LOGINLumi’s POV
The door opened. And for a second, nothing made sense. My brain refused to catch up with my eyes. It was like I had stepped into the wrong room, the wrong house, the wrong life. Because what I was seeing couldn’t be mine. Wren on the bed, her body half-covered by the sheets, but not enough to hide her nakedness. . What broke me was the lingerie, my lingerie. The one I bought, the I folded carefully, and hid away for tonight. For Caius. My stomach dropped so hard it felt like something inside me tore loose. “No…” The word didn’t even sound like mine, It came out thin, weak, unreal. And then, Caius beside her, not scrambling or shocked even. Just there, like this wasn’t wrong. The air left my lungs, completely. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even feel my own body. All I could see was her, on top of Caius. My chest tightened painfully. My fingers went numb around my bag, my knees buckled slightly. I reached for the doorframe without thinking, my hand gripping it tightly just to stay upright. “Lumi…” Wren’s voice, soft and careful. Like she was afraid of breaking something, like she hadn’t already shattered everything. My eyes moved to her slowly, mechanically. Like I was forcing myself to look. And God…she looked comfortable. Not even ashamed, like she had been there before. My stomach twisted violently. “How long?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. Wren froze, just for a second. My heart dropped. “No…” I shook my head slowly. “No… no…” Because that meant, this wasn’t a mistake. This wasn’t sudden, they had history. My vision blurred, I blinked hard. I tried to steady myself, but everything felt like it was slipping. My gaze shifted to Caius, waiting, begging for something. Anything. Even a lie would have been something, but he just looked at me like I had walked in on something inconvenient. Not devastating. “…Caius?” His name felt foreign. Like it didn’t belong to me anymore. He didn’t answer immediately, he just watched me. And somehow, that hurt more than anything else. Because it meant, he didn’t even feel the need to explain. Finally, he spoke. “Why didn’t you call me when I told you to?” My breath caught. I blinked, once, twice. Trying to understand what he just said. “That’s… that’s what you’re asking me?” My voice shook now, from disbelief. From something breaking inside me piece by piece. He shrugged slightly. “What else is there?” The world tilted, not physically. But everything inside me cracked and fell apart. Clover’s voice came from behind me, sharp and disbelieving. “What the hell is this?” I hadn’t even heard her walk in, but now I felt her presence beside me. Real and solid. The only thing in that moment that felt real. “Lumi…” she said, softer now. But I couldn’t respond, because my chest felt too tight. “How long, Caius?” I asked again, this time louder. He didn’t blink. “Does it matter?” I laughed. A short, empty sound that didn’t feel like mine. “Does it—” My voice broke. I swallowed hard, tried again. “Does it matter?” I stepped forward, my legs unsteady. But I forced them to move. “Months?” I asked. “Years?” Silence. “That whole time?” I continued. “While you were with me? While you were planning this—” My voice cracked again. “While I trusted you?” He watched me, unmoved. “You can’t undo what’s done,” he said flatly. Something inside me went still, completely. I straightened slightly. My breathing slowed, not because I was okay, but because I was done. “I know,” I said softly. My fingers moved to my hand to the ring. I hadn’t even realized I was still wearing it, until now. I pulled it off slowly. Caius’s eyes flickered slightly, just for a second. I stepped closer, then tossed the ring toward him. It hit the bed. Soft and meaningless. Just like everything else. “I’m done,” I said. My voice didn’t shake this time. “I’m done being the woman you take for granted.” Silence filled the room, heavy and final. “The engagement is over.” Wren inhaled sharply. “Lumi—” I looked at her, then at the lingerie and the way it fit her. On the way she sat there, in something that was never meant for her. “You can keep it,” I said coldly. “Clearly it suits you.” Her face changed, but I didn’t care. I took one last look at both of them, and burned the image into my mind. So I will never forget. “So yeah,” I said quietly. “Screw you both.” Then I turned. And this time, I didn’t hesitate. I walked out.Briggs POVThe first thing I noticed was Cameron.The guy looked like he was trying very hard not to look at something, or someone.That alone caught my attention.Because people only avoided looking when they were afraid of what they'd see. The yacht was crowded.Investors. Politicians. Socialites.People who smiled too much and said too little.Dara's birthday parties always looked less like celebrations and more like networking events disguised as fun. Yet somehow, out of everyone on board, my attention landed on Cameron.The man looked tense, like every muscle in his body was preparing for impact. Beside me, Lumi followed my gaze.Her expression immediately shifted. Recognition."Oh."I glanced at her. "You know him?"She looked at me like I'd asked whether water was wet."That's Cameron." Then after a beat, she says. "Clover's ex."That got my attention, not because Lumi knew him.Because suddenly I was staring at one of my former employees and realizing he'd somehow dated her be
Clover POVIf there was one thing I had learned during the last two days, it was that Cameron was incapable of being normal under pressure.Actually, scratch that.I wasn't entirely convinced Cameron was capable of being normal under any circumstance.The small boat rocked gently against the water as it carried us toward Dara's yacht, the city lights glittering across the dark ocean like scattered diamonds.The view should've been beautiful, peaceful.Romantic even.Instead, I was sitting across from a grown man who had checked behind him seventeen times in the last ten minutes.Yes.I counted.Because after the tenth time, it became impossible not to."Stop looking behind us."Cameron immediately looked behind us again.I closed my eyes slowly, patiently. The way people did before committing crimes."I said you’re doing it again.""What?"I pointed. "You know exactly what."His gaze flicked toward the water, then toward the marina. Then toward another boat passing several yards away,
Lumi POVCaius opened his mouth, probably to say something stupid and dramatic.Something he would regret tomorrow and somehow blame on somebody else.But before another word could leave his mouth, he swayed. The movement was subtle. Small enough that most people would've missed it.I didn't, neither did Briggs.Neither did the two security guards hovering nearby like they were seconds away from earning their paycheck.Caius blinked once, then again. His expression briefly losing focus. And suddenly the entire situation became fucking ridiculous.Because this wasn't some dangerous mastermind standing in front of me. This was a drunk man making a fool of himself on somebody else's yacht.The realization should've made me feel better, it didn't. Because Caius drunk was unpredictable, and unpredictable people were exhausting."Caius."A familiar female voice cut through the tension.Everybody turned, including me. And immediately wished I hadn't.Wren.Because apparently this night wasn'
Lumi POVI should've walked away. The thought came to me for the third time in less than a minute.I should've turned around, and taken Briggs' hand. Find Dara, or literally anybody else, then leave.Instead, I stood there watching my ex-fiancé embarrass himself in front of half of New York.The ocean rocked gently beneath the yacht, music continued somewhere behind us. Champagne glasses clinked.People laughed, or at least they had been laughing.Now?Nobody was laughing. Nobody was even pretending to talk anymore. Because Caius Hall had decided to make himself the center of attention.Again.My stomach twisted as I stared at the phone in his hand. The screen was still lit, still displaying that picture. My picture.A picture I never knew existed. I hated how cold my skin suddenly felt. Not because the photo was revealing or because it was inappropriate. But because it felt invasive, wrong. Like I was looking at something I wasn't supposed to see. The photo had been taken from behi
Briggs POV The second Lumi stepped onto the yacht, I regretted coming. Not because of Dara, or because of the guest list. And definitely not because of the press boats circling the marina like vultures waiting for somebody rich to embarrass themselves. No. I regretted coming because every man on the damn dock looked at her. Every. Single. One. The yacht stretched across the water like a floating city. Music drifted from the upper decks. Champagne glasses sparkled under the hanging lights. People laughed, some posed for photos, pretending like they weren't constantly judging each other. Normal rich people behavior. Lumi paused beside me, staring up at the yacht. "That's not a boat." A laugh escaped me. "No, that’s a country." "Basically." Her eyes widened slightly. And there it was, that look of curiosity and excitement. I found myself staring again. Which has become a problem recently, a serious one. Because every time she smiled, my brain forgot how to function. "Stop
Lumi POVThe third swimsuit was somehow worse than the first two. I stood in front of the full-length mirror, tugging at the fabric for what had to be the hundredth time.The model online looked incredible, of course she had. She was six feet tall, had abs, and probably drank green juice for fun.I looked like I was losing an argument with elastic.A sigh escaped me, then another. Then a third.Behind me, Briggs looked up from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed."You done?""No.""You've been fighting that swimsuit for twenty minutes.""Guess I'm winning."His mouth twitched.I narrowed my eyes. "Don't laugh.""I'm not.""You are.""I'm trying not to." He said, muffling a laugh.That was somehow worse, I looked back at the mirror. The swimsuit wasn't ugly, the problem was me.Or at least the version of me that still remembered every comment, every comparison, every moment someone made me feel like my body needed permission to exist.My fingers drifted to my waist, then my hip
Clover POVI drive fast enough that my thoughts don’t get a chance to settle into questions. The lounge fades behind me, the lights smearing across the windshield, but my body stays locked in that fight-or-flight that never asks permission. I can still feel the way my pulse wouldn’t slow when I wat
Lumi POVThe hallway outside Wren’s room had already started to feel too small by the time the nurse stepped aside and let us in. Nobody spoke on the way there. Caius moved first, all hard angles and bruised pride, with Eleanor just behind him, her heels clicking like she was still trying to keep c
Lumi POVThe engine hummed low as Briggs drove, one hand loose on the wheel and the other tapping the gear shift like he couldn’t quite sit still. I stared out the window at the passing storefronts, their lights blurring into streaks, but my mind kept looping back to what he’d said twenty minutes
Clover POVI woke up feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull and then set the pieces on fire. The hotel room spun in lazy circles around me, the cheap curtains doing nothing to block the brutal morning light that stabbed straight into my retinas. My mouth tasted like regret and b







