Mag-log inCassiaHe didn't know what to do, but I did.I watched Vincent walk away from me, his hands dragged through his hair like the weight of his own guilt was physically crushing him, and I stood in that hallway with my arms wrapped around myself so tightly I could feel my own ribs. The moment he disappeared around the corner, I dropped the act. The trembling lip, the red-rimmed eyes, the soft voice, all of it collapsed off my face like a mask hitting the floor.A scoff escaped me before I could stop it. *This man.* This same man who used to pull me into his chest in the middle of the night, who used to press his mouth against my hair and tell me nobody else existed. That same man just kissed her forehead in front of me like I wasn't even standing there. Like I was furniture. Like I was a ghost he'd already forgotten how to see.I turned toward Nyelle's door and reached for the handle, then stopped the second footsteps rounded the corridor, a nurse appeared with a clipboard tucked unde
VincentThe moment I stepped into the mansion, my phone vibrated.Knox.I answered immediately while following the nurses pushing Nyelle's hospital bed toward her room. My eyes never really left her. Even unconscious, somehow she was still the first thing my attention found."Hey, buddy." Knox sounded unusually excited. "I found something interesting."My steps slowed. "What is it?""You remember that night on the rooftop? I kept telling you the blackmailer's signal felt too close to where you were standing." I heard papers shuffling on his end before he continued. "I finally confirmed it. I even mapped the signal. I'm sending you the pictures now."A notification appeared on my phone. I opened it and saw several lines stretched across the rooftop before ending at one exact location.My heart skipped.That spot...It was exactly where Nyelle had been standing that night.I stared at the screen for so long that I almost forgot Knox was still talking."So?" he asked. "Did you see anybody
Vincent"The real person behind everything... is Nyelle."For a moment, I genuinely thought I had misheard her. The reporters erupted instantly. Questions flew across the room. Cameras flashed nonstop. Voices overlapped until the entire hall became one loud blur, but I couldn't hear any of it properly. I was staring at the nurse. The same woman who had sat in front of me crying. The same woman who had confessed everything. The same woman who had told me exactly how Leon manipulated her, exactly how drugs were switched, exactly how my father had almost died once because of it. Now she was standing on a stage, looking me straight in the eye, and telling a completely different story.I pushed through the reporters and grabbed her arm before security could react. "What are you doing?" I demanded, my voice low and shaking with barely controlled anger. "This isn't what you told me." Her entire body stiffened beneath my grip, but she still refused to look at me. That alone made my stomach
VincentDone." The word barely left the man's mouth before I moved.One second he was standing there with that disgusting smirk on his face, and the next, I had him pinned against the wall so hard that the frame hanging beside him crashed to the floor."Who sent you?" My voice echoed through the hallway.The nurses froze. The doctors stopped moving.Everyone turned to look at us. "Who the hell sent you?" I roared, grabbing his collar tighter.For a brief second, panic flashed across his face. He immediately raised both hands to shield himself. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about—""Liar!" I shoved him harder against the wall.Just minutes ago, I had left Nyelle's room. Minutes. Now her monitors were screaming and doctors were fighting to stabilize her.The timing wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't be.Before I could force another answer out of him, the man suddenly shoved me backward with surprising strength and took off running."Stop him!" I pointed down the hallway."Securi
VincentThe doctor had already explained it twice. Ronan had explained it too.Yet somehow, hearing the words again felt like someone was driving a knife deeper into my chest."Mr. Hale, your wife's surgery was successful. Right now, we're waiting for her to wake up. The injuries were severe, and we honestly can't predict what will happen next."My hand shot out fast and grabbed the front of his coat. The doctor's eyes widened immediately. Around us, several nurses froze. "What do you mean you can't predict what happens next?" My voice came out dangerously low.The doctor swallowed. "Sir, please calm down—""Calm down?" I laughed. The sound didn't even feel like mine.My fingers tightened around his coat. "You just told me my wife might not survive and you're asking me to calm down?"The doctor's face turned pale. Ronan rushed forward immediately."Boss."I ignored him. All I could see was Nyelle.The last time I saw her awake, she had been glaring at me with those stubborn eyes of he
CassiaI couldn't breathe properly. No matter what I did, my mind kept dragging me back to the same scene that happened earlier today.Then the worst part of all, was him carrying her in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world while I stood there watching.My fingers dug so deeply into my palms that they hurt.Still, it wasn't enough.I spun around the living room again, pacing so fast that my heels clicked loudly against the marble floor. My hand disappeared into my hair, ruining the perfect style I had spent over an hour creating that morning. I didn't care. Nothing felt right anymore"That stupid girl..." The words slipped through my teeth.The second she entered my life, everything became a competition.Back in highschool, it was always the same story. The boys I liked looked at her, the teachers praised her and people remembered her. Not me.It was always her.I still remembered one afternoon so clearly it felt like it happened yesterday. A boy I had liked for
NyelleMy heart stopped immediately. The blood drained from my face as panic crashed into me so hard that I almost forgot how to breathe. Did I just get caught? My fingers tightened around the burner phone and suddenly it felt like the heaviest thing in the world. Vincent was walking toward me no
Vincent "You don't remember it?" I asked, my brows slowly pulling together as I searched her face. The question seemed simple enough, yet something about her reaction bothered me. Cassia's smile froze for the briefest second before she quickly recovered. She reached up and touched the necklace res
Vincent"Everyone..." My voice echoed across the hall, instantly silencing the room. Conversations died down one after another as dozens of eyes turned toward me. Nyelle stood beside me, her wrist still in my grasp, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and disbelief.Leon was standing
NyelleA smirk slowly spread across my lips as I watched Cassia struggle to keep the fear off her face. For years, I'd watched her stand above me, looking down at me like I was nothing. For years, she'd taken everything she wanted while I stayed silent. Yet right now, standing in front of me with r







