LOGINJerry’s POVI didn’t go straight home after the garage.That would have been pointless. Victories and threats taste better when you let them be.The city was sliding into the evening when I pulled into the private lounge off Mercer, the kind of place that didn’t advertise because it didn’t need to. Soft lighting, soundproof walls, staff trained to forget faces the moment they turned away. I’d chosen it carefully. Victoria was already there.Of course she was.She sat with her back straight, one leg crossed over the other, a glass of white wine untouched in front of her. She looked exactly like she always had—polished, immaculate but there was something sharper in her eyes now. Distance had done that. Distance and resentment tend to refine people.She didn’t stand when she saw me. Just lifted her gaze and smiled faintly, like she’d been expecting me down to the minute.“Jerry,” she said. “You’re late.”“By two minutes,” I replied, taking the seat across from her. “You always exagge
Alex’s POVJerry waited until the hallway was almost empty.That was his style. He was never dramatic or loud but always calculated. He stepped out of the side conference room just as I rounded the corner, like he had timed my stride down to the second.“Alex,” he said pleasantly. “Got a minute?”I didn’t slow. “If this is about the meeting, you already lost.”He fell into step beside me anyway. “Did I?”“Yes.”He smiled like I’d told him something amusing. “Funny because from where I was sitting, you barely kept your chair.”We reached the elevators. I hit the button harder than necessary. “Careful,” I said. “You’re starting to sound bitter.”“No,” Jerry replied. “I’m sounding patient.”That got my attention.The elevator dinged. We stepped inside alone. The doors slid shut, sealing us in polished steel and quiet tension.Jerry straightened his cuffs. “Your mother called me.”I looked at him. “That’s a mistake on her part.”“No,” he said calmly. “It was intentional. She wanted to kn
Alex’s POVMy mother called before the board meeting had even officially adjourned.That alone told me everything.I was still in the building, jacket over my arm, tablet tucked under the other, when my phone buzzed. I didn’t need to look at the screen to know who it was. The timing was too precise. She always knew when something shifted in the company.I stepped into my office and shut the door behind me before answering.“Mother.”“Sit down,” she snapped. “You’re making decisions standing up again.”I did anyway.“So,” she continued, voice tight with contained fury, “do you want to tell me why the board thought it was appropriate to convene an emergency meeting without your notice?”I exhaled slowly. “Because Jerry pushed for it.”“That wasn’t the question,” she said sharply. “The question is why he could.”I didn’t answer fast enough.She took that silence and sharpened it into a blade.“You let them smell blood,” she said. “You let them think you were distracted, vulnerable and d
Alex’s POVThe morning after the wedding didn’t feel different and that was the first thing that unsettled me.I stood in my office with a cup of coffee I’d barely touched, staring out over the city as it woke up below. The Traffic flowed; people hurried to their workplaces. Deals were being made, money moved, power shifted. It was the same as always.And yet I’d married Ariana less than twenty-four hours ago.There was headlines yet. It was a good sign. The news had not been leaked. I loosened my cuffs and sat behind my desk, opening my tablet. The calendar was light which was made intentionally so. I’d cleared today wanting space to breathe, to let the weight of yesterday settle.The universe, apparently, had other plans.The memo landed in my inbox at 9:07 a.m.EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING – 11:00 A.M.Mandatory attendance.There was no agenda for this said meeting. No sender name beyond the generic board address.I didn’t need one.I leaned back slowly, the chair creaking beneath me,
Lexi’s POVI woke up with my head pounding like someone had taken a jackhammer to my skull.I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut, immediately regretting every drink from the night before. My mouth was dry, my body heavy, and my thoughts were foggy and sharp all at once, that was the worst combination. I lay there for a few seconds, trying to remember how I got home, and then fragments of last night rushed in.Ethan, the car, and my mouth are running faster than my brain.“Great,” I muttered to myself.I forced myself out of bed, moving slowly, one hand pressed to my temple. The light around the room felt too much. I shuffled toward the living room, determined to find painkillers before my head split open completely.That was when I saw him.Ethan was asleep on my couch.I stopped short, blinking like maybe my brain was still malfunctioning. He was stretched out awkwardly, one arm thrown over his eyes, shoes kicked off but not neatly, jacket folded and set on the chair like he’d made
Ethan’s POVI had barely caught my breath from the night’s chaos when Lexi announced she was ready to go. She was a little unsteady on her heels, swaying as she leaned into me, her perfume clinging to the small space between us. I muttered a half-hearted promise to get her home safely, and she giggled, twisting her fingers in my jacket sleeve.The drive was mostly quiet at first. She hummed to herself, eyes half-lidded, staring out the window. I kept glancing at her, trying to figure out what kind of mood she was in. Usually, it was easy to read her, but tonight… she was different. She was vulnerable and open, that unsettled me more than I cared to admit.“So…” she said finally, her voice soft and a little slurred. “You just… disappeared on me, huh?”I frowned. “What do you mean?”“You know what I mean,” she said, turning to look at me, her lips quivering into a nervous, drunken half-smile. “I asked for space. I asked you to… to not smother me. And you… you did exactly that. You l







