DANIEL'S POV
It's been a month since Cherry left the company. She was accused of plagiarism of jewelry design on the D-day of the competition.I knew she was innocent but I wanted her to leave the company for her own safety.My mother is targeting her. I have tried my best to speak with her but she is still too angry with me and Bruno is trying his very best to take her away from me.“Daniel dear, what are you thinking about?”. Pearl rose from the bed and wrapped her arms around my neck.I don't even understand my feelings again for her. I have slept with her a few times but I don't love her, my heart loves Cherry but Cherry has completely changed.“Nothing, I am just tired and I want to go out for a break”. I got up from the bed and wore my pants.“Daniel, the baby wants another round, can we please do another round, you did it with me just once”. I got so irritated with her.I pushed her off of me and wore mySCOTT'S POVThe morning after that intense dinner, I moved carefully through the hallway, making sure no one saw me as I slipped into Vina’s room. We had to keep up the act— the carefully constructed lie we’d fed my father. No one could know that we didn’t actually sleep in the same room. Not yet. Not while we were still neck-deep in this ocean of secrets and lies that threatened to pull us under with every passing day.As soon as I walked in, I saw Vina already sitting on the edge of the bed. Her posture was stiff, shoulders tense, and her eyes were dark, unfocused, like she was lost in a spiral of thoughts too heavy to say out loud. Her voice was quiet, almost hollow, when she finally spoke.“I never knew your little sister had it in her to kill,” she said, her gaze still fixed on the floor as if afraid that if she looked up, everything would collapse.I walked slowly to the bed and sat beside her, just far enough that our shoulders didn’t touch. “I’m also surprised,” I admitted, tr
VINA'S POV Ivy sat right in front of me at the dining table. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me since I read Jack’s message. I tried to act calm, tried to look normal, but I was shaking all over. I couldn’t help it. My hands were trembling, and even though I kept telling myself to stay strong, my whole body felt like it was vibrating.“What’s wrong?” Scott whispered beside me. He touched my arm gently. That used to calm me down. Not anymore. I didn’t feel anything. I was numb. Empty.I could till feel Richard watching me. His eyes were sharp and cold, like he was trying to read my thoughts. He always watched too closely. Always looked too deep.“Jack’s father is dead,” I whispered under my breath.“What?” Scott shouted. His voice was loud and shocked. Too loud. Everyone at the table froze. Forks stopped halfway to mouths. Glasses were held in the air. The whole table went silent.“Any problem, son?” Nina asked from across the table. Her voice was calm, but I could tell she was paying c
VINA'S POVWhen Scott told me he knew who killed my father, I was expecting a name. A real name. A direct person. But instead, he said, “It’s someone who knows the killer.”I folded my arms and stared at him, disappointed. “That’s not helpful, Scott.”Then he said something that changed everything.“He’s the killer’s son.”That made me stop breathing for a second.“So where is he?” I asked, wasting no time.Scott turned to the man beside him— Jack. Jack looked like he had been waiting to speak, but didn’t want to.Jack sighed deeply before replying. “He’s in prison.”I blinked. “Why?”Jack looked at me with tired eyes. “Your husband-in-law put him there. Mr. Richard is a very intelligent man. He knew keeping him out was a future problem.”I slowly exhaled and nodded. It made sense. Richard always played ten steps ahead.“I need your father’s help,” I said, my voice low but firm. “And I’m very sure he would be interested in getting a perfect revenge for what Richard did to him.”Jack g
ALFRED'S POVAnother trial at the court is less than two weeks away, but Vina and I hadn’t spoken in days. It felt strange not hearing from her, especially now when I needed her the most. She was my lawyer, but more than that, she was my only hope. Still, the silence between us grew like a heavy fog, thick and hard to breathe through. Every day without her call made me feel more alone. I kept checking my phone, hoping to see her name on the screen. But nothing came. No messages. No calls. Just silence.In the midst of that silence, a twisted offer kept popping up.Kira.She continuously reaching out to me, like a ghost from the past. She said she could stop everything— the trial, the threats, the chaos. All I had to do was get back together with her. Just like before. Like we never ended things. She made it sound so easy, like all the problems in my life could disappear if I just held her hand again. She acted like we were only a kiss away from peace.But nothing about this was simple
VINA'S POVThe next morning, I woke up feeling heavy. My chest was tight, like something had settled deep inside me and refused to move. Sleep didn’t come easily after last night. I tossed and turned for hours. My mind had been spinning with thoughts— Scott’s words, the truth about my father, and the risk I was about to take. I kept asking myself if I was really ready for this. If I could still go through with the plan. If I had the strength.I needed answers.I needed to know if Scott had started making any moves toward getting the evidence. If I was going to take down Richard Norman, I had to act fast— before he even had the chance to suspect me. There wasn’t time to waste anymore. Everything was falling apart faster than I expected.So, I picked up my phone and called Scott.No answer.I frowned and stared at the screen for a second. Maybe he was still sleeping. Or maybe he was busy. But I couldn’t wait. I needed to talk to him now.I called again.Still nothing.I felt my chest ti
SCOTT'S POV For years, I lived under my father’s shadow— no, under his grip. He ruled not with loud words or strong hands, but with silence and expectations. Expectations that were heavy and cold. The kind that made you doubt yourself, even on days when everything went right. On the surface, he looked calm. But beneath that calm was control— tight, unshakable control.I grew up thinking that maybe, just maybe, one day he’d let me prove myself. I thought I would be the one to carry on the legacy. Noir Elixir was supposed to be mine. I studied for it. I worked in the company, learning from the ground up. I did everything right— or at least I tried to.But deep down, I always knew the truth. He would never really give it to me. Not willingly. And I was right.When he finally stepped down and retired, he didn’t call me to his office with a smile or hand over the authority like I had dreamed. No. He had no plans to hand the company to me. It was never in his mind.And then came Lovina.Sh
VINA'S POV "Are you really sure of what you’re saying?" I asked Ivy, my voice barely louder than a whisper.She had just finished telling me what she overheard— what Richard said. I didn’t want to believe it, but a part of me already knew. Deep inside, I always had doubts about how our father died. Ivy’s words didn’t shock me as much as they confirmed the fear I had buried all these years.Back then, they said our father, Nathaniel Brown, overdosed and slipped in the bathroom, hitting his head. Case closed. But our father never touched hard drugs. Never. Not even once. Our mother confirmed it too. He was a clean man. A man of dignity and vision. Someone who believed in building things with his hands and his heart. So how could he die like that?He was murdered. Someone made it look like he overdosed. That someone... was Richard Norman.I could feel my chest tightening with pain and rage. As a lawyer, I’ve dealt with criminals, liars, and manipulators. But this... this was personal. T
IVY'S POVI never imagined that Scott would betray me. Not after everything I did for him. When Noir Elixir was crashing down, I stepped in like the savior he never deserved. I brought a design that originally belonged to Alfred— yes, I knew it wasn’t mine. But I was desperate. I wanted to help Scott. I wanted him to see me —not just as someone from his past, but as someone worth loving again.Back when he and I broke up, I tried everything to get closer to him. I wanted us to work again. I wanted things to go back to how they used to be. But it wasn’t easy. Not when he had already gotten back together with my sister, Vina. Lovina. My twin sister.Lovina was always the perfect one. The favorite child. The one everyone chose first. The one who never had to try too hard to be loved. While I had to fight for attention, she always had it handed to her. But when fate handed me another chance to be close to Scott, I didn’t think twice.Scott asked me to model for him. I said yes, of course.
VINA'S POV“Lovina, I can’t let your father-in-law take your law firm away from you,” Alfred said quietly.We were in his bedroom. It was supposed to be a normal evening— some time together, just the two of us— but I could feel something was off the moment I stepped inside. His energy was different. He wasn’t smiling like he usually did when he saw me. He barely even looked at me when I walked in.He had just returned from meeting with Kira. And now… this?I turned to face him fully, arms folded across my chest. “So you want to choose her over me?” I asked.The moment those words left my lips, the air in the room changed. It was like all the warmth disappeared. The room that once felt safe now felt cold and unfamiliar. Even though Alfred was standing right in front of me, I suddenly felt like we were miles apart.Alfred didn’t answer right away. He let out a deep, tired breath and slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. His head dropped into his hands. He looked exhausted. Defeated.I