LOGIN“Mrs. Laurent…”The title lingered in the air longer than it should have.For a moment, I didn’t respond.Not because I didn’t hear it.But because I felt it.Deeply.Strangely.Powerfully.Mrs. Laurent.Once upon a time, that title had been a cage.Something forced onto me.Something I wore while losing myself piece by piece, trying to be enough for a man who never truly saw me.But now…Now it felt different.It felt like a choice.I looked down at the document in front of me, my fingers resting lightly on the edge of the paper.Then I lifted my gaze.Ethan was sitting across from me.Calm.Quiet.Watching me, but not pressuring me.That alone showed how much he had changed.The old Ethan would have already decided for both of us.The man in front of me now…Waited.“Are you nervous?” he asked softly.His voice was steady, but I could hear something beneath it.Hope.Careful, restrained hope.I let out a small breath, my lips curving slightly.“No,” I said truthfully.Because I wasn
One year changes everything.Not in the loud, dramatic way people expect.Not in chaos or destruction.But in quiet moments.In peace.In the way your heart no longer aches the same way it used to.I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the diamond earring on my left ear.Simple.Elegant.Powerful.Just like the woman I had become.“Anna, we’re going to be late.”Ethan’s voice came from behind me.I caught his reflection in the mirror.And for a second…I just looked at him.Really looked.The man who once broke me.The man who fought to earn his way back.The man who…Stayed.Not because I needed him.But because I chose him.“You’re staring,” he said, a faint smile playing on his lips.“I’m thinking,” I replied.“Dangerous.”I smirked slightly.“Very.”He walked closer.Slow.Familiar.But never crossing the line without permission.That was the difference now.Everything between us…Was chosen.Earned.Real.“Regrets?” he asked quietly.The question surprised me.I turned to fac
Standing at the top always looks beautiful from the outside.Power.Control.Respect.Everything I once thought I wanted.Everything I was forced to become.But no one ever talks about what it feels like inside.The silence.The weight.The responsibility of knowing that every decision you make can destroy or save lives.I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window again.Same city.Same view.But I wasn’t the same woman.Not anymore.“Miss Laurent, the board is ready.”I nodded slightly.“I’m coming.”This was it.My official takeover.No more shadows.No more hidden identities.No more running.Today…I became Anastasia Laurent.Fully.Completely.And on my own terms.The boardroom was filled when I walked in.Executives.Shareholders.Men and women who had built their lives around power.And now…They were all looking at me.Judging.Questioning.Waiting.I didn’t hesitate.I walked straight to the head of the table.And sat down.Silence fell instantly.Good.“Let’s begin,” I s
Power changes everything.That was what I thought.That once I stepped into this world… once I took back my name, my identity, my position…Nothing would be able to shake me again.I was wrong.Because even as I stood at the top floor of Laurent International…Looking down at a city that now belonged to me…There was one thing I still couldn’t control.Him.Ethan.“You’re distracted.”Alexander’s voice pulled me back.I didn’t turn immediately.My eyes were still on the glass window, watching the reflection staring back at me.Sharp.Composed.Untouchable.A completely different woman from the one who once begged for love.“I’m thinking,” I replied.“About him?” he asked.I exhaled slowly.There was no point denying it.“Yes.”Silence.Then—“He won’t stop,” Alexander said.“I know.”“And you still haven’t cut him off completely.”That made me turn.Slowly.My gaze met his.“And what exactly do you expect me to do?” I asked. “Erase him the way my family erased me?”That shut him up.G
I could feel it.The shift.The moment I stopped being their lost daughter…And became something else.Something they could use.Something they could shape.Something dangerous.The silence in the room stretched, thick and calculating.They weren’t emotional like me.They didn’t react.They observed.Measured.Planned.And now…They were looking at me like I had finally passed some kind of test.“You handled that well,” the woman said.Her voice was calm, almost approving.It made my skin crawl.“I wasn’t performing for you,” I replied.A faint smile touched her lips.“No,” she said softly. “You were becoming who you were always meant to be.”I didn’t like that.Not one bit.Because it sounded too much like control.Like everything I just fought against…Was exactly what they wanted.The man stepped forward slightly.His presence filled the room.Heavy.Dominant.“You want your life back,” he said.It wasn’t a question.I held his gaze.“Yes.”“Then understand this,” he continued. “Po
The moment Ethan said my name…Something inside me shifted.Not the way it used to.Before, just hearing his voice could shake me. Break me. Pull me back into a place I fought so hard to escape.But now…I just felt… still.I turned fully to face him.And for a brief second, something flickered in his eyes.Shock.Like he could see it too.I wasn’t the same woman anymore.“I’m taking you home,” he said again, his voice firm, like it was a decision already made.Home.The word felt strange.Foreign.Because the place he was talking about…Was never my home.I let out a quiet breath.“No.”The single word landed heavier than anything else I could have said.The room went silent.Ethan’s jaw tightened.“What did you say?”“I said no,” I repeated, my voice calm, steady. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”A dangerous look crossed his face.“You don’t mean that.”I almost smiled.Almost.“You still don’t listen,” I said.His gaze darkened, and he took a step closer.“I came here for you.”“
Sam’s POVSomething was wrong.I knew it the second her eyes opened.No—before that.It was in the silence.The kind of silence that doesn’t feel empty… but full. Heavy. Pressing. Like the air itself is waiting for something terrible to happen.Anna stood in front of me, completely still.Too still
Anna’s POV“Sam—!”My voice tore out of my throat, sharp and desperate, but it felt like it moved too slowly, like the world itself had decided to drag every second into something unbearable.The distortion behind him wasn’t just space bending—it was something deeper, something wrong. It twisted li
Anna’s POVThe moment she stepped fully into the room, everything changed.It wasn’t dramatic in the way people imagine—no explosion, no loud crash, no visible destruction. Instead, it was something far more unsettling. The air itself grew heavier, like the space could barely contain her presence.
Anna’s POVThe room felt different.Not physically.Everything was still where it should be—the bed, the curtains, the soft morning light slipping through the window like nothing had changed.But something had.MeI sat still for a long time after what I told Sam.That I could feel her.Not like be







