Mag-log inElena’s POVI was on the couch, my legs tucked under me, a book open in my lap that I hadn’t actually been reading. My mind was still back at the office, still running through access logs and transfer patterns and three hundred and twelve names attached to empty pension accounts.Then the air changed.I looked up to find Jonathan standing in the middle of my living room.He still had his full work suit on, jacket and all, but his expression was different from the closed, controlled face he’d been wearing all week. He looked a little worn out and tired.He crossed the room before I could speak.His hand came up to tilt my chin, and then his mouth was on mine.The kiss was slow and certain, like he wanted to taste all of me. He was literally drinking me at this point. Sucking my tongue as Saliva dripped from the corner of my lips. His other hand came up and he began pulling at the knot of his necktie, loosening it without breaking the kiss.I felt myself responding automatically, my bo
Elena’s POVI didn’t need to worry about keeping my distance from Jonathan in the days that followed.He didn’t reach out. Neither did I.A week passed in near silence. No calls, no messages, it was absolutely quiet. When the company finally sent word that employees could return, I sat with my laptop open for a long time before I did anything else.I opened a new document.Dear Mr. Hart,Please accept this letter as formal notice of my resignation from the position of Personal Manager, effective…I stopped typing then looked at the screen.The cursor blinked at me patiently.Maybe it was time. Maybe walking away from Hart Global, from Jonathan, from Daniel, from all of it, was the only move left that made any sense. There was nothing left to execute. Nothing left to protect.Just this hollow, aching thing in my chest that got heavier every morning.I saved the draft without finishing it.I’d decide later. The office felt different when I walked in. It was like something else happened
Elena’s POVI stood in front of my mirror and barely recognized myself.The dress was deep navy, fitted at the waist and falling just above the knee. Simple but very beautiful and flattering. My hair was down, styled properly for the first time in what felt like weeks, and I’d taken actual time with my makeup instead of the rushed five-minute routine I’d been doing lately.I looked like I had my life together. The irony was not lost on me.I grabbed my clutch and headed out.Ryan was waiting outside, leaning against his car with his hands in his pockets. He looked up when he heard my heels on the pavement, and his expression stopped me mid-step.His eyes went wide.“You are more beautiful than lilies in the mountains,” he said quietly.It was such an unexpected thing to say…not a line, not smooth, just honest…that heat flooded my cheeks before I could stop it.“Thank you,” I said, taking his offered hand as he opened the car door.He smiled and closed it behind me.-----We didn’t tal
Daniel’s POVThe cigarette lasted until the parking garage.I sat in my car for a long time after that, staring at the concrete wall in front of me, the engine off, the smoke curling toward the ceiling until it disappeared.Then I started the engine and drove. My apartment was exactly as I’d left it. My apartment reeked of luxury and sex, that was exactly how I liked it.I dropped my jacket on the floor the moment I walked in. But tonight I was more than angry. I kicked the coffee table and it skidded sideways, catching the edge of the rug, and a glass that had been sitting on it shattered against the marble floor.I kicked the nearest chair, sending it into the wall.Who does she think she is?Two years ago, Elena Rivers had fallen apart. After our engagement fell apart, I knew she loved me enough to crawl back and beg. But she didn’t. She didn’t come back and it fucking irritated me. When she loved me, she was far too trusting for her own good. And too emotional. I’d done her a fa
Elena’s POVI heard it from two floors away.A scream. Sharp and sudden, cutting through the afternoon quiet of the building like something had torn.I was out of my chair before I’d consciously decided to move.The hallway was already filled with people, everyone moving toward the main operations floor, the tension was high in the end. No one knows what’s happening but knows it’s bad. I pushed through, Ryan appearing beside me from nowhere.“What was that?” he asked.“I don’t know.”We got to the operations floor and stopped.Every screen in the room was doing it.All of them. Every monitor, every workstation, every wall display…all showing the same thing.A symbol.It was geometric and wrong in a way that was hard to articulate. Dark, angular lines forming a shape that almost looked like something familiar but wasn’t quite. Like someone had taken a recognizable symbol and corrupted it deliberately, twisted it just enough to make it disturbing.And it was spreading.As we watched, a
Elena’s POVI dropped into my chair and pulled my keyboard toward me.“Insufferable, manipulative, overgrown child,” I muttered under my breath, thinking of Daniel. “Walking around here like he owns the place, asking his little loaded questions with that stupid smile…”I typed in my password aggressively.“…and that face. That smug, irritating, I-know-something-you-don’t face that I wanted to…”My screen loaded, and I stopped.Something was wrong.The dashboard looked different. Files that should have been organized neatly were scattered across the interface, their icons overlapping in ways that made no sense. A small window appeared in the corner of my screen, blinking steadily.I leaned forward, squinting.System breach detected. Unauthorized access. File corruption in progress.“What?” I whispered.I clicked on it immediately, trying to open the security log to see what was happening. But the window disappeared, and then my screen flickered. Once. Twice.Then half my files vanished.
Elena’s POVI was running on fumes and caffeine and absolutely nothing else.My third coffee of the morning sat half finished on my desk, going cold while I stared at my computer screen without actually seeing anything on it.I’d been in the office for two hours and had accomplished approximately n
Marcus’s POVThe cell was exactly what you’d expect.Cold concrete. Thin mattress. A smell that no amount of industrial cleaning product could fully eliminate. I sat on the edge of the bed with my legs crossed and my hands resting loosely in my lap, watching the room because I had absolutely nothin
Elena’s POVSleep came quickly, which surprised me.Maybe it was emotional exhaustion. Maybe it was the strange comfort of not being completely alone in the apartment. Either way, the moment my head hit the pillow, I was gone.And then the dream started.It wasn’t one clear nightmare. It was fragme
Elena’s POVMy phone wouldn’t shut up.It kept buzzing on the table like it was possessed. From the calls, to the texts, and the notifications, they just kept piling on top of each other so fast. I didn’t answer any of them. I just watched the phone vibrate and listened to the sound, over and over,







