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Ajax barely caught a glimpse of contrasting colors—white and black—before he propped himself up on one elbow, his bleary eyes fixing on the door.

He blinked several times, attempting to clear his vision, but the harder he tried to focus, the more the pounding in his head intensified. How much had he consumed last night? He couldn’t recall. Every muscle in his body ached as though he’d spent the entire night running a marathon.

Swinging his legs off the bed, he winced as the icy cold tiles stung his bare feet. The room felt like a freezer, and the chill sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

“What the hell did you do?” Vincent’s voice thundered, raw with anger. “I just saw Noémie storming out of the mansion. What the hell went down?”

Ajax didn’t bother addressing his brother’s explosive entrance. Instead, he gritted his teeth and buried his face in his hands. “Calm the hell down,” he growled, his hangover making the pounding in his head unbearable. “Just get me some ibuprofen.”

Vincent clenched his jaw, suppressing the sharp retort on the tip of his tongue. His eyes scanned the disheveled room, taking in the sour stench of sweat and something else he didn’t want to name. The sight of Noémie leaving the mansion in a fury replayed in his mind, fueling his disgust.

With a frustrated sigh, Vincent stalked into the bathroom, tearing through the drawers with reckless abandon. He returned moments later, tossing a bottle of ibuprofen onto the bed beside his slouched brother.

Ajax shielded his eyes when Vincent yanked the curtains open, flooding the room with sunlight.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Ajax snarled, squinting against the blinding rays.

Vincent ignored the outburst. “Take your meds and meet me in the study. We need to talk.”

Without waiting for a response, Vincent turned and stormed out.

As the door slammed shut, Ajax ran his hands through his hair, gripping it tightly in frustration. He struggled to piece together the fragments of the previous night, but all he could summon was the faint image of a blurred face and the memory of a soft, coaxing voice.

And he had given her more—more than he’d ever given anyone.

———

Two months had passed since that night, yet Ajax hadn’t found a moment of peace. It wasn’t just because Noémie Rochester had been an indispensable part of his team; it was because something shifted inside him every time he thought about her. Something strange.

Five months earlier, tragedy had struck Ajax’s life. A devastating car accident had claimed the lives of his wife and their unborn child. The news had shattered him, leaving scars so deep he hadn’t fully confronted them.

His marriage to Linda hadn’t been founded on love, but over time, she had become an irreplaceable presence in his life. When she became pregnant, he’d been overjoyed. They were on the verge of building a family—a dream Ajax hadn’t realized he wanted so badly until it was within reach.

But that dream was obliterated in an instant.

On her way to a routine doctor’s appointment, Linda’s car collided with a truck, killing both her and their unborn child. That day, Ajax lost more than his family. He lost a piece of himself.

After the incident with Noémie, Ajax’s fragile sanity had shattered entirely. In a fit of madness, he fired all the household staff. He couldn’t bear to see anyone in his home—no reminders of normalcy, no witnesses to his unraveling.

Consumed by rage and despair, Ajax became unpredictable and dangerous, both to himself and those around him. His family, fearing for his safety, begged him to seek help. When reasoning failed, they forced him into therapy.

But therapy alone wasn’t enough.

Following his therapist’s advice, the Halest family had embarked on a desperate search for Noémie Rochester. According to the therapist, she held the key to Ajax’s erratic behavior. She was the one person who might be able to reach him.

The family was consumed by a singular hope: that the woman Ajax had driven away—the one whose life he had shattered, whose innocence he had stolen—might be able to save him.

Noémie Rochester was their only chance to pull Ajax Halest back from the brink.