LOGINEliana
The hospital ceiling was the same one as last time.
I knew it before I fully came back to myself, that particular pattern of tiles and fluorescent light. Damn, I was becoming a regular at the hospital, wasn't I? First the fire incident, now getting my shit rocked in the alleyway by Damon.
Everything hurts. If I hurt in one place, that would have been manageable. But everywhere hurts, my ribs when I breathe, my c
ElianaThe television mounted on a wall in the restaurant wouldn't shut up. Carl had tried three times, remote pointed at it like a weapon, jabbing the power button with increasing frustration while the press conference played on. Theodore's face filled the screen and the sight of his rather gaunt face tore at my chest."Piece of shit remote," Carl muttered, giving up.I kept my eyes on the plates I was clearing, stacking them carefully, refusing to look up, at the screen yet his voice boomed from the speakers, filling the restaurant."Project Lia represents a development in how we approach technology..."My hands are still on a coffee cup. Project Lia?"Hey." Connie appeared at my elbow, her phone already out. "Isn't Lia your name?""Nickname," I said quietly."Girl." She grabbed my arm. "He's talking abo
ElianaWas it just me or did she look different?There weren't any dramatic changes but her eyes weren't exactly glaring daggers at me anymore."Can you sit?" She gestured at the chair across from her and pushed the chair out with her foot slightly. "Please."I glanced back at the kitchen. Carl was visible through the window, frowning at something on his clipboard."I don't have all day, please make this brief," I said curtly,"One of my followers posted a story last week," she muttered, flicking her thumbs against each other. "They were eating here and you were in the background,""That's what you came here to say?""I've been looking for you for three months." She said quietly. "Dad won't talk about it with me and he just works, comes home and works more. Mathew keeps giving me these lo
Eliana"Lia."His voice filled the small kitchen of my new apartment, low and rough around the edges. It had none of the confident swagger his voice used to have. Or maybe that just became a recording. "I don't know if you're listening to these. I don't know if you'll ever listen to them. But I keep..." He paused, exhaling slowly. "I keep picking up the phone anyway. I don't know what that says about me."I stood at the kitchen counter with my coffee going cold in my hand. My eyes were fixed on the window and the busy buzz on the streets of San Francisco filtered in through it."I miss you." His voice dropped. "I just... I miss you. That's all I called to say."The message ended.I stood there for a long second after, batting my eyelids so hard. Then I set my coffee down, picked up my apron from the counter, and w
TheodoreShe had her back to the door when I came in.The evening light cut sideways across the room, hitting the lilies on every surface. The smell of them reached me before I was fully through the door. It had been a week of having them sent every morning.Eliana was looking at her phone, legs crossed on the bed, hair loose. She heard me and the amused expression on her face turned into a blank slate.How much longer would we have to do this?"Stop sending more flowers. The ward is huge but the flowers everywhere are making it look too small." She nodded at the lilies surrounding the room.I set the food I had brought on the bedside table and pulled the chair close. "Eat.""You say that every time.""Every time because you haven't eaten yet."Her mouth pressed together bu
Third POVTheodore himself, still in his suit jacket from the meeting they had pulled him out of walked in to take in the scene. His eyes swept the room once and found Eliana on the bed, his daughter on the floor. He moved to Eliana without looking at anything else, his hands going to her face, her wrist, the torn IV line hanging loose and bloody from her arm.Maxwell was already on the floor with two men on top of him, face down, his cheek against the hospital tile, arms wrenched behind his back. He strained against the hold until the third man put a knee in his back and he went flat on the ground.Theodore sat on the edge of Eliana's bed and put both arms around her, tugging her into his chest. She dropped her forehead against his chest and closed her eyes.In the corner Serena sat on the floor with her back against the wall, both hands at her throat, her phone in her lap still recordin
Third POVMaxwell had to give it to them.Blackwell's PR team was good. Really good. He had watched them work over the past months and he had to admit, the way they pivoted the narrative, slowly and then all at once, pulling focus from the scandal and redirecting it toward some global launch was a smart move. The board had gone quiet. The investors had retreated, satisfied that they would be making money and all his schemes to take down Blackwell had ended flatly.He sat in his study with the lights off and his drink untouched, admitting to no one but himself and only because there was no one else in the room that he was losing.Everything he had built toward was falling apart. Leslie was in prison, The mole operation was gone. The legal fees he had paid for Leslie's case and the public humiliation of watching his daughter get dragged out of Serena Blackwell's house in handcuffs while half the
Theodore"Your Miss Ashcroft made a compelling case." Henrik Van Der Berg gestured with his wine glass, the crystal catching light from the chandeliers above us. His eyes gleamed with excitement."She did." I replied, scanning the crowd over Henrik's shou
Theodore"So how is she?" Matthew's voice filtered over the phone through the ear pods. I could picture a smug look on his face on the other end and the urge to end the call was a bit too strong. The breakfast buffet was huge wi
ElianaWell, say your prayers, Eliana. You're doomed.Leslie's hand shot out, digging her fingers into my shoulder hard enough to bruise."YOU!" She shook my body, her nails biting through the clothes. "You didn't do
ElianaThe moment Leslie's shoulder hit the door, pushing it wider, I dove. The sheets tangled around my legs as I scrambled under the covers, pulling them over my head. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might crack them.I







