LOGINLena’s POVThe house is finally quiet again but I still can’t sleep.I lie in bed staring at the ceiling, Eli’s monitor glowing softly on the nightstand beside me the steady sound of his breathing coming through like a reminder that something in my life is still simple still good.Everything else feels like it is shifting too fast it all sits in my chest like something I can’t set down I turn onto my side closing my eyes, but it doesn’t help it never does when my mind won’t slow down after a few minutes I push the covers off and sit up running a hand through my hair.I just need air I step out of my room quietly, not wanting to wake anyone and walk down the hallway toward the living room the lights are dim and he’s already there.Ethan, sitting on the couch, leaning forward slightly his elbows on his knees like he has been thinking about something for a while.He looks up the moment he hears me. “You okay?” he asks.I let out a small breath shaking my head as I walk in. “Not really,”
Ryan’s POVI don’t move for a long time the screen keeps playing the same footage over and over again but I barely register the words anymore. It was the images that won’t leave me alone.Samuel being led out and Chanel right behind him as cameras flashing like it was some kind of show like everything we built was just something for people to watch fall apart.My jaw tightens as I drag a hand down my face, pacing once then again like movement might somehow change what I’m seeing but it doesn’t.“This isn’t possible,” I mutter more to myself than anything else because it shouldn’t be we covered everything. every angle and every risk nothing was supposed to trace back like this nothing was supposed to fall apart this fast.I grab the remote and turn the volume up needing to hear something—anything that tells me this is temporary.“…multiple charges including murder, attempted murder, financial fraud—”I turn it off again too loud and too real.My chest feels tight like something is clos
Third Person POVThe news doesn’t break all at once it starts small a notification, a headline, a message someone almost ignores and then it spreads too fast to stop.By the time the first video hits the major networks, it was already everywhere shared, reposted, talked about before anyone even understands the full story.Police cars line the long driveway of the Miller estate, lights flashing against the clean white walls that always looked untouchable. Officers move with purpose, not hesitation, and the gates that once kept the world out are wide open.Cameras catch everything as the front doors open and Samuel steps out first.He doesn’t look like a man who thinks he has lost. His shoulders are still straight, his expression controlled, but there was something tight around his eyes that wasn’t there before something that gives him away if you are paying attention.Behind him Chanel is already arguing with one of the officers, her voice sharp, her movements restless she is trying to
Lena’s POVI don’t cry not at first I just stand there staring at him like if I look long enough something will make sense like my brain will catch up to what he just said and tell me this isn’t real but it is.Every word he spoke is still sitting in the room heavy and impossible to ignore.My chest feels tight too tight like I forgot how to breathe properly.“You are lying,” I say but my voice doesn’t have any strength behind it.Because part of me already knows he is not he doesn’t react to the accusation, oesn’t get defensive and he doesn’t raise his voice he just stands there and waits and that makes it worse.“I don’t remember you,” I say, shaking my head slowly. “I don’t remember anything like that.”“You were a baby,” he replies quietly. “You wouldn’t.”That lands hard I swallow my throat dry. “So I’m just supposed to believe that you what? Left me somewhere and watched me from a distance like that makes it better?”“No,” he says. “I don’t expect you to believe anything without
Victor’s POVShe lets me in I didn’t expect that.I thought she would shut the door in my face before I could say a single word but instead she steps back just enough to let me enter her eyes locked on me like she was trying to figure out whether I’m real or just another problem she didn’t ask for.The door closes behind me and the silence that follows feels heavier than anything I have carried in years.She doesn’t sit and she doesn’t offer me anything she stands across from me her arms wrapped around herself, her body tense like she is ready to either run or fight.“Talk,” she says.No warmth and no patience just that one word.I nod slowly. “My name is Victor Miller.”The reaction is instant her face tightens, her brows pulling together as she shakes her head. “No, that is not funny.”“I’m not joking.”“Victor Miller is dead,” she snaps. “So whatever game you are playing—”“I was supposed to be,” I cut in quietly.That stops her. Her eyes narrow as she studies me, searching for cra
Lena’s POVThe afternoon is quiet in a way that almost feels unreal not the heavy silence I have gotten used to, the kind that sits in your chest and makes you uneasy. This is softer, lighter like the house is finally exhaling after everything we’ve been through.Eli is asleep upstairs and Ethan stepped out earlier to take a call something about the legal team and next steps but he promised he wouldn’t be long. Keenan and James are at the bookstore. Ruth said she would stop by later.For once it’s just me.I stand in the kitchen, rinsing a cup I don’t really need to wash,just keeping my hands busy because my mind refuses to sit still.Everything feels like it has shifting like I’m standing in the middle of something that hasn’t settled yet and I don’t know if I should trust the calm. I think about the few stolen kisses with Ethan, I know I am not ready yet, I know he hurt me more than anyone else had ver done but everytime I get close to him I feel myself falling again. I need his tou
Ethan’s POVThe hospital smells like antiseptic and fear and I never noticed how a place that’s supposed to save people can feel so cold. The lights are too bright, the floors are too clean and very footstep, voice and beep from somewhere down the hall sounds louder than it should.They rush Lena p
Lena’s POVMaya doesn’t rush she stands there in front of me las if she has all the time in the world like nothing outside these broken walls matters and like no one is coming. The two men stands a few steps back watching her more than they watch me waiting for her to decide how this ends.My wrist
Ethan’s POVThe room feels too quiet. The soft hum of machines and the slow, steady beeping of a heart monitor. The faint hiss of oxygen moving through tubes that sound is the only thing keeping me standing.She looks smaller in this bed and something about seeing her like this makes her look fragi
Lena’s POVI don’t know how long I have been out but when I come back to myself, it’s slow, like my body is swimming up from deep under water and every part of me feels heavy. My head hurts, mymouth is dry, my arms feel stiff and sore and when I try to move them pain shoots up my shoulders and make







