LOGINAutumn woke up feeling fresh and relieved.Her mood was lighter, more relaxed. She couldn’t help smiling to herself as she ate breakfast.“Good morning, ma’am,” Anita greeted her with a warm smile, immediately noticing the change in her expression. She had to do a double take. This was not the same woman she had left the afternoon before.“Good morning, Anita,” Autumn replied, still carrying that same peaceful look.“Had a good sleep, ma’am?” Anita asked, more out of curiosity than courtesy.“Wonderful rest. I haven’t slept like that in days.”“You look like you did.” Anita gave her a longer look. “You look really good this morning, ma’am. Really beautiful.” She added a small wink before turning back to the counter she was wiping.“Oh—thank you,” Autumn said, a little surprised. A faint blush rose on her cheeks at the compliment.She finished her breakfast in silence while scrolling through her emails. Out of curiosity, she switched to her front camera. She did look better. Her hair s
At King’s ConstructionEric’s foot tapped rhythmically against the floor, each tap sharper than the last, feeding his growing annoyance.*Why do I need to be here?* He drummed his fingers on the armrest. *Why can’t they just handle the meeting and send me the minutes?*The boardroom was filled with executives from both Omni Core and King’s Construction, but Eric’s mind was nowhere near the presentation.It was on Autumn.He wanted nothing more than to drive straight to her apartment and see her with his own eyes — to make sure she was okay. The thought of another man taking care of her while she was vulnerable sat like poison in his chest.*What if he…*The unfinished thought alone made his blood boil. The idea of Ezra using her moment of fragility to get closer to her was enough to make his hands itch for violence.He would break the man’s hands if he ever found out something like that had happened.Concentration was impossible. Every time Gabriel reported another one of Ezra’s visit
ElsewhereGus sat with his shoulders hunched, eyes locked on the screen in front of him. His eyes were bloodshot, veins standing out clearly, the exhaustion bleeding into the sockets.He hadn’t had proper sleep in days — not since Ezra told him what had happened to Autumn. The moment the call came from the hospital hallway, guilt had slammed into him like a physical force.The tracker on her phone had gone offline for over an hour. Ezra hadn’t been answering. That alone had sent Gus into a spiral.When Ezra finally picked up and relayed everything, regret hit him all at once.He couldn’t shake the feeling that the attempt on her life was partly his fault. He had suspected the server was a trap, yet instead of telling Autumn directly, he had only mentioned his doubts to Ezra. That had been a mistake. If he had shared his suspicions with her, she might have taken them more seriously than she took Ezra’s warnings.She had come to them for help.Ezra had always been the overprotective one
“Take those to the car,” Chloe instructed the maid as she finished loading the last box.*I just need to leave without him knowing. I don’t want to get on his bad side,* she thought, remembering Eric’s explosive temper over the past couple of weeks. Living with him had been hell.His mood swung between hot and cold — hot meaning pure anger and snapping at everyone, cold meaning complete emotional detachment where he treated people like they were invisible.No one was safe from his temper, not even Finn.She had been doing her best to avoid him at all costs.“Where are you headed?” Eric’s voice suddenly called out from behind her.Chloe felt the blood drain from her face.“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” he repeated when she failed to answer within the three seconds he expected.*I don’t know which mood he’s in this time. His tone sounds cold, but the words feel hot,* she thought bitterly.She turned to face him. His expression was impassive, but his eyes showed he was on the edge of sn
The sound of the television was the only thing that filled the quiet apartment.Autumn lay on the sofa, wrapped in a thick woolly blanket, her attention fixed on the screen. Her breathing was the only real sign that life still existed in her body. She hadn’t moved in hours.The sound of the front door opening and closing finally pulled her gaze away from the television.Ezra stood at the entrance, a bag of groceries in one hand. Snow still clung to his coat as he carefully shrugged it off.“You’re still lying there?” he asked when he noticed her eyes on him.She turned back to the TV after confirming it was him. “Yes,” was all she said.“Have you even moved since I left?” He carried the bag into the kitchen.She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The answer was already obvious.After putting the groceries away, he stepped back into the living room with a bowl in his hands.“Anita told me you haven’t eaten.” He walked over and held the bowl out to her. “I know you’re still shaken up ab
Autumn sat by the window, staring out at the busy street below the hospital. The distant sounds of traffic and people moving about had a strangely hypnotic effect on her mind.She had been brought here two days ago with only minor injuries — scratches and bruises she sustained during her struggle with Sebastian.It had taken hours of pleading and bargaining (with quiet pressure from Ezra that Autumn wasn’t fully aware of) to stop the hospital from reporting the incident to the authorities. On paper, it looked like a domestic dispute that had turned into assault.But Autumn didn’t want the matter to go any further. If she pushed it, Sebastian — a master manipulator — would spin the entire story against her. She could lose the opportunity she had been given. Since she hadn’t lost her life, she refused to lose this as well.That was exactly what she had told Ezra when he called her insane for protecting Sebastian. He had argued that Sebastian could easily claim self-defence. In the end,
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







