LOGINDesmond’s POVThe headache started sometime after midnight.At first, it was just a dull pressure behind my eyes.Nothing unusual.I’d had worse after longer nights.But as the hours passed, the ache spread down the back of my neck, settling into my shoulders like a weight I couldn’t shake off.By morning, even the light coming through the window felt sharp.I leaned back against the couch in my office, pressing two fingers against my temple.“Damn it.”My phone buzzed on the table.I ignored it.The room was quiet except for the faint hum of the air conditioner and the slow ticking of the clock on the wall.I closed my eyes for a moment.That was a mistake.Because the moment the darkness settled behind my eyelids…I saw her.Sienna.Her face. Her voice. The way she looked at me that night.I exhaled slowly.“Unbelievable.”It had been days since we spoke.Days.And yet somehow she still managed to live in my head like she owned the place.I sat up, running a hand through my hair.“G
Chapter — Sienna’s POVThe silence inside the lounge thickened.Five men sat around the polished table, their expensive suits and half-finished glasses of whiskey glowing under the soft golden lights. The smell of aged oak and alcohol hung in the air.They hadn’t expected me.That much was obvious.For a moment, none of them spoke. They simply stared, as if trying to figure out whether I was real or just an inconvenient hallucination.I closed the door behind me.The quiet click echoed through the room.“Miss Moretti,” Bianchi finally said, rising slowly from his chair. His smile was polite, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “This is… unexpected.”“Yes,” I replied calmly. “It usually is when people attempt a coup before midnight.”A few of them shifted uncomfortably.DeLuca leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming lightly on the table. “You misunderstand the situation.”“Do I?”I stepped closer to the table, my heels clicking softly against the wooden floor. Each step felt deliberat
Sienna’s POVWar required preparation.And preparation required information.I stepped into the hallway, closing the hospital door quietly behind me. The corridor smelled faintly of antiseptic and polished floors, the kind of sterile calm meant to reassure people that everything was under control.It wasn’t.Not really.My heels clicked softly against the tile as I walked toward the nurses’ station. Two nurses were speaking in hushed voices, their conversation cutting off the moment they noticed me.Of course it did.People always reacted that way around the Moretti name.One of them straightened. “Miss Moretti, do you need something?”“Yes,” I replied evenly. “My father’s full medical file.”The nurse blinked once, clearly caught off guard by the directness.“That would normally go through the attending physician—”“Then call him.”My voice remained calm, but firm enough that she didn’t argue.A moment later she picked up the phone.While she spoke quietly, I turned toward the large
Sienna’s POVThe room felt different now.Heavier.Like the air itself knew something I hadn’t known an hour ago.My father still slept, the slow rise and fall of his chest steady beneath the hospital blanket. The monitor beside him beeped rhythmically, almost peacefully.But I couldn’t see peace anymore.All I saw was the shadow from the scan burned into my mind.A mass near the heart.I moved back to the chair beside his bed, lowering myself slowly. My fingers drummed once against the armrest before I forced them still.Think.Panic had never solved anything.Information did.My father had built an empire on that rule, and I had learned it well.First question.How long?Because something like that didn’t just appear overnight.I looked at him again.His face was relaxed in sleep, but now I noticed the details I had ignored earlier. The slight paleness in his skin. The faint lines of exhaustion around his mouth.And the weight loss.I had assumed it was stress.Or age.But now the p
Sienna’s POVThe room had gone quiet.Too quiet.My father slept peacefully, the steady beeping of the monitor filling the space. My hand still rested beside his on the blanket, though his grip had long since loosened.I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my tired eyes.That was when I heard it.Soft voices outside the door.My mother.And Dr. Bianchi.The door wasn’t fully closed. It remained slightly open, just enough for sound to slip through.“…she can’t know yet,” my mother whispered.My body went still.Dr. Bianchi’s voice came next, calm but firm. “Mrs. Moretti, the situation is complicated. If the surgery happens tomorrow, there are risks she deserves to understand.”“I know the risks,” my mother said quickly. “But Sienna… she just got here. Let her focus on being with him.”Focus on being with him?Something about her tone didn’t sit right.I stood slowly, careful not to wake my father.“…the condition has progressed faster than expected,” the doctor continued quietly. “The sc
Sienna’s POVThe door didn’t close after that.It stayed slightly open, as if even the universe understood that this moment needed air.I pulled a chair closer to his bed and sat down. The leather creaked under my weight. His eyes never left my face, like he was memorizing it.“You cut your hair,” he murmured.I blinked. Of all the things he could have said.“It’s more practical,” I replied.“You always hated practical.”A weak smile touched my lips. “I evolved.”He studied me again, slower this time. “You look tired.”“I didn’t sleep.”“That company running you into the ground?”“No,” I said quietly. “This did.”Silence.The monitor beeped in steady rhythm, filling the space between us.He shifted slightly and winced. Instinctively, I stood.“Don’t move,” I said.His brow lifted faintly. “You giving orders now?”“Yes.”That earned me another small, breathless chuckle.The door opened gently, and a doctor stepped in — mid-forties, composed, observant.“Good morning,” he said. “I’m Dr.
Gabriel’s POV The football match roared from the television speakers, the stadium on the screen packed with fans screaming like their lives depended on it. The commentator’s excited voice rose and fell with each play, every goal attempt earning an explosion of sound from imaginary crowds inside th
Desmond’s POV “Let’s just stick to the plan. That’s what’s most important,” I said. She nodded, but for the first time, there was an expression on her face I couldn’t read. “Let’s go back to dancing,” I said, trying to bring back the mood we had before. She nodded. Her hands were cold when the
Sienna’s POVI loved Saturdays.Not just because they marked the end of the workweek or because I could sleep in if I wanted to. Saturdays meant the house was louder, messier… alive. Saturdays meant the kids were home all day, and somehow, that chaos kept me grounded in a way silence never could.T
Gabriel’s POVI sat in my office staring at the screen like it had personally betrayed me. Six units. That was it. Six miserable, useless units sold. I refreshed the page again, even though I already knew what I would see. My finger hit the screen harder than necessary, like I could force the numbe







