LOGINDamien’s P.O.V
I watched her from the corner of my eyes, a small smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. She didn’t notice me, of course. She rarely did, that was part of who she was…quiet, careful, almost invisible but the more I watched, the more I realized just how much lay beneath those polite smiles and awkward glances.
I have never been a man who misses details.
It’s a habit I built over years—watching people, studying
Amara’s P.O.VThe elevator doors closed behind me, but Landon’s words refused to leave my head.Aria had class.She had loyalty.She loved me.My jaw tightened as heat surged through my chest.Not pain, not even heartbreak, but pure, blistering rage.How dare he!How dare Landon stand there and compare me to Aria as if she was somehow better than me, as if she had something I didn’t.Aria.Sweet, quiet, painfully predictable Aria.I almost laughed.My entire life, I had made sure she remained behind me, whether she realized it or not.If she had something beautiful, I wanted something better. If someone admired her, I made sure their attention shifted to me. If she was loved, I made sure that love became temporary.That had always been the pattern between us.Aria got attached. I took it away.It was simple. It was natural.And it always worked.Landon had been no different.The funny thing was, I hadn’t even wanted him in the beginning. Not really.I wanted him because Aria loved him
Landon’s P.O.VThe moment I saw her standing at Aria’s desk, smiling like some loving sister bringing homemade food, something inside me snapped.I didn’t even remember crossing the office.One second I was staring at her from the elevator, disbelief freezing me in place.The next, my hand was around her wrist, dragging her away before I did something reckless in front of half the company.No.That wasn’t true.I was already doing something reckless.I dragged Amara through the lobby while she tried to pull free, her heels clicking sharply against marble floors, drawing glances from reception and security. I barely noticed the stares. Let them watch. Let them gossip. My reputation had already been dragged through the mud anyway.By the time we reached a quieter corner near the glass entrance, I finally let go.Amara jerked her hand back immediately, her eyes flashing with fury. “What the hell is wrong with you?”I laughed, a short, ugly sound.“What’s wrong with me?” I stepped closer.
Aria’s P.O.VHope is a dangerous thing. I realized that the moment I stepped onto the office floor the next morning.Because despite everything that had happened over the past two days, despite the silence, despite the coldness of that message, despite the sick dread that had rooted itself somewhere deep in my chest, a small pathetic part of me still believed today would be different.He would be here…he had to be.Maybe whatever emergency had consumed him was over. Maybe he had finally gotten some sleep. Maybe he would be standing in his office, tie loosened, looking exhausted but still undeniably him, and the second our eyes met, all of this unbearable tension would break.He would explain. He would tell me I had nothing to fear. He would tell me the silence meant nothing and that I meant everything.I rounded the corner toward his office…and stopped.His door remained closed. The space outside it remained empty. Clyde sat at his desk again, looking apologetic as he frantically answ
Aria’s P.O.VI barely slept.The shallow fragments of sleep I managed to steal felt less like rest and more like brief blackouts between waves of anxiety. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same images replaying with cruel precision.Amara’s smile. The predatory gleam in her eyes.The woman in the golden dress throwing herself into Damien’s arms. His hand wiping away her tears with a tenderness that had shattered something inside me.By the time morning came, my body felt heavy and hollow, like someone had scooped out everything inside me and left only exhaustion behind.Still, routine won. Routine always won.Because when life became unbearable, I clung to structure like a drowning person clung to driftwood.So I got dressed. Did my makeup, tied my hair back and put on the version of myself that looked functional.Capable…normal.
Aria’s P.O.VThe click of the lock behind me sounded like a gavel bringing a trial to a close. I stepped into my studio apartment, the space that usually felt like my sanctuary, but tonight, it felt like a cage.The air was stagnant, smelling faintly of the vanilla candles I’d lit the previous evening, a scent that now felt cloying and suffocating.I didn't turn on the main lights. I couldn't bear the harsh glare of the overheads; I preferred the dim, amber glow of the floor lamp in the corner, which cast long, distorted shadows across the hardwood floor.I stood there in the center of the room, my coat still on, my body shivering despite the indoor heating. The cold from the hospital parking lot had seeped into my marrow, a chill that no amount of wool or silk could erase.My mind was a chaotic storm of images. The golden dress. The way she had throw
Damien’s P.O.VThe sterile scent of the hospital—bleach, rubbing alcohol, and old fear—hit me the moment I stepped through the sliding doors.Beside me, Alexandra was a whirlwind of hysteria, her voice cracking as she sobbed, her hand gripping my arm so tightly her nails dug into my suit jacket. I didn't pull away. In this moment, she wasn't the poised, formidable older sister who usually commanded every room she entered; she was just a terrified girl facing the possibility of a world without the woman who had built the very foundation of our family.&n
Damien's P.O.VI was in a remarkably bad mood.Unfortunately for everyone around me, I was also aware of it. That usually made things worse.My assistant had already rescheduled two meetings because apparently my face looked "particularly mur
Aria's P.O.VFor a second after being slammed into the wall, all I could do was stand there and blink.The impact had knocked the breath straight out of my lungs, leaving a dull ache spreading across my shoulder blade as I stared at the man standing in front of me.Landon.Of course it was Landon.
Aria’s P.O.VI almost launched my phone straight across the office.One second I was standing there thinking about freedom and tiny apartments and finally escaping my parents’ suffocating hou
Aria’s P.O.VBy the end of the workday, I had opened approximately fourteen browser tabs, compared six theater companies, rejec







