LOGINDamian PovI knew something was wrong the second Bella texted me. "We need to talk. In person. Now." It was my week with Nathan but Bella never interrupted custody time unless it was an emergency. I texted back asking if Nathan was okay. She said "Nathan is fine. This is about you. Meet me at the park in an hour."I drove to the park anxious and confused. Bella was sitting on a bench far from the playground where no one would overhear us. Her face was hard and angry in a way I hadn't seen in months."What's going on" I asked. I sat down next to her but she moved away. "What's this about.""A woman named Claire came to see me" Bella said. She pulled out her phone and showed me a photo. "Your ex girlfriend from college. Remember her."My stomach dropped. Claire. I hadn't thought about her in years. Hadn't seen her since college ended and we broke up. Seeing her face on Bella's phone made me feel sick."What did she want" I asked."To warn me about you" Bella said. Her voice was cold. "T
Bella PovI was at a coffee shop working on my laptop trying to salvage what was left of my agency when a woman approached my table. She was about my age with blonde hair and nervous eyes. She held her coffee cup like she needed something to do with her hands."Excuse me" she said. "Are you Bella Morgan.""Yes" I said carefully. I was used to strangers recognizing me from the scandal. Usually they wanted to take photos or ask invasive questions. "Can I help you.""My name is Claire Patterson" she said. "I need to talk to you about Damian. Can I sit down.""I don't want to talk about my ex husband with strangers" I said. I looked back at my laptop hoping she would take the hint and leave."Please" Claire said. "This is important. It's about who Damian really is. You need to know the truth before you waste any more of your life on him."Something in her voice made me look up. She seemed genuinely worried. Genuinely like she had something important to say. Against my better judgment I no
Damian PovMarcus called me on a Tuesday morning with what he thought was good news. "We're filing the defamation lawsuit against Karen today. We have solid evidence that her video and social media posts contain provable lies. We should win this easily.""Good" I said. I was exhausted from weeks of dealing with Karen's lies and the fallout from her viral video. "What happens after we file.""She gets served with the lawsuit papers" Marcus explained. "Then she has thirty days to respond. She'll probably try to settle out of court because she has no money and no case. This should end the harassment once and for all."Finally something was going right. Finally Karen would face consequences for destroying my reputation and Bella's business. Finally the legal system would work in our favor instead of letting her get away with everything.Marcus filed the lawsuit that afternoon. I felt hopeful for the first time in weeks. Maybe this nightmare was finally ending. Maybe Bella would see that I
Bella PovI managed to avoid the reporters for two days by staying inside my apartment. Tanya brought groceries. My mom took Nathan to the park through the back entrance of the building. I worked from home and ignored the constant buzzing of my phone with interview requests and messages from people I hadn't talked to in years suddenly interested in my drama.On the third day Karen posted a video. Tanya called me crying angry tears to warn me but I had already seen it. The video was Karen sitting in her apartment talking directly to the camera like she was doing an interview."I know there's been a lot of speculation about me and Damian" Karen said in the video. She smiled softly like she was shy about admitting something personal. "The truth is we've been talking. Reconnecting. Exploring the possibility of giving our relationship another chance now that I've done my time and worked on myself."My stomach dropped. I watched the rest of the video in horror."Damian reached out to me a f
Damian PovI spent three hours trying to reach Karen's lawyer and the prison warden before I gave up and decided to handle it myself. My lawyer Marcus said it was a bad idea to confront her in person but I didn't care. Someone needed to make her stop and clearly the legal system wasn't going to do it.I looked up Karen's address from the court documents. She was living with her mother in a small apartment across town. Technically she was still supposed to be in prison but apparently she got released early for good behavior. The system failed again. Let a woman who tried to poison my ex wife and unborn child walk free after barely a year.I drove to her apartment and sat in my car for ten minutes trying to calm down. Dr. Sarah Williams would be disappointed that I was doing this. She would say I was letting my anger control me instead of using my coping mechanisms. But I was tired of coping. I was tired of counting to ten while Karen destroyed Bella's life. Someone needed to actually d
Bella PovI was feeding Nathan breakfast when Tanya called at eight in the morning. She never called that early unless something was wrong."Don't look at social media" Tanya said as soon as I answered. "Just don't look.""What happened" I asked. I put down Nathan's spoon and felt my stomach drop. "Is it about Damian.""It's about Karen" Tanya said. She sounded angry. "She's posting old photos of her and Damian on Instagram. Photos from when they were having the affair. With captions like 'first love never dies' and 'some people are worth the wait' and other garbage like that.""She's still in prison" I said. "How is she posting anything.""Contraband phone probably" Tanya said. "But Bella it's getting picked up by the tabloids. They're running stories about whether Damian is getting back with his former mistress. It's everywhere."I hung up and immediately opened Instagram. Karen's account was public and the posts were right there. Photo after photo of her and Damian. Some I recogniz
Damian PovI crouched behind a parked car across the street from Bella's modeling agency. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I could hear it in my ears like a drum.I had been waiting here for two hours. Hiding like some kind of criminal. But I needed to see her. I needed to talk to her face to f
Bella PovI stood in front of a small apartment building. The building was old and the paint was peeling. It was nothing like the luxury penthouse I used to live in. But it was mine. And it was far away from Damian and everything that reminded me of him.I unlocked the door and walked into my new a
Damian PovI sat at my desk staring at my computer. I could not focus on work. I had not focused on anything for days. All I could think about was Bella.Someone knocked on my office door. I ignored it. The knocking got louder."Go away" I yelled."Sir it is Karen" a voice said through the door. "I
Bella PovI woke up in the motel room and forgot where I was for a second. Then everything came rushing back. Damian. Karen. The bed. The betrayal.I sat up and looked around the small room. Sunlight came through the thin curtains. My phone was on the nightstand. I picked it up and checked the time







