Mag-log inElise’s POVIt’s been two weeks since that night at the bar.Two weeks since I kissed Christian Harrington like a woman who had lost all sense of self-preservation. Two weeks since his mouth was on mine and I let myself fall headfirst into something I know I shouldn’t want. I can’t stop thinking about him.I stand in my small kitchen, stirring the risotto slowly, the scent of garlic and saffron filling the air. My hands are trembling slightly. I invited him for dinner tonight. I told myself it was to talk more about everything he is going through with Diane, but that excuse is getting thinner by the day. The truth is simpler and far more dangerous.I want to see him again.The doorbell rings and my heart leaps into my throat. I wipe my hands on a dish towel, smooth down my simple black dress, and walk to the door. When I open it, Christian is standing there looking devastatingly handsome in a dark button-down and slacks, a b
Diane’s POVI expect him to get up at least once during those four long hours. To pace the room or leave me to do something. But Jason just sits there on the couch in the corner of my office, silent and unmoving, like a man waiting for judgment day.When I finally stand up and grab my bag, he rises without a word.“Let’s go,” I sigh.He nods slowly and takes my bag from my hand, like he always does.Elise glances up from her desk as we pass. “Home early?” she asks, her voice carefully neutral.I nod. “Cancel the rest of my meetings. Thank you.”The drive home is suffocatingly quiet. I stare out the window the entire time, watching the city blur past, while Jason’s presence beside me feels like a storm cloud. Neither of us speaks. The weight of last night occupies the space between us.When we reach the penthouse, the dining table is already set beau
Jason's POVI wake up with a pounding headache and the taste of regret in my mouth.The room feels wrong. It’s everything bad, too cold and too empty. I sit up slowly, rubbing my face as the memories of last night crashes over me like ice water. Diane’s face when I took her hands off my face after everything and her reaction to me punching the hypocritical asshole. The birthday surprise and her friends’ facial expressions when I was leaving. The relief I felt walking away. Elise kissing me and me allowing it.Fuck.I drag myself out of bed and head straight to her bedroom. My heart is hammering as I push the door open, already rehearsing what I’ll say. How sorry I am. How I was spiraling from everything Robert told me. How I never meant any of it.But the room is empty. The bed is made and she’s already gone to work.I stand there like an idiot, staring at the empty space where she should be, and the gu
Diane’s POVMorning light filters through the curtains like it has no right to be so gentle after everything that happened last night.I wake up with a dull headache and an ache in my chest that feels permanent. The jacuzzi water had gone cold hours ago, but I stayed in it anyway, clutching Mom’s diary like a lifeline until my fingers pruned and my eyes burned from crying. Eventually I dragged myself to bed, still wrapped in a towel, and stared at the ceiling until sleep finally claimed me out of pity.Now, the bed feels too big. Too empty. Jason’s side is untouched, the pillow still perfectly fluffed. I reach out anyway, fingers brushing the cold sheets, and the emptiness hits me all over again.I asked him to sleep elsewhere so of course he did. A part of me wishes he tried to talk me out of it but I guess he was too drunk to have a decent conversation.I force myself up, shower mechanically, and get dressed in a simple black pantsuit. I need work. If I stay here any longer, surroun
Diane’s POVThe elevator dings, and I don’t even have the energy to hope anymore.Liam steps out looking like a ghost of the man I used to know. His eyes are bloodshot, shoulders slumped under the weight of the world, hair messy like he’d been running his hands through it for hours. He smells faintly of whiskey, but it’s not enough to hide the devastation rolling off him in waves.“Diane…” His voice breaks the second he sees me. It’s raw and cracked. It’s the kind of sound that comes from someone who’s been screaming into pillows and still hasn’t found relief.He walks straight into my arms, and I hold him. It feels like the right thing to do. His body shakes against mine as quiet, gut-wrenching sobs tear through him.“They found him,” he whispers against my shoulder. “My dad… he’s really gone. They murdered him. And I keep thinking… what was the point of any of it? All the fighting for justice, all the years believing the system would work. It’s all bullshit. Everything’s bullshit.”
Jason’s POVThe elevator doors close behind me, and the penthouse disappears like a bad dream. I don’t look back. I can’t. The image of Diane’s hopeful face that I destroyed is already burned into my mind.I drive aimlessly at first, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles ache. Then I find myself heading toward Ember, the same dimly lit bar where I first approached Elise. Fitting, I suppose.Birthdays. I never celebrate them and I never want to. Because every single one I remember was poisoned by him. Richard Walker.The man I just discovered is my biological uncle. The illegitimate son of my grandfather, just like I was the illegitimate son of my father. Two unwanted bastards from the same powerful bloodline. The irony is so sick it makes me want to laugh until I vomit.I walk into Ember and head straight for the bar. “Whiskey. Double. Keep them coming.”The bartender nods without question. Smart man.I throw back the first glass in one burning swallow. It doesn’t help
I stare at him and he stares back at me like he’s just as confused as I am supposed to be.For a moment, the room is completely silent. Then the shock finally cracks.“What the hell, Jason!” I yell. The sound of my voice feels too loud in the space between us.He exhales slowly, running a hand thro
I stand there rooted to the same position as I hold the picture against my chest. He raises a brow as if expecting a response from me.He’s leaning against the doorframe like he has all the time in the world. Jaw tight, hands in his pockets.‘’You lied to me” I whisper, my voice breaking into crack
We spend the next two hours in the car. I don’t remember deciding to talk. The words just spill out of me like they’ve been waiting for permission. I tell him about the jealousy, the control and the gambling. They way Liam used to twist arguments until I found myself apologizing for things that he
Liam stands a few feet away from me, hands in his pockets and eyes glassy. Even from here, I can smell the alcohol.“Hi Diane.” My name falls from his mouth like it belongs to him.‘’What are you doing here, Liam Reed?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady against my racing heart.“You don’t have







