로그인Serena's POVI woke up alone.The other side of the bed was cold, not even a dent in the pillow. I sat up fast, my heart going stupid in my chest, and called out, "Julian?"Nothing. Just the low buzz of the air conditioning and the sound of the city outside, far below like it didn't matter.I got up and checked the study first. It was empty. Then the kitchen. It was empty too. One of the staff was wiping down the counter and she flinched when she saw my face."Where is he?" I asked."He left early, ma'am. He said he had a meeting.""What meeting?"She looked down at the counter like it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. "I wasn't told, ma'am."I wanted to throw something at her stupid little apron. Instead I smiled, because that's what I do, and told her to bring me coffee.I sat at the table alone, staring at the empty chair across from me, and I felt something crack open in my chest. Julian never used to leave without telling me something. Even when he hate
Serena’s POVThe penthouse felt too quiet after Julian stormed out for that call. I stood by the tall windows, swirling a glass of wine that tasted like victory and ash all at once. My sister’s cheap little secrets were piling up, and I could smell the trouble coming. Lauren thought she was so fucking clever, slipping out in that hoodie like some street rat. But I had people watching. Always.I checked my phone again. Nothing from Vivian yet. That bitch better not be dragging her feet. We’d come too far to let some nobody twin and her dying lapdog Silas screw everything up.My heels clicked across the marble as I paced to the bar and poured another drink. The real Serena was back, and this time I wasn’t letting go. Julian had been cold as ice since I returned, but that would change once Lauren was gone and his money flowed back into the right pockets–mine and Vivian’s. I took a long sip, letting the burn settle. Poisoning him slow had been genius. Headaches, that tired look in his eye
Julian’s POV The air in the study wasn’t just thick, it was suffocating. It felt like the pressure had dropped, signaling a storm that had been brewing for months, and now, it was finally breaking. I sat behind my office desk, the dark wood cool against my wrists, but the rest of me was burning.I’d been waiting for her. Not like a man waiting for his wife's twin, but like a man waiting for a heartbeat he’s forgotten how to live without. When the side door clicked open, my lungs hitched. I didn't need to look up to know it was her. I knew the weight of her footsteps, the way she moved with that quiet, lethal intent, it was street smart and dangerous, a sharp contrast to the polished, shallow porcelain doll currently masquerading as my wife in the penthouse upstairs.Lauren didn’t knock. She never did. She walked in, her damp clothes clinging to her curves, her eyes were dark, burning with a fire that made the rest of the world look like it was fading into gray."Julian."She didn't o
Silas’s POVThe rain kept hammering the roof of the SUV like it wanted to crack it open. I sat there with the laptop still warm on my knees, watching Lauren clutch that fresh drive like it was her last lifeline. Her eyes were bright with that fire she always carried, the kind that made her different from every other woman who’d ever crossed my path. She wasn’t shaking anymore. Good. She needed that steel now more than ever.“You really think this is enough?” I asked, keeping my voice low. The words scraped out easier than they should have. My head was pounding again, that familiar dull throb behind my eyes that never quite left these days.Lauren glanced at me, her jaw set. “It has to be. Serena’s laughing about Marcus like he was nothing. Poison, money, all of it tied to that bitch Vivian. Julian needs to see this tonight.”I nodded, but the motion sent a sharp spike through my skull. I gripped the steering wheel harder to hide it. “Yeah. Tonight. Before that snake slithers away agai
Lauren’s POVThe penthouse still smelled like rain and grief when I slipped back into the living room after Julian left for a quick call. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking from everything I’d just told him. Serena had blood on her hands–Marcus’s blood–and I had the burner phone pics to prove it. But proof wasn’t enough. Not in this fucked up world. We needed more. Something that could bury her for good.I grabbed my phone and texted Silas quick. 'Need to meet. Now. Bring whatever you got from Marcus’s last drop.' My thumb hovered over send for a second before I hit it. Silas had been quiet since the hospital shit, but I knew he was still in this fight with me. Julian might own my heart, but Silas... he was the one who got his hands dirty without asking twice.Ten minutes later, my phone buzzed. Unknown number again. 'Back alley entrance. Five minutes. Come alone.' I deleted it, heart pounding, and grabbed a hoodie from the closet. Julian was still on his call in the study, his voice was
Lauren’s POV The rain kept pouring as I climbed into the black SUV Julian’s security guys had waiting. My dress clung to my skin, but it was nothing compared to the knot in my chest. Marcus was gone. Lowered into that muddy hole while Serena stood there like she was at a damn fashion show. I wiped my eyes, but the tears kept coming. He’d been good to me in his quiet way, slipping me warnings when things got dark. And now? Some bullshit “accident” had taken him out.“Straight to the penthouse, ma’am,” the driver said. “Boss’s orders.”I nodded, sinking back against the seat. Julian’s words echoed in my head. 'Take my security team. Go straight home. Lock the doors.' He saw it too, the way Serena didn’t even flinch at the grave. No real tears, no break in her voice. Just that fake sweetness that made my skin crawl. I’d told him what Marcus shared with me right before it happened. The money trail. The proof pointing straight at Serena and that bitch Vivian. Less than a day later, brakes
Lauren’s POV The rain started before I even reached Silas's building.Seattle didn't do light drizzles. It came down hard and heavy, soaking through my jacket before I'd made it half a block from where I'd parked. I'd told Julian I needed air. Just air. He'd looked at me the way he always did lat
Julian’s POVI stood at the window of my study, watching the rain platter on it heavily. The city lights blurred into nothing. Everything felt off. My wife—Serena, or whoever the fuck she really was these days—was slipping through my fingers, and I hated it.Silas had been waiting outside my door f
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO LAUREN’S POV I yanked my shirt up from the floor with shaking hands and glared at Julian through the mess he had made of me. “You disgusting bastard.” He set the gun down on the desk like it was nothing. “I’ve been called worse,” he said. “By people still alive?” Hi
CHAPTER THIRTYLAUREN’S POVThe car ride to Julian’s headquarters felt like a trap closing in slow motion. I sat in the passenger seat of his black SUV, fingers twisting the hem of the black pencil skirt Nancy had laid out for me this morning. Julian hadn’t said much since breakfast, just that one







