เข้าสู่ระบบDMITRI’S POVI stepped out of the elevator and started down the hallway toward my office, shaking my head slightly at what had just happened. Some people really didn’t know how to take a hint. I’d lost count of how many times I’d tried, subtly, to signal to that man not to make such a scene over a broken elevator. A quick nod here, a small glance there, anything to keep him from turning a minor inconvenience into a full apology tour performed in front of an audience. He’d already apologized once over the phone, hours earlier. There was no need to repeat it, especially not in front of Anabel. What was his name again? I genuinely couldn’t remember. All I knew was that he was part of the maintenance team working on getting my private elevator back online, and apparently he considered every encounter with me another opportunity to grovel. I was lucky, at least, that Anabel hadn’t fully connected the pieces yet. She hadn’t looked at that bowing, stammering man and reached the obviou
ANABEL’S POV He didn’t look like someone who was married, not in any way I could immediately tell, and I’d already been to his house once before, hadn’t I? I quickly ran back through the memory, searching for anything I might have missed. I didn’t remember seeing another woman there, nothing beyond the maids quietly moving through the halls, nothing that suggested another woman actually lived there with him. Granted, I hadn’t stepped foot into his main bedroom or seen the parts of the house that would have told me anything for certain. Maybe she simply hadn’t been around that day, wherever she was. Then again, considering the state I’d woken up in that morning, completely disoriented and barely able to piece together where I even was, I couldn’t exactly blame myself for missing something as important as another woman’s presence in the house. My mind hadn’t been in any condition to notice details like that. Still, he already knew everything about my situation, who I was married to a
ANABEL'S POV"Mind if I join?" he said, stepping into the elevator just as the doors began sliding shut, his voice easy, casual, like the question was barely worth asking at all. The second it left his mouth, though, it struck me as strangely funny, almost cringeworthy in its own small way. It wasn't as though I could have stopped him even if I'd wanted to; the doors hadn't closed yet, and he'd clearly already decided he was getting in regardless of what I said back.I'd genuinely wanted to see him again before I left for the day, some small, stubborn hope I hadn't quite managed to shake, sitting quietly in the back of my mind through every folder I'd filed and every hallway I'd walked down. But I never expected it to actually happen like this, caught off guard in an elevator neither of us had planned on sharing at exactly this moment. It felt like every single time our paths crossed, it happened in the exact instant I least expected it, some strange, recurring pattern that was gettin
ANABEL’S POVToday was my first day at the office, and it wasn’t really the way I’d expected it to be. My office was small, barely big enough to fit the desk and the single filing cabinet crammed into the corner beside it, but it was mine. After weeks of feeling like a burden taking up space on Chloe’s couch, even four small walls and a door that actually closed felt like more than I’d had in a long time.I ran my hand along the edge of the desk for a moment before sitting down, letting myself truly absorb the reality of it.An office. A real job.Something that wasn’t the lounge, wasn’t Miles’s money, wasn’t anyone doing me a favor out of guilt or obligation. I’d take this over anything else. Over sitting uselessly at Chloe’s place, scrolling through job listings that never called back. Over ever setting foot in that lounge again for as long as I lived.A woman named Priya from two desks down stopped by not long after I settled in, dropping a small stack of folders onto my desk with
ANABEL’S POVI sat cross-legged on Chloe’s bed, picking at a loose thread on the comforter while I waited for her to finish up in the shower. The sound of running water filtered faintly through the cracked bathroom door. I’d been bursting to tell her everything since the moment it happened, and the whole drive over here I’d rehearsed exactly how I wanted to say it. Now that I was actually sitting here waiting, all that rehearsed calm had mostly evaporated into restless energy.“Hurry up in there,” I called out, loud enough for her to hear over the water. “I have actual news, Chloe.”“You’ve been saying that since you walked in the door,” she called back, her voice slightly muffled. “It can wait two more minutes.”“It’s been like fifteen minutes already.”“Then it can wait one more.”I huffed and flopped back against her pillows, staring up at the ceiling while I waited. My mind kept circling back to the moment I still hadn’t fully processed. The water finally shut off a moment later,
CIERRA’S POVI stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom, turning slightly to the side as I studied the way the deep emerald gown hugged my waist before flaring out just enough to look expensive without trying too hard. My eyes immediately dropped to my tummy, and I couldn’t help noticing the small baby bump that had already started to show.I cursed under my breath.Seriously? It had to start showing now, of all times?How was I supposed to look snatched in the dress I was wearing if that little bump was already visible?Becky sat cross-legged on my bed behind me, a tablet propped against her knees as she lazily scrolled through the guest list she'd managed to get from one of her contacts after the invitations went out.I’d been trying on dresses for the better part of an hour, tossing one after another onto the growing pile at the foot of the bed. None of them quite hit the exact look I was going for. I needed something that screamed money without screaming desperation,
ANABEL'S POV I took a small breath, steadying my emotions and finally pushing away all the tears I'd been crying for the past few minutes. Every now and then, I could still feel the heaviness lingering in my chest, but I couldn't keep breaking down forever. There was no room for tears anymore. Y
ANABEL’S POVA man stood there holding a glass loosely in one hand, his expression calm but amused. Even through my blurry vision, I could tell he was attractive. Very attractive.Tall, dark hair, sharp jawline.The kind of face people noticed immediately.I stared at him blankly for a moment befor
ANABEL’S POVI woke up the next morning emotionally exhausted.The moment I opened my eyes, reality settled over me again. Cierra remained in the house. Miles was still avoiding me. And somehow everything that had happened over the past few days still seemed impossible to process even after everyth
ANABEL’S POV~ Four Days Later ~The atmosphere inside the church felt heavy the moment I stepped in.Soft instrumental music drifted through the speakers while low whispers spread across the room, as though people were afraid to speak too loudly around death.Everyone was dressed in black, their f







