MasukQUINN'S POVFor several seconds, I couldn't move.I stood there staring at Ember, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Her dress was still pulled over the stomach she had spent the last ten months carrying around, but now that it had shifted out of place, there was no hiding what it really was.A pregnancy stomach.A fucking costume.What kind of person did that?What kind of person could fake an entire pregnancy just to destroy her so-called best friend's marriage? I couldn't wrap my head around it. Ember had spent months pretending to carry a child, manipulating Hemsworth, manipulating everyone around her, and apparently willing to go as far as necessary to keep Laura's life in pieces.I looked at Hemsworth.He looked completely destroyed.Ember slowly pushed herself upright, her hands immediately moving toward her stomach. She pulled at the fabric, desperately trying to reposition it."No, I am pregnant," she insisted, her voice trembling. "He hurt me."She pressed a hand aga
HEMSWORTH'S POVI stared at the message after sending it.There.It was done.Laura knew exactly what I wanted now.I wasn't going to keep pretending this situation would somehow resolve itself if I gave her enough time. I had already given her more than enough time. If she refused to come back willingly, then I was prepared to use every legal option available to me.We had never officially divorced.That mattered.At least legally.I leaned back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling while Ember's voice drifted through the room.She had been talking for several minutes, but I couldn't have repeated a single thing she'd said if someone had put a gun to my head.I couldn't understand why I had ever found her appealing.Maybe it had been the attention.Maybe it had been the way she always made me feel like I was the most important person in the room.Whatever it was, it had worn thin."Are you even listening to me?" Ember asked.I looked at her."Not really."Her mouth fell open."Exc
LAURA'S POVI barely slept.The moment I closed my eyes, the same thought returned.My period was late.I had checked the calendar so many times that I could have memorized every date on it. I even convinced myself that I had counted wrong, so I opened it again.I hadn't.I sat on the edge of the hotel bed with my phone in my hand, staring at the screen.Late.The word had started to feel like an accusation.It didn't make sense. My life had been chaotic for months. Stress could do strange things to the body. I had barely been eating properly. I hadn't been sleeping properly either. There were days when I went from the hotel to the studio and back again without remembering to eat anything substantial.That had to be it.It had to be.I placed the phone beside me and stood."You're overthinking this," I whispered to myself.I walked toward the bathroom, washed my face, and looked at my reflection.I looked exhausted.My eyes were slightly swollen, and there were shadows underneath them
QUINN'S POVThe divorce papers sat on the corner of my desk, untouched.I had been staring at them for the better part of an hour, and somehow they still looked worse every time I glanced at them.My lawyer had left them with me that morning, along with a warning that I needed to make a decision quickly.I already knew what I wanted.But it was too late.I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my hands over my face. The past few weeks had been a blur of police interviews, lawyers, paperwork and sleepless nights. Elena's arrest had opened a door to questions I had spent months avoiding, and now Hemsworth had apparently decided to kick another one wide open.My lawyer had called it a legal complication.I called it bullshit.Hemsworth had filed a formal complaint concerning Laura's marriage to me.According to him, Laura was still legally married to him when she entered into the arrangement with me.The words alone made my blood boil.I knew there was truth buried somewhere inside the lega
LAURA'S POVWhen I got to the set, I didn't want to remember anything from yesterday.I didn't want to think about Quinn. I didn't have to think about Hemsworth, Anto, Elena, what happened on set yesterday, or the endless list of mistakes I had somehow managed to collect in such a short period of time.I only had to remember my lines. And bury myself In so much work I wouldn't have time to remember anything that didn't concern my new role.That was manageable.The set was already buzzing when I arrived that morning. Crew members moved around with equipment balanced on their shoulders, assistants hurried between rooms with folders pressed against their chests, and someone was arguing with the lighting department about a spotlight that apparently refused to cooperate.I stood near the entrance for a moment, taking everything in.This was familiar.Safe, almost."You're early," Carly said from behind me.I turned and found her holding two cups of coffee. She offered one to me."I don't d
DEVON'S POVI had spent the better part of the morning trying to convince myself not to go.It would have been easier to stay away from the police station, pretend Elena no longer existed, and let the authorities handle everything from there. Her court hearing was only two days away, and soon enough, she would have to face the consequences of everything she had done to Laura.That was the entire point of my mission in the first place.I had gotten close to Elena because I needed to know whether she was responsible for what happened to Laura. I needed evidence. I needed the truth. I had expected the process to be difficult, but I had never expected myself to become emotionally involved.That was the part I hated most.I hated that somewhere along the way, Elena had stopped being a suspect and started becoming a person to me. I hated that I had begun looking forward to seeing her, listening to her, and spending time around her. Most of all, I hated that the mission had succeeded.She re
LauraThe second I stepped onto the set of The Last Ember, every single person turned to look at me.My stomach immediately tightened.The massive soundstage buzzed with controlled chaos. Crew members rushed around carrying lighting equipment. Makeup artists stood near the trailers holding coffee c
Laura Seven months.Seven months of sweating out my old life in Quinn’s private gym. Seven months of speech therapy to find the voice Hemsworth had spent years trying to silence. Seven months of learning the dark, jagged secrets of the entertainment industry from the man who sat at the very top of
LauraThe first thing I felt was the scent. It didn't smell like the sterile, bleach-heavy air of a hospital. It smelled like expensive oud, aged whiskey, and something dangerously masculine.I blinked my eyes open. The ceiling was charcoal grey, accented with soft, recessed LED lighting."You're a
LauraThe beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the sterile VIP suite.I stared at the white ceiling, my side burning with a dull, throbbing ache. It had been three days. Three days since the surgeons took a piece of my liver and put it into my husband’s body.The door clicked open. I







