Mag-log inHunched over on the edge of the bed, her eyes were already wide awake long before the crack of dawn. She kept replaying the past six years on a continuous loop in her mind. ‘Maybe I should have just returned back home to my family. Maybe it would have been so much better if I had just gotten another job somewhere else.’ All those painful thoughts and more were the only things she could focus on. She knew she couldn’t take back the actions she had already taken in her past, but she could certainly make up for them in the future.“Enough wallowing on his infidelity. I need to focus on uncovering the truth about Miranda and finding more concrete evidence of Sebastian's attempts on my life,” she whispered-yelled to herself, slapping her cheeks lightly to break the trance of her grief.“With Eric gone across the Atlantic, I need to move quickly,” she said, getting up from the bed and moving to grab her phone.Now that her emotions were back in check, she was far more rational, more clear
Eric stood in the middle of the courtyard. He checked his wristwatch before looking up at the gray London sky. ‘Where is she? I know that we argued, but she promised she would see me off,’ he thought, a dark look settling over his features.“You,” he called out to a passing maid who was busy placing his luggage into the car’s trunk. “Go tell my wife that I am leaving right now.”The maid scrambled to a bow, quickly got back to her feet, and hurried inside the estate to relay the urgent message sent to her.Eric stood outside in the chill air for almost five minutes before the maid finally returned but it was only Fin walking by her side. Eric looked behind her, expecting to see Autumn’s familiar figure emerging from the doors, but the courtyard remained empty save for the two of them. He reached out to give Fin a brief hug before settling his icy gaze back onto the trembling maid.“Where is my wife?” he asked coldly, his temper fraying since she still hadn’t shown up.“Madam said she
“What were you doing alone with her?” she asked, her face contoured in rage.“Autumn, she was just dropping off some files,” he replied back defensively, grabbing a fresh shirt from the wardrobe to put on.“You must take me for a fool, huh?” she asked, staring at him with a glare.“I never said you were a fool. I only told you the exact truth,” he sighed exasperatedly. “Sophia was only here to hand over the files I need for my New York trip tonight,” he answered her.“How convenient,” she let out a mocking laugh. “She could only hand them over to you directly in your bedroom while you were half-dressed.”“Correction—our bedroom. And she was the one who walked in on me like this,” he stated, his fingers quickly buttoning up the front of his shirt.“Yes, our bedroom. God knows how many other women you have fucked in it!” She let out a broken laugh at the thought. “You disgust me,” she said flatly.“I am going to let that comment go, solely because you are pregnant and I see it as your h
The low purr of an engine coming to a halt resonated through the courtyard, and a pair of designer stilettos stepped out of the vehicle. The woman exuded a calm, unperturbed aura, her posture rigid with confidence.Her heels clicked softly against the pavement as she made her way into the main building, her objective already crystal clear in her mind.“Miss Sophia? What are you doing here?” a familiar voice called out, causing her to turn around.“Chloe, my dear! It is so good to see you,” Sophia replied smoothly, feigning perfect civility. “I am just here to drop off some important documents for your uncle,” she added, answering the earlier question with an easy smile.“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other,” Chloe said, moving forward to hug her, kissing her cheeks lightly as she did so.“Yeah, it really has been since I moved out,” Sophia murmured, though the underlying ambiguity in her tone was loud and clear. “I have just been swamped with work lately.”“Well, I will leav
The sound of footsteps echoed through the grand estate as a figure walked down the stairs. Autumn was dressed simply in jeans, a plain t-shirt, a soft scarf, and a heavy woolly coat, yet she looked every bit the mistress of the estate. Her footsteps were light and unhurried as she neared the foyer.“Where are you headed off to?”Eric’s deep voice cut through the silence of the room, halting every single thought she had. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweatpants, looking relaxed and easygoing.‘Shit,’ Autumn thought, her heart skipping a beat. Outside, she quickly smoothed her expression. “I was going to the bank. I wanted to properly document the jewelry under my custodianship,” she answered, doing her best to remove any hint of suspicion from her tone.“Okay,” he replied smoothly.Autumn mentally let out a sigh of relief at his easy answer, but her victory was short-lived.“I am coming with you,” he added.Autumn tensed up all over again, her muscles freezing. “Th-there...
Late that evening, Autumn finally stood up from the armchair after spending the entire day sorting out her competition portfolio. Her body ached all over from sitting for so long, but her mind was more focused than ever before.Hiding this from Eric will do me no good; the least he would say if he found out later is 'I told you so,' she thought, gently rubbing her sore lower back as she contemplated her options. ‘But telling him out of nowhere that I was secretly looking into his deceased mother’s death would make me look unhinged and psychotic.’ She sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ears.“But I still need to tell him about Sebastian,” she whispered to the empty room, letting out a breath. “I will just gather concrete evidence of the attempts before I tell him anything about it.”“Gather evidence before telling who about what?”Eric’s deep voice cut through her rambling, stopping her train of thought dead in its tracks.Autumn stiffened slightly before quickly masking
The morning sun filtered through the high windows of the estate, casting long, golden rectangles across the breakfast table. It was the first morning since the hospital that the air felt light. "Chloe, this will help you feel better," I said, gently setting down a bowl of special steaming porridge
The " Neon Light" motel she described was even grimmer up close. It was nearly midnight by the time Eric’s tires screeched into the cracked asphalt lot. The place looked like it had seen better days decades ago; now, it was just a graveyard for broken dreams and people who were hiding from life and
THE VENUEIt was finally the day of the wedding—Chloe’s wedding.The venue, a sprawling botanical garden on the outskirts of the city, was decorated with a level of opulence that only the Kingstons could afford. White roses and hydrangeas cascaded from every archway, crystal chandeliers hung from t
We talked late into the night, the television long since forgotten. The conversation had drifted from the disaster of the wedding to safer, quieter topics—Finn’s new school, the security protocols for the house, the logistics of living under siege. I yawned, a jaw-cracking sound that I couldn't su







