Se connecterEthan’s POVThe human body heals faster than the mind does which means every day inside this villa feels divided into two separate battles one physical and one psychological and while my injuries improve steadily enough that the doctors seem satisfied with my recovery the growing sense that something is deeply wrong becomes harder to ignore with every passing day.The mornings are the worst every time I wake up there is a brief moment before full awareness settles in where confusion hits hardest because for a few seconds I forget where I am forget the explosion forget the strange emptiness inside my head and then reality returns all at once Italy, the recovery, missing memories and Maya.I stand inside the private gym connected to the lower level of the villa while rain falls steadily outside the enormous windows overlooking the lake and although my shoulder still protests sharply during certain movements I push through the discomfort anyway because movement gives me something else to
Lena’s POVThe problem with becoming responsible for an empire overnight is that grief does not pause long enough for you to learn how to carry it properly.Every morning begins before I feel ready for it and every night ends with exhaustion so heavy that sometimes I fall asleep without even remembering closing my eyes but despite how overwhelmed I constantly feel the company continues moving forward because businesses do not stop simply because someone important died and unfortunately neither does the rest of life.By the second week of officially taking over Carter Enterprises the pressure surrounding me has become almost unbearable the media follows everything I do, investors analyze every public statement I make, executives question every decision behind carefully polite smiles and somewhere beneath all of that I am still a grieving widow trying to raise a baby while carrying another child alone.The only thing keeping me functioning most days is routine like wake up, feed Eli, tr
Ethan’s POVThere is something deeply unsettling about knowing your own name but still feeling disconnected from yourself in ways you cannot explain because every morning I wake up inside this villa with the same awareness settling through me all over again the awareness that pieces of my life exist somewhere beyond my reach while everyone around me pretends that is normal.The doctors call it trauma recovery and Maya calls it healing but to me it feels more like standing inside a room filled with locked doors while hearing voices behind them that I cannot fully reach.The frustration of it settles heavier every day. I stand near the balcony overlooking the lake with one hand braced lightly against the railing while cool morning air moves through the open doors behind me, and despite the beauty surrounding this place, despite the silence and luxury and carefully controlled calm something about being here continues to feel wrong in ways I cannot properly define.My body healed faster t
Lena’s POVThe house never truly feels quiet anymore because silence inside grief sounds different from ordinary silence, carrying weight in every room like something important is missing from the air itself and some mornings the emptiness feels so sharp that even breathing inside this mansion hurts.Today is one of those mornings sunlight spills softly through the bedroom curtains while I sit against the headboard still wearing one of Ethan’s old shirts my swollen eyes fixed on the small gold ring resting on the nightstand beside me.His wedding ring.The only thing they brought back the engraving inside catches the light every time I look at it.Lena forever.The words feel cruel now beautiful but cruel.Eli crawls across the bed toward me with determined little movements while soft baby sounds leave him every few seconds, and despite the heaviness crushing my chest the sight of him still manages to pull something warm through me.He looks more like Ethan every day the same eyes and
Maya’s POVThe villa overlooks Lake Como in a way that almost feels unreal with enormous windows stretching from floor to ceiling while pale morning light spreads slowly across the water below turning everything silver and gold beneath the quiet Italian sunrise and most people would probably look at this place and see peace.I see something entirely different when I look at it I see control, I see privacy and I see the reward for months of planning that nearly fell apart the night of the explosion.The villa had been prepared long before Ethan was brought here because I knew from the beginning that if I wanted him separated completely from the life he built with Lena I would need somewhere isolated enough to bury him without anyone asking questions. America would have been too obvious and staying anywhere remotely connected to his old world would have been dangerous which made Italy perfect because places like this protect wealthy secrets better than any locked room ever could.The a
Lena’s POVGrief does not disappear simply because another day begins and motherhood does not pause long enough to allow you time to recover from heartbreak which means exhaustion becomes something constant, something woven into every hour whether you are ready for it or not.By the third night back in Los Angeles my body feels so drained that even opening my eyes hurts but sometime after two in the morning Eli’s cries break through the silence of the bedroom and pull me awake instantly.For a moment I lie there staring at the ceiling while nausea rolls heavily through my stomach, sharp enough to make me press my hand against my mouth before I even sit up, and the combination of pregnancy exhaustion and grief settles over me so heavily that I honestly do not know how I am still functioning.Eli cries again through the baby monitor louder this time, and despite how badly my body wants rest I push the blankets back and force myself out of bed.The bedroom feels painfully empty without E
Ethan’s POVHospitals have a way of stopping time. Minutes feel like hours until I can’t tell if it is morning or night unless someone opens a curtain. I have been sitting in this same chair beside Lena’s bed for so long my body feels stiff in places I didn’t even know could go numb.My mom sits on
Keenan’s POVThe first thing I notice is the noise a steady beeping sound and air moving through a machine somewhere close to my head. It takes me a few seconds to realize that the sound is real and not part of some half-formed dream.My eyes don’t want to open they feel heavy as if someone glued t
Ethan’s POVI din’t sleep. I sit in one of those hard hospital chairs with my jacket still on, staring at the floor, at my phone, at the doors that keep opening and closing like maybe one of them will finally bring Lena back if I look hard enough.Keenan is back in surgery something went wrong and
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







