LOGINLauren’s P.O.V. (Continued)I choked on my food.“WHAT?”The word escaped me so loudly that Wanda, who was busy organising the completed documents on the other side of my desk, immediately looked up.I waved my free hand to reassure her that I was fine before grabbing my coffee and taking a hurried sip.Unfortunately, that only made me cough harder.“Lauren!” Gabriel exclaimed through the phone.“Are you all right?”“I'm perfectly fine!” I managed to answer after several seconds, glaring at my sandwich as though it were responsible for my near-death experience.“You can't just drop something like that on someone without warning!” I scolded him while coughing.“What did I say?” He asked me in a confused tone.“Blind dates, Gabriel! Your mother is arranging blind dates for you?” I clarified, almost glaring at his invisible form in front of me.“Yes.” He answered so calmly that I stared at my phone in disbelief.I had expected many things from this conversation, but that certainly wasn't
Lauren’s P.O.V.The final stack of paperwork lay on my desk, waiting for my signature.“Do I need to sign them all again?” I asked Wanda, looking troubled.She smiled sheepishly before nodding in response.I stared at the documents with a tired sigh before picking up my pen again.The transfer of the remaining patients to my main laboratory had taken considerably longer than I had anticipated.Although most of the arrangements had already been completed, a few patients still required specialised equipment, carefully coordinated medical supervision, and individual treatment plans before they could be moved safely.I refused to rush the process simply because I wanted to leave the city.These patients had already endured enough uncertainty in their lives.The least I could do was ensure that their transfer did not create another problem for them."Are these the last ones?" Wanda asked, placing another folder beside my hand.I glanced at her without pausing my pen."Almost. I need to ver
Augustus P.O.V. (Continued)The woman in the portrait continued to smile at me.It was a beautiful smile, gentle enough to make a man believe that the world was not entirely cruel. Her eyes held the same warmth I remembered from the fragments of my past, the same tenderness that had haunted me for years.Yet the woman in the portrait had never smiled at me that way.Not when I finally found her.Not when I stood before her and introduced myself.Not even when I deliberately placed myself in her path, hoping that something in my face, my voice, or my presence would awaken the memories she had left behind.Aurora Brooke had looked at me as though I were nothing more than another businessman present in the room.Perhaps I had been a stranger to her.Perhaps the man she had saved in that abandoned building, the man whose wounds she had cleaned and whose trembling hands she had held, meant nothing to her once he was strong enough to leave.But how could I accept that?She had become the on
Augustus P.O.V. (Continued)My breath caught.I could almost feel a hand resting against mine.You're strong enough. You can get through this.I stood so abruptly that my chair scraped against the floor.The journal slipped from my fingers and landed on the desk with a dull thud.I stared at it, my chest rising and falling rapidly.For years, I had searched for this feeling.I had subjected myself to medical evaluations, consulted specialists, and studied every surviving record from my time in the task force.I had examined the reports written after my return, hoping that someone had documented an encounter, a location, or even a name that might lead me back to the woman who had taken care of me.But there was nothing.Only fragments – a hand holding mine when I was too weak to stand.A soft smile telling me that I am strong enough and I can get through this.And the unbearable certainty that someone had once made me feel safe when I had believed I would die alone.I pressed my palm a
Augustus P.O.V.The journal had yellowed with age, its edges frayed and its leather cover cracked in several places, but I had never allowed anyone to restore it.Some things were too precious to be altered.Even when they were incomplete.Even when they hurt.I sat behind my desk with the old journal open before me, one hand resting against the armrest of my chair while the other carefully turned a brittle page.The room was silent except for the ticking of the antique clock on the wall and the occasional rustling of paper beneath my fingers.I had read these pages countless times.I had memorised every word, every detail, and every desperate sentence written in handwriting that resembled mine but somehow felt like it belonged to a stranger.A stranger who had once been me.Or perhaps someone I had been before they took away something from me that I could no longer remember.My gaze settled on an entry dated several years before I returned to the Sterling household.I don't know how
Caellum’s P.O.V. (Continued)"They went back into a burning laboratory to save people. Mom was injured, Dad was trying to reach her, and they were surrounded by people who wanted everyone inside that building dead. Then, after surviving all of that, they still had to worry about someone coming after us."Joyce's arms tightened around me."They must have been terrified.""That's the thing." I lifted my head slightly, staring at the darkening sky beyond the balcony."They probably were. But they still kept going. They still raised us, took care of us, and tried to give us a normal life." I swallowed."And Lauren..." I couldn't finish the sentence.Joyce moved her hand from my hair to my cheek, gently encouraging me to look at her.“It’s okay to be scared, Caellum. She is the person you love the most.” Her words were comforting, but it only made me feel worse."I'm furious for her." The words came out more sharply than I intended.Joyce didn't flinch."I'm furious that someone thought th
Lauren’s P.O.V.I looked at the stack of cold white papers on which black letters were mocking at me. Three years of endurance, hardship, and commitment brought what….A Divorce Agreement…..I am just a normal human.When I signed up for this assignment, I knew what could come my way in the future,
Gabriel’s P.O.V.I thought that admitting my mistake of misunderstanding Lauren would ease my guilt of asking for a divorce, but it only made me feel worse.I painted her as a gold digger in my heart before asking for a divorce, but what I learned in the past two days made me feel worse than I felt
Lauren’s P.O.V. (Continued)“Joyce.” I called her in a soft and hoarse voice, as I was still feeling some pain in my throat, to stop her from lashing out.I looked at Gabriel as if I were looking at a stranger, not someone with whom I spent three years of my life.When he was in the wheelchair, I w
Lauren's P.O.V.I groaned in pain, trying to move my body a little, but screamed in pain. My whole body felt like it was crushed under a fully loaded truck. "Lauren.... Lauren." I heard Joyce calling my name worriedly, but I was in so much pain that I only whimpered again instead of opening my eyes







