LOGINLena’s POVI don’t think I will ever get used to how loud this house has become not loud in a bad way not chaos just full with oices and laughter.The soft sound of Eli fussing one second and calming down the next footsteps moving in and out like this place isn’t just mine anymore it’s ours and somehow that doesn’t scare me like it used to.I’m standing in the kitchen gently rocking Eli against my chest while waiting for the kettle to boil when I hear a car and not just any car a very familiar one.I freeze for half a second before walking toward the window shifting Eli slightly so I can see better and then I smile because of course. “Your grandparents are here,” I murmur softly to Eli brushing my lips against his head right on cue, the front door opens before I even make it there.Caroline doesn’t knock she never has. “Where is my grandson?” her voice carries through the house before she even steps fully inside.I laugh softly walking toward the hallway. “In here,” I call out.She ap
Lena’s POVThe island doesn’t look like the same place anymore.I stand on the wooden walkway that now stretches across the beach, Eli resting comfortably against my chest, and for a moment I just take it in.The water looks clearer than I remember the kind of blue people travel across the world to see. The sand is soft and even no longer scattered with broken pieces of what used to be here. The pathways are finished now leading down toward the beach in smooth lines, lights already installed for the evenings when the sky turns gold and the ocean reflects it like glass and the villas the a’re almost done not just structures anymore but something real, something beautiful, something that actually fits here instead of taking over it. Small, elegant, built in a way that feels like they belong to the island instead of trying to change it.People move around everywhere but it’s different now and the town they are not watching from the side anymore they are part of it laughing, working, talk
Lena’s POVEli laughs it’s not loud not one of those big, dramatic baby laughs you see in videos it’s small andoft like he’s still figuring out how to do it but it’s real.And it hits me harder than anything else ever has.I freeze in the doorway, one hand still resting against the frame, just watching.Ethan is on the floor on the floor aman who used to run billion-dollar meetings without blinking is currently lying on his back on a blanket, making the most ridiculous sounds I have ever heard in my life.“And then,” he says in a deep, dramatic voice, lifting Eli slightly into the air, “the giant monster decided… to eat the tiny baby.”Eli kicks his legs, his little arms flailing as that soft, breathy laugh escapes him again.My chest tightens.God I’ve never seen anything like this.Ethan lowers him slowly, bringing him back down toward his chest. “Or maybe not,” he adds, his voice softer now. “Maybe the monster likes the baby too much.”Eli coos, his tiny fingers grabbing onto Ethan
Victor’s POVI don’t go through the front door not because I can’t because I don’t need to.There are habits you don’t lose, no matter how many years pass. Moving quietly. Watching before stepping in. Knowing what’s happening before anyone realizes you’re there.I stand across the street, just far enough not to draw attention, close enough to see everything.The house, movement, the guards Ethan’s doing a good job netter than I expected.There are cameras placed at the right angles, not obvious but effective. The kind of setup that doesn’t just look secure it is. Rotating patrols, not predictable. That tells me he’s not relying on standard systems.He’s thinking. Good because the people we’re dealing with don’t make obvious moves.They wait, adapt, they strike when you think you’re safe and right now Lena is the most valuable target in a game most people don’t even understand.I exhale slowly, adjusting the file in my hand.Everything I’ve built over the years comes down to this.I tu
Lena’s POVI wake up slowly not because something startled me not because my body is already tense before I even open my eyes just naturally the kind of waking that feels soft instead of sharp for a second, I stay still, my mind not fully catching up yet my body still wrapped in that warm, quiet space between sleep and being awake then I feel it warmth.My breath catches slightly as my eyes open and there he is Ethan, right beside me.His arm draped loosely around my waist, his chest rising and falling steadily against my back, his face relaxed in sleep in a way I haven’t seen in a long time.I don’t move, I don’t pull away, I don’t panic I just look at him and wait for that familiar rush of fear.That instinct to create distance.That voice in my head telling me this is too much, too fast, too dangerous but it doesn’t come not this time instead there’s something else something softer and quieter.My eyes trace over his face slowly, taking in the small details I used to know by heart.
Ethan’s POVThe house is quiet again.But this time… it doesn’t feel heavy.It feels lived in.I step into the bedroom slowly, closing the door behind me as my eyes adjust to the soft light coming from the lamp on Lena’s side.She’s already in bed.Sitting up against the headboard, a loose shirt slipping slightly off her shoulder, her hair falling around her face in that effortless way that always makes it hard to look anywhere else.She glances up when I walk in.There’s no tension in her expression.No guarded distance.Just awareness.Of me.“You took long,” she says softly.“I was making sure Eli was settled,” I reply, loosening the shirt at my collar.“He’s asleep?” she asks.“Out,” I say. “Didn’t even fight it tonight.”She smiles faintly at that, then shifts slightly, pulling the blanket down just enough to make space beside her.Not awkward.Not hesitant.Just… an invitation.My chest tightens in a way I haven’t felt in a long time.I move toward the bed slowly, not rushing it
Ryan’s POVThe air in the prison is cold in a way that doesn’t feel natural. It isn’t winter cold or night cold. It’s a manufactured chill, like the place itself wants you uncomfortable, wants you small, wants you reminded that people who end up here lose more than just their freedom.I sit on the
Ethan’s POVI find her on the beach late in the afternoon where the sky sits low and heavy almost as if it is holding its breath.The tide is out leaving long strips of wet sand that shine like dark glass and the wind keeps tugging at her hair in slow restless pulls. She stands close to the water b
Lena’s POVFour weeks have passed since that night and sometimes it feels like four days and other times like four years.The island looks the same and the house is new but it already smells like me.John and Caroline bought it for me without hesitation and that still makes my chest ache. It isn’t
Lena’s POVWaking up feels wrong. It feels like being pulled up from deep water when my lungs weren’t ready yet. My chest feels tight, my head throbs and there is a steady beeping sound that won’t stop like it is reminding me that I’m still here whether I’m ready for that or not.My eyes flutter op







