LOGINDamonThe rain continued to hammer relentlessly against the high glass windows of Dr. Harrison’s private, off-the-grid medical suite.Dr. Harrison had been my father’s most trusted physician before Mara systematically pushed him out of the family's inner circle three years ago. He was a man of integrity, someone who owed nothing to the empire and whose silence could be bought only with the truth.Mia sat right beside me, her small hand tightly wrapped around mine beneath the table. Her presence was the only thing keeping the roaring, murderous storm inside my chest from breaking out and burning the entire city to the ground.Dr. Harrison adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses, his face growing paler with every single page he turned. He spent nearly forty minutes studying the daily toxicology charts, the blood panel printouts, and the unredacted autopsy notes from my father’s final thirty days alive.The silence in the room was suffocating, heavy enough to drown in.Finally, Dr. Harrison
Mia My hands trembled as I scrambled away from the dark, wet smears on the pavement. The cold wind howled through the barren trees of Oakridge Park, but the ice settling in my veins had nothing to do with the weather.I fumbled with my phone, my bloody, wind-chilled fingers slipping across the glass. I dialed Damon’s private line.*Pick up. Please, God, Damon, pick up.*"Mia?"The sound of his voice—deep, steady, and attentive—broke through the deafening roar of panic in my ears. The low hum of chatter in the background told me he had just stepped out of the board meeting."Damon..." My voice cracked, a ragged sob tearing from my throat. "She took her. Mara took her.""Mia? Where are you? What happened?" The background noise on his end vanished."Are you hurt?""I'm at Oakridge Park. Athena called me—she was crying, Damon, she was terrified. She said she had the original physical ledgers, the ones signed by Marcus and Mara. She wanted to turn them over to us in exchange for an escape
MiaJim reached out, grabbing Damon’s hand, and squeezed it tight."Yeah," Jim said, his clear little voice carrying over the crowd, filled with unreserved pride. "He's my dad. And he’s my hero."Damon stiffened. A sharp, ragged breath caught in his throat. For a second, the formidable CEO looked undone.He dropped to his knees on the damp grass, pulling Jim into a hug so tight, that it felt as if all the dark, painful years of his past were finally being washed away forever.The peace of our weekend felt like a distant dream the moment Monday morning hit, but nothing could have prepared me for the call that came through mid-afternoon.I was sitting at my desk in my private office, staring at a stack of quarterly reports that I couldn't bring myself to read. My mind was still replaying the sight of Damon on that grass field, holding Jim close, the shadows in his eyes dissolved by the sound of a little boy calling him his dad. We were so close to winning this war. We had the momentum
Mia The silence that fell over our side of the dining table as Marcus put on his performative outrage was absolute. Watching him yell at Athena, watching Mara’s tight, pale face as her constructed facade splintered.I didn't utter another word for the rest of that evening. I didn't need to. The trap was already sprung.In the days that followed that catastrophic dinner at the mansion, I simply sat back and watched the dominoes begin to fall. When you back a group of desperate, corrupt people into a tight corner, you don't even have to strike the final blow—they will inevitably do it for you. Damon and I chose to leave their filth where it belonged: behind closed doors.Friday morning brought a crisp, clear blue sky, free of the choking gray smog of the city. It was the day of Jim’s school annual Family Sports Day.I stood on the wide, manicured grass field of the elementary school, holding two cold bottles of water, wrapped in a comfortable oversized sweater. Parents were scatter
Damon I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the penthouse suite, tightening my dark silk tie.My knuckles were bruised and split from the fight, the ache in my hand a constant reminder of the flash drive Mara’s hound had stolen off my dining table. She thought she had won. She thought that by stealing the physical metal drive, she had erased her crimes and buried my father’s murder forever.She was wrong.Mara was a creature of pride. She believed that striking from the shadows and taking away my evidence would break me, forcing me into a corner where I’d surrender the company to save Mia and Jim. But she didn't know I had spent my whole life studying her every move. She wanted a game? I was going to give her a war.When her formal invitation to a private family dinner at the mansion arrived on my phone early that afternoon, framed as a "reconciliation meal" before the upcoming board vote, I didn't decline. I accepted immediately.I turned around as Mia stepped into th
Mia The pitch-black darkness pressed in on us.Panic surged through my veins, hot and blinding. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, and for a split second, the horrifying memories of the gala—the drug, the cold hands, the dark alleyway—rushed back, threatening to swallow me whole. The silence in the penthouse was broken only by the faint electronic beep of the backup battery dying out as the entire security system went into a hard lockdown."Damon—" I gasped, my voice barely a whisper in the suffocating dark.Before the word could fully leave my lips, a pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around me with speed.Damon didn't hesitate. In one swift, fluid motion, he pulled me completely behind his broad frame, using his own body as an impenetrable shield. His grip on my waist was firm, grounding, and fierce. His chest rose and fell against my back in steady, controlled bursts, his instincts kicking into high gear with the lethal precision of a man who had been pre
MiaA lump formed in my throat as the words I wanted to say, the revelation that hung at the tip of my tongue was swallowed back. I kept my expression neutral as I nodded.“I’m sorry Mr Nova. It won’t happen again.” Silence stretched through minutes when I heard his footsteps. Before I knew it, ar
Mia“Congratulations Mrs Nova, you’re pregnant.”The words made my mind go blank. In the walls of the company’s restroom, only a light buzzing sound remained. Pregnant…“Mrs Nova?” “Yes,” I blurted out, my voice deceitfully calm despite the blood roaring in my ears, “I'm sorry. Please continue.”
MiaI felt the gazes of my co-workers trailing me as I moved towards my office. Some looked away once I met them. Others remained, offering small smiles. They both held the same thing.Sympathy. Pity.By now I was sure the entire company was aware. There was nothing I could do about it but ignore i
MiaDamon’s voice cut cleanly through mine. I turned to him.On his usually impassive face was something I couldn't read, but perhaps it was my imagination. Soon after he looked at me harshly.“Don’t be unreasonable Mia.” he said, “Athena is staying. Why would she need to leave when her family is h







