would turn into something else i
Evelyn’s POV On my way home, and when I say home, I mean my husband’s house, I sat behind the wheel with both hands steady, resting at ten and two like I had all the control in the world. It was a lie. The road stretched ahead in long, empty lines, but my focus drifted in and out, slipping between the present and something far more dangerous. Him. For once, my mind wasn’t building walls. It wasn’t calculating outcomes or rehearsing escape routes. There were no contingencies, no backup plans, no quiet preparation for betrayal. Just him. Damien. The realization didn’t come like a storm. It didn’t shake me or demand attention. It settled. Slow. Certain. Unavoidable. I love him. Not the version I tried to manage. Not the one I kept at arm’s length so I could still walk away if I needed to. Not the
Evelyn’s POVI was still asleep on Damien’s bed when my phone started ringing.At first, I tried to ignore it, turning slightly under the covers, my body still heavy from the night before. But the ringing didn’t stop. It kept going, sharp and insistent, dragging me out of sleep.I reached for it blindly.“Sophie?” I muttered, my voice rough.“Evelyn, where are you?” her voice came in fast, strained.That alone was enough to wake me fully.“At home… what is it?”“Aveillie is in the hospital.”Everything in me went still.“What?” I sat up instantly, my heart slamming hard against my chest.“She has a high fever. I brought her in early this morning. Just come, okay?”“I’m coming.”I didn’t even remember how I got dressed.The drive to the hospital was a blur. My hands shook on the steering wheel, my thoughts racing too fast to catch.
Damien’s POVI woke up with a deep smile still resting on my face, my arms wrapped around the soft warmth beside me. For a few seconds I stayed like that, half lost in sleep, enjoying the quiet comfort of the morning. The early sunlight was slipping through the curtains, the soft glow spreading acr
(Evelyn’s POV)The limo door opened, and the noise outside hit like a wave. Flashbulbs, voices, the hungry buzz of people waiting for a show.Damien stepped out first, tall and untouchable, and when his hand reached for me, I didn’t hesitate. I placed mine in his, smooth and steady, because that’s
(Damien’s POV)“Finally, you’ve lost it. I’m serious this time — I need to book you into a psychiatric ward, because I cannot keep calling myself friends with a lunatic.There’s no other explanation for this level of strategic suicide.”Charles’ voice came at me before the door had even closed. He
Evelyn povI dressed up for work and took one of Damien’s cars, the one with mirror tint. I was meeting Sophia at a café near the estate.She was already waiting when I walked in. We hugged tight.“Look at you,” she teased. “Rolling up in Damien’s car like a mafia wife. Should I start calling you M







