INICIAR SESIÓNLily’s POV He held my wrist tightly enough that it began to hurt, but I couldn’t bring myself to react, not with Adrian and Charles still in sight. Tonight really did go south. I’d called Adrian because I strangely felt safe around him, and admitting that scared me more than that figure outside my window ever did. I never planned for any of this to happen. Everything was messier now than it already was. And what made it worse was that I now had no choice but to decide what to do about this pregnancy, here and now. Under a fucking pressure. Damian pulled me toward the couch, not hard enough to hurt me, but enough that I could tell how angry he was. “Lily, what’s going on?” he demanded. “I think you meant, ‘I’m sorry for not taking your calls,’” I said, calm and angry at once. He pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling through it quickly. After a few seconds, his shoulders relaxed as he put it back in his pocket. “I missed those calls. I had no idea you were trying to reac
Adrian’s POV I was too stunned to ignore the trickle of blood at the corner of my lip, my mind too crowded with everything happening at once. Did she say boyfriend? Damian Cole, Lily Nolan’s boyfriend? No wonder she was in that picture with her, with the mansion strikingly visible. I had begun wondering how she got to live in such a place. I took a look at them once again. I didn’t know what to think, or how to react. I was almost losing it, though what right did I have to? It wasn’t like we’d had a defined relationship from the start. All we’d had was a one-night stand, one we hadn’t even been able to look at each other about since. I never knew this part of her existed, right as I was starting to let myself feel something for her. Now I felt like shit, standing there in front of both of them. I took a few steps back, running my fingers through my hair, trying hard to hold onto my composure. No way was I letting either of them, especially Damian, see how much this affected m
Damian’s POV The day came to a wrap early. I sat on the edge of the bed in my room, holding the small photograph I always carried with me, folded soft at the corners from years of being tucked into wallets and coat pockets. Clara, laughing at something off camera, her hair caught mid-toss by the wind. I used to know exactly what she was laughing at. Now I couldn’t even remember if I asked her that day, or if I was too busy trying to catch someone else’s attention while pretending I only cared about looking good for the camera. Five years. Five years since I last heard her voice, and some days it still felt like I could turn a corner and find her standing there, annoyed that I was late again. In that photo, I was looking at a younger Kathryna. The actual person I had fallen in love with, who ended up saying no to me. I know the decision to move on to Clara after Kath rejected me was selfish, and the decision I recently made to date Kathryna was even more selfish and reckless.
Lily’s POV Damian's words resurfaced in my head. The part where he said I could have the wristwatch back if I wanted it. I understood, though. I would've said the same thing in his shoes. How bad, or even worse, could he have felt hearing me ask prying questions about a gift my father had meant to give him?Damian ran into me and my family during one of our family outings, a ritual we never missed. I was a baby then, but old enough later to hear the story of how he'd been crying that day, not wanting to go back to the orphanage once it was time for the matrons who'd brought him and the other kids to the park to take them home. My father bought him ice cream and a few toys, and he finally stopped crying long enough to leave with them. The next day, my birthday that year, my father went to the orphanage and adopted him. It must have felt awkward, hurtful even, being questioned about a gift my own father had promised him.I sighed. Damian should be the one I was head over heels for. Thi
Adrian’s POVThe drive out of the city took longer than I remembered. I hadn't been out this way in months, not since the last time the reports needed a signature I couldn't be bothered to have someone else provide. I told Ellyn I had somewhere to be. I didn't tell her where, because even I wasn't fully sure why I was going until the buildings thinned out and the road turned to gravel and I recognized the turn without needing to think about it.My phone buzzed twice before I even parked. The first was an email. The second was a call I let ring out because I already knew, from the subject line alone, that it wasn't going to be a conversation I wanted to have standing up.I read the email first.Capital Management Group was requesting an urgent review of the loan terms. Not a renegotiation, a review, which in their language always meant the same thing: they wanted something tightened before they'd admit that's what they were doing. I scrolled down. There it was, buried under three parag
Adrian’s POVI threw my head back against my throne-like office chair, squirming in frustration. I had just ended a call with one of my investors, who'd heard about what happened earlier through some paparazzi lurking around hoping to dig up anything they could use against me. I knew exactly who was behind it, because I'd tracked down the journalist responsible for most of the stories about me before, only to find out he'd been hired by one of my rivals in the industry. I'd slammed them with lawsuits worth billions, and they'd gone quiet after that. Now people were finding out things they shouldn't know again, and I had a feeling it was them, circling back for round two, hoping I'd let my guard down.I sighed, my fingers curling into fists as I reached for the phone on my desk."Ellyn, have the media team do something about the video circulating online.""Yes, sir," she answered immediately."Have them find out who is responsible for it, immediately. By the end of the day, I want thei
Lily’s POVI woke up to beeping sounds I could not make out. My eyes felt too heavy to open all at once, but I forced them apart slowly and looked around. Strange faces I had never seen moved to and fro at every corner of the room. The air smelled of antiseptic and medicine. That smell gave me a sm
Lily’s POV“You missed work today, ma’am?” Charles asked as he shut the door behind him. He walked into my room, holding the file I had requested earlier.“I called in sick,” I replied, grabbing the file from his hands and opening it quickly. It contained detailed information about Adrian’s whereab
Lily’s POVI was walking down the company’s lobby, heading toward the logistics department, when I stumbled upon a chaotic scene. People were scattered everywhere. Some stood with their phones raised, recording, while others whispered quickly, passing gossip like it was fresh bread from the oven.
Lily’s POV“Sir…” I whispered, but he didn’t let me finish. His lips crashed against mine again, harder this time, and his hands slid under my dress. My back hit the cold wall of the stall, and I shivered from the way he was touching me.He spun me around and bent me over, my palms landing on the w







