MasukTrue to her words, Autumn had started restructuring her entire life around her new goals, one of which included getting background information on Sebastian Thorne.She had previously uncovered that he had lived in America for far longer than he had admitted to anyone who had asked him, a gap in his timeline that raised every alarm in her head.“Sorry we are late!” a lively voice broke through the quiet of her space she was occupying.“Yeah, well, someone just had to make a stop on the way,” the second voice chimed in, throwing an accusatory look at his companion as they walked into the room and sat down.“Hey, I needed to get something for Tummy!” The first male spoke up defensively, stepping forward and handing over a white cardboard box held in his hands. “Here, Tummy.”Autumn didn’t waste any time tearing into the box, her fingers lifting the lid.“Is this...?” Tears instantly welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision as the sweet scent hit her nose.“Yeah. It’s from that small ba
Autumn had returned late in the night, the front door clicking shut softly behind her as she stepped into the quiet apartment. The glow of the city skyline filtered through the blinds, casting long shadows across the living room. She moved slowly, her aching body protesting every step, and sat down heavily on the dining chair, staring directly at the precise mash of papers arranged in front of her on the tabletop by Anita.She rested her good arm on the wood, her eyes lowering to the bright screen of her laptop. She sat down staring at the unread message sitting at the top of her inbox. It was the application forms for the ministry competition, the exact career milestone, the very same opportunity she had been relentlessly pursuing for months to reach. It was now sitting right within her grasp, just a single click away.“But what good is it now?” her voice, even though soft and raspy from crying, rang out like an echo in the quiet living space.She leaned back against the hard chair,
“Eric, we need to talk,” she spoke again, calling out his name as she took another step further into the office, the door clicking shut behind her.“I don't have anything to talk to you about. If you are done with Finn, see yourself out,” he uttered coldly at her.; his eyes never strayed for a second from the document resting in his hand, his pen poised over the page.“Yes, we do! We need to talk about the custody arrangements,” she said, planting her feet firmly on the carpet and standing her ground against his overwhelming presence. “I cannot keep on coming here whenever you feel like it, whenever you decide to call me! Eric, I am not your maid. He is your son as well.”“So what you are saying is your nonexistent job is more important than your own son?”He finally fixed his gaze on her, dropping the document in his hand onto the desk with a thud. His eyes locked onto hers with an intensity.“I never said that!” she hissed at him, her chest heaving as her fists clenched tightly at h
The taxi had stopped in front of the estate gates. Autumn diligently paid the driver, counting out the exact bills with her right hand, before exiting the vehicle into the damp afternoon air. Her mind was a chaotic mess over returning to this place so soon after leaving.Despite the fact that she wanted her son to be here in a secure environment, knowing how what she was doing was and the risk it posed to Finn's life, she couldn't bear being far from him;distant from him while threats lurked around them.She lifted her chin, taking an intake of breath, and walked in through the tall iron gates with her head held high, even though her heart and mind were both restless and in deep turmoil with each other. Every step across the gravel driveway felt like walking into a trap, but she kept her pace steady.As she crossed the threshold into the grand foyer, a few maids rushed past her in a flurry, their faces pale with anxiety. ‘What was that about?’ she hummed softly to herself in thought,
Present day.Autumn sat down calmly at the dining table, her good hand resting flat on her forehead as she massaged her temples, trying to push a forthcoming headache away. For the last few days, she had spent almost every single waking moment sitting in front of the screen, painstakingly redoing everything she had remembered, every single detail, every hidden account number, and every ledger entry she had lost when her tablet shattered.A few figures she hadn’t been able to recall perfectly. She was still human, after all, but the vast majority of the data she had remembered with clarity. She only had a small problem remaining: all she needed to do now was cross-check her written notes against the files she had gotten them from. But the second question stared right in the face: ‘how’ Was she going to cross-check them?She doubted Nigel would hand her his computer again to let her copy the files he held on Miranda's will. Trying to cross-check her notes with his files without authoriz
A few days ago.As soon as the finalized divorce certificate was placed in his hand, Eric had stormed out of her hospital room without a single backward glance, his heavy footsteps echoing furiously down the quiet corridor with Gabriel trailing closely behind him.“Is the plane ready for New York?” Eric asked, his voice sharp and clipping through the cold hallway air.“Yes, sir,” came Gabriel's curt reply, keeping pace beside him.Gabriel held his tongue, but his mind was racing. He had vividly seen Eric’s utterly distraught state when he first landed at Heathrow, thinking something terrible had happened to her. So it came as a profound shock to see Eric act with such coldness toward Autumn in that room even going as far as to personally initiate the divorce proceedings and fast-track them within twenty-four hours. Gabriel had honestly thought his boss loved her above everything else. He had seen the terrifying madness that took over Eric when she had left without a word five years ag
The day after the gala, the Headinberg estate was enveloped in a deceptive quiet. The morning sun filtered through the high windows, but the atmosphere inside was thick with the aftermath of the previous night’s revelations. In the morning room, the large television was tuned to the entertainment n
It had been two days since the wedding fiasco. Two days of radio silence from the outside world.While the media was undoubtedly setting itself on fire—speculating about Chloe, Fin, and Kingston Dynasty—we had been tucked away in the safety of the Headinberg estate. Eric had decided to work from ho
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







