INICIAR SESIÓNAndrea's PovI stood by the fresh mound of earth, the black silk of my dress catching the dry wind. I looked down at the single white lily in my hand before letting it fall onto my grandmother’s casket. It had taken her a year to even begin to recover from the night Philip died, and now, she was gone for good.My eyes drifted to Elias. He stood a few feet away, his jaw set so tight I could see the muscles jumping in his cheek. There was a hollow kind of pain in his eyes that made my own chest ache. I couldn't stand to look at him for long. I turned on my heel and walked toward my car, the gravel crunching under my heels. I didn't go home. I drove straight to the glass-and-steel monolith that was the Scott Enterprise building.I bypassed the security desk, my face enough of a clearance, and entered the elevator. I pressed the button for the top floor. When the doors slid open, I didn't knock. I barged into the CEO’s office, the heavy doors thudding against the wall.Mr. Halter looked u
Elias's PovThe sunlight was the first thing I felt. It didn't feel warm; it felt like a physical weight pressing against my eyelids, forcing me back into a world I wasn't ready to face. My head throbbed with a rhythmic, dull ache that made even the act of breathing feel like a chore. I groaned, shifting my weight, and realized there was a heaviness on the edge of my mattress.I forced my eyes open. Sitting at the foot of my bed, her head resting on her arms, was Andrea.I blinked, trying to clear the fog in my brain. The last thing I remembered was falling into Mara’s arms in the house. Why was Andrea here? I reached out, my hand heavy and sluggish, and touched her shoulder to wake her. She jumped slightly, her eyes snapping open as she sat upright.I sat up too, but the movement made the room spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped my temples. "What are you doing here, Andrea?"She smoothed her hair, looking at me with an expression that was unusually soft, almost pitying. "You dr
Elias Pov I walked past the nurses' station, my footsteps heavy on the tiled floor. I didn't knock. I pushed the door to Dr. Dan’s office open and stepped inside, closing it softly behind me.Dr. Dan was sitting at his office desk, scribbling something on a chart. He looked up, and the color drained from his face instantly. He dropped his pen."Mr. Lawson... I didn't expect to see you," his voice cracked, the words trembling as they left his throat.I didn't answer. I walked to the chair opposite him and sat down. I leaned back, crossing my legs, and just watched him. I didn't blink. I didn't move. The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. Every second that passed made him more unsettled. He started to fidget with his tie, his eyes darting toward the door and then back to me."What... what brings you here, Elias? I heard the news about your grandmother. I am deeply—""How much were you paid to kill her?" I cut him off. My voice was dangerously calm, a flat monotone tha
Mara's PovI stood in front of the door of Grandmother’s room, taking a long, steadying breath, before I pushed the door open quietly. Elias was already there, sitting opposite to her bed. Grandmother was awake, propped up against a mountain of white pillows. Margaret was sitting beside her, carefully holding a small bowl of porridge."I can take over, Margaret," I said softly, stepping into the room. "I’ll feed her."Margaret looked up, a small, grateful smile touching her lips. "Thank you, Miss Mara. She’s been a bit stubborn this morning." She handed me the tray and slipped out of the room, leaving the three of us.“Good morning grandma. How do you feel today?”I said sitting on the edge of the bed, blowing on a spoonful of the warm porridge. Grandmother watched me, her eyes surprisingly clear today."I've missed you, Mara," she murmured, her voice a fragile rasp. She reached out with a trembling hand and covered mine, her skin feeling like dry paper. "I hope you're okay. Hope you'
Andrea's POV I stood in the center of Mara’s bedroom, the silence of the mansion pressing against my eardrums. I watched her as she slept, her chest rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic pace. She looked so peaceful, so untouched by the chaos she had caused in my life.I had never truly cared about Mara. To me, she was just Philip’s wife—a quiet, unremarkable girl who stayed in the background. But that changed the day I found out about her and David. The humiliation of knowing my fiancé had a history with her, that he had loved her first, was like a physical wound on my skin. I looked at her now and wondered what she had that I didn't. How did she do it? How did she make every man in my life fall for her so easily? Was I missing something? Was there some secret to her sweetness that I couldn't grasp?I stepped closer to the bed, my shadow stretching out over her blankets until it covered her completely. My eyes landed on the spare pillow resting beside her head. A dark, heavy though
Andrea's POV "I don't have time for this, Andrea. Get the fuck off me!"David’s voice didn't just carry anger; it carried a deep disgust that felt like a physical slap to my face. I didn't let go. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face into the fabric of his shirt, clinging to him as if my life depended on the heat radiating from his body. I was a Lawson, a woman who usually had the world at her feet, yet here I was, begging for a scrap of affection from a man who clearly hated my touch."No," I whispered, my voice cracking. "I won't."I felt his muscles tense an instant before he acted. He didn't gently peel my arms away; he grabbed my wrists and shoved me back with enough force to send me staggering. My heels skidded on the hardwood floor, and I fell hard, my hip colliding with the edge of the low center table in his small living room. I gasped, reaching out to the table to steady myself, my palm flat against the wood. In my scramble for balance, I felt a small, stiff piece of ca







