Amanda’s POVThe photo wouldn’t leave my mind. Levi, sitting beside Thomas, his small body swallowed up by the leather seat, his head tilted toward a man who wasn’t his father. A man who had slipped into our lives with polished shoes and promises, dangling salvation like a prize I had to pay for.I slammed my office door shut the next morning, the echo rattling through the empty clinic wing. My hands shook as I set my bag down. All night, I hadn’t slept. All I could think about was Thomas’s ultimatum, Ryan’s wild eyes when he’d admitted Levi had been meeting him, and now this picture.I had come here to pick some of my things, it was a bad image for me to be around the hospital with my pending case.The moment Thomas walked in, crisp in his tailored suit, I didn’t even let him speak."What were you doing with Levi?" My voice came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t care.His brow arched, calm as ever. "Protecting him.""Protecting him?" My laugh was hollow.
Amanda’s POVCourt had become a second home. The smell of polished wood, the echo of gavel strikes, the hushed whisper, each day took something from me, hollowing me out. When I stepped outside, I should have felt relief. Instead, I felt watched, always watched.Adam was waiting by the steps, his face tight. "You need to be more careful, Amanda, they’re circling you like vultures.""I know." My voice cracked. "But what choice do I have? The Stewards won’t stop. Every time I try to stand, they shove me back down, it feels like an endless..."I couldn’t even finish the sentence.Adam squeezed my arm gently. "You’re not alone, not anymore,but you need to be careful about who you trust."I thought of Thomas then, of his steady eyes and his unyielding presence in court, the shield he’d become. Yet beneath that shield lay chains. His words haunted me, 'I don’t protect freely.’And then Adam’s next words shattered what little calm I had left."I took Levi to see Ryan."I f
Ryan’s POVAdam’s words lingered in my head long after I left his office. His tone had been calm, steady, but it carried an edge of desperation when he mentioned Amanda. He said she was suffocating under the weight of lawsuits, that the Stewards would crush her if she didn’t get stronger allies. And then he told me about Thomas White—how Amanda was being backed into a corner by that man’s condition.Marriage.The very thought made my stomach churn. I knew Amanda well enough to understand she would never trade herself so cheaply, not unless she had no choice. The idea of her accepting Thomas’s proposal clawed at me until my chest felt tight. I’d denied it for too long, ignored it, buried it beneath duty, anger, and confusion. But in that moment, I knew the truth.I’d fallen for her.And it might already be too late. ~•~When I pushed open the door to the mansion that evening, Selene’s shrill voice greeted me before I could even take off my
Adam's POVThe walls of my office felt like they were closing in on me. I had been pacing for an hour, my palms clammy, my head pounding with the weight of the secret I carried. Amanda trusted me to stand by her, but what Thomas White had said to her last night, it wasn’t something I could keep quiet. Not when Ryan still had his claws in her life, in Levi’s life.I slammed my fist against the edge of the desk. Damn it, Adam, you’re going to make this worse. But I couldn’t shake the image of Amanda sitting in my living room earlier, her eyes wide with fear and fury, whispering that Thomas wanted more than just a business arrangement.He wanted marriage.And Amanda, though she hadn’t said it outright, was actually considering it.I couldn’t stand by and watch her be trapped again. Not by Thomas. Not by anyone.That was why I sent the message to Ryan. And now, as I heard the sound of footsteps approaching, I braced myself.The door swung open. Ryan entered lik
Amanda’s POVThe courthouse smelled like disinfectant and fear. Every time I stepped inside, I felt as though I was being swallowed by shadows that weren’t mine. All the cases were now bleeding together until I could barely breathe under the weight.But today, something was different. People were watching me. Not with pity, not with disdain, but with… curiosity. Whispers slid through the corridor like snakes:"Is it true Thomas White is backing her?""I heard the White Group’s lawyers are taking over the case.""She’s not just some grieving woman anymore, she’s dangerous."Dangerous? The word curled through my chest like fire, For once, the stares didn’t make me want to shrink. They made me want to stand taller.I found Adam leaning against the wall outside the courtroom, his arms crossed, eyes sharp. "The tide’s turning,” he said quietly, studying me.I raised a brow. "You sound almost hopeful.""I’m realistic," he countered. "With White Group backing you, people a
Thomas’s POVThe name Steward carried weight in every courtroom, every boardroom, and every Silent corner of society. I knew that much. But weight could be shifted if you knew where to push. And I, Thomas White, had built my empire on knowing exactly where to press.Amanda had come to me with eyes that tried to hide desperation but couldn’t. I admired her for that, the way she carried her pain like armor, pretending she wasn’t breaking, even when the world wanted her on her knees.The Stewards thought they were untouchable. Veronica, Selene, even Ryan. They believed influence was inherited like a birthright, But influence, I’d learned, was currency. And currency? I had more of it than the Stewards could ever dream of.That morning, I sat in my office, high above the city skyline, making the first of many calls. Judges who owed me favors, politicians who needed White Group endorsements, media outlets that thrived on my advertising contracts. One by one, I reminded