ログインSophia POVI don’t think I actually slept,.Not properly.It was the kind of night where your body gives up before your mind does,. Every time I drifted-, something dragged me back—the cold floor beneath me-, the stiffness in my spine, or worse,.His voice.It didn’t echo loudly.It lingered.Morning came quietly,.A thin strip of light slipped through the curtains and stretched across the room—stopping just short of where I lay on the floor,.Of course it did,.I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before forcing myself to move,. My muscles protested immediately-, a dull ache settling deep into my back and shoulders,.I sat up slowly-, inhaling through it,.I stood, adjusting my clothes, smoothing out creases that didn’t really matter,. The room still carried the silence of last night,.Damien was on the bed,.Asleep.Unbothered.For a moment, I watched him.Not with anger.With distance.Then I looked away.I picked up the pillow he had thrown at me,. It felt heavier now—not phy
Sophia POVBy the time the dishes were washed and the kitchen was finally quiet again-, the apartment had settled into a heavy silence,.The city lights outside the glass walls flickered against the dark marble floors-, stretching long reflections across the living room,.I dried my hands slowly-, hanging the towel back in its place,.My body felt exhausted-, but my mind refused to quiet down,.Dinner.The table.His words.You’re staff in this house now.The sentence replayed in my head like something stuck on repeat.I inhaled slowly.Fine.If that was the role he had decided to force on me, then I would survive it. Just long enough to find something else,. Just long enough to walk away from this place without needing anything from him,.I turned off the kitchen lights and walked toward the hallway,.The bedroom door stood slightly open,.For two months, that room had been ours.Not perfect. Not easy.But… real.Apparently I had imagined most of it.I pushed the door open,.The room
Sophia POVBy the time dinner was ready-, the kitchen smelled faintly of roasted garlic and warm spices,.I had spent longer than necessary preparing it,.The dishes sat arranged on the counter-, steam rising softly from them,.Rice,. Stir-fried vegetables,. Grilled chicken,.Simple, clean food,.Not extravagant.But done properly.I wiped my hands on a towel and carried the plates to the dining table,.The apartment was quiet except for the distant hum of the city outside the glass walls,. Footsteps echoed from the hallway,. Damien entered the dining area just as I finished setting the table,.His presence filled the space immediately,.He was wearing a T-shirt and joggers as his gaze moved from the table to me,.“So,” he said calmly, “the staff has begun working.”I ignored the comment.“Dinner is ready,.”He pulled out a chair and sat down slowly-, studying the plates in front of him like they were objects under inspection,.For a moment he didn’t speak,.He simply picked up his f
Sophia POVThe drive back from Hayes Global felt heavier than ever.This morning, I had walked in with quiet defiance.Now, I walked into the penthouse with clarity.He had done this deliberately.I could have argued there. I could have demanded answers in the lobby-, insisted on being escorted upstairs-, forced someone to call him out of that board meeting,.But I didn’t,.I didn’t want whispers trailing behind me in marble corridors. I didn’t want my humiliation turning into office gossip by lunchtime. Hayes Global was still a place I had respected—still a place I had worked hard in. I wouldn’t turn it into a spectacle.So I left.As I returned to the apartmentEvery step echoed in the silence of the apartment as I set my bag down on the console table. The space felt too large. Too empty. Like it was waiting.Before doing anything else, I pulled out my phone.Edward Hayes.For a moment, my thumb hovered over his name.I wasn’t calling to complain. I wasn’t calling to accuse his gran
Sophia POVDarkness came back in fragments.Not gently.First, the cold.It crept across my skin before my mind fully woke-, cool air brushing over my bare shoulders, my legs, and my stomach,. The sheets beneath me were smooth and expensive-, but they felt like ice,.Then the silence.Too quiet.My eyes fluttered open,.The room was dim-, the city lights bleeding faint gold through the curtains. For a second-, I didn’t move. My body felt heavy, disconnected-, like I had borrowed it from someone else,.Then memory rushed back.My breath caught sharply,.I pushed myself upright too fast-, dizziness spinning the room,. The blanket slid from my lap, and the realization hit with humiliating clarity,.I was still half naked,.Only my underwear clung to me,. My T-shirt lay discarded near the foot of the bed,. My pajama bottoms were somewhere on the floor,.Damian was gone,.The side of the bed where he had stood loomed empty,. The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar,. No sound from the hal
Damien POVThe heavy doors of the penthouse felt like a prison I had finally unlocked.I checked my watch. Past midnight.Three months.For three months, I had played a part. I had been the good grandson. The kind husband. I had sat through dull dinners-, nodded at meaningless conversations, and pretended I cared about Sophia’s small, insignificant life,.Today, the lawyers confirmed it,.The inheritance was mine.I didn’t have to pretend anymore,.I pushed the door open, a dark sense of freedom curling through me,.She was there, waiting—like she always did. Her eyes held that soft, irritating concern that had once made my skin crawl,.“You’re so late-,” she said quietly,.“I know.”I dropped my jacket and loosened my tie,. The mask slid off with the fabric. I didn’t need to smile at her again. I didn’t need to soften my voice.She stood, reflexively helpful. “Do you want dinner? I can warm it up.”I didn’t answer,.I walked straight toward her-, closing the space between us until sh
Sophia POVIt was past midnight when the door finally opened,.I looked up from the couch, the book in my lap untouched for hours,. “You’re so late,.” I spoke,.“I know.”He set his jacket down and loosened his tie., his movement were sharp, almost looked like he was irritated. Also there was som
Sophia POVThree months.That was how long I had been married,.It felt strange to think about it that way-, because for the first month-, it hadn’t felt like a marriage at all. Just two people sharing a space-, careful-, distant-, unsure of where to place themselves around each other,.But two mon
Sophia POVI woke slowly-, as I felt a bit of struggle opening my eyes,.I had a really good sleep after a very long time,. I have been struggling in sleeping ever since I came here,. But last night I slept really well,.That alone felt strange.What felt stranger was the warmth as I turned to see
Sophia POVIt had been two days since I kissed Damian.Two days since I’d made that choiceAnd somehow… nothing had fallen apart.The kiss was an impulse from my side,. I felt the urge to kiss him, and I acted on it,. It’s not like he hasn’t done the same before,.But things had eased into somethin







