LOGINJace’s POV“Why?”I practically roared across the apartment.Zena flinched back against the wall, but I didn’t care. My head felt like it might explode. I still had the original DNA results balled up in my hands.“The child is mine.” My voice was cold. I stared straight at her. “Why would you do this?”She opened her mouth, measuring her words. “Jace—”“No.” I jabbed a finger at her. “No more lies.”She sucked in a shaky breath. “I can explain.”“Then explain!”The words just flew out of me, way louder than I meant. She flinched, stepping back.Everything ran through my head again. Charlotte, sobbing in that hospital room. My father shoving her out the door. Me just standing there—useless—as she pleaded with me.And all along, Zena knew.“You stood there and let them tear her apart,” I said. My voice sounded rough now. Hollow.“You let everyone call her a liar.”“It wasn’t supposed to go this far,” she cut in fast, almost desperate.I let out a sharp, humorless laugh.“Not supposed t
Jace’s POV The second Zena whispered in my ear, my mind just—blinked out. Empty. Gone.“I’m ready now, Jace.”I turned to her, slow, still catching up. “Ready for what?”She slid her fingers slowly across my chest, then stepped around until she was right in front of me.“Ready to stop pretending.”The way she looked at me made the room feel like it had shrunk. Everything warmed up. Or maybe it got more dangerous. It's hard to tell.For weeks, everything between us built up, quiet but insistent. All those long talks. The late-night calls that always went on too long. She listened, really listened, especially when nobody else bothered. She always seemed to know just what to say—or when not to say anything at all.And after everything that happened with Charlotte… Mallory vanishing like she never existed… my dad turning into someone I barely recognized… Honestly, I was just wiped out. Bone-deep tired.Zena stepped closer and set her hand against my jaw. “You’re overthinking again.”I ga
Jace’s POVThe garden felt colder than usual.I stood there, staring at my father, waiting for him to crack. Just say it’s crazy, I thought. Admit this is all nuts.He didn’t. Instead, Mr. Norman poured himself another drink, as smooth as ever.“There is no Mallory,” he said again, almost bored.I laughed, but it came out rough. “I dated her for years.”He just shrugged. “You entertained a distraction for years.”“That’s not the same thing.”He looked so relaxed. My head was splitting in two.“She was pregnant.”“So she claimed.”“I saw the DNA results.”He didn’t even blink. “Documents can be created.”I couldn’t help staring at him.“You think somebody faked an entire pregnancy?”He stayed calm. “I think emotional people believe whatever they want to believe.”That answer hit something raw in me. God, I hated how calm he sounded. Like he always knew more than me.I stepped in, voice dropping. “What did you do to her?”He met my eyes and smiled. Not friendly, just faintly amused.“Ja
Jace’s POVI went back to the café.Same building. Same tables. That never-changing jazz still trickling out of the speakers.The waitress from last week glanced at me without recognition—like I was just another customer.“I’m looking for someone,” I said. “Mallory Kane. Blonde. Sits by the window.”She frowned, polite but blank. “Sorry, sir. I don’t know the name.”I just stared.“She was here with me.”She gave me that uncomfortable, customer-service smile. “A lot of people come here.”I yanked out my phone. Opened my texts.Nothing.Every message Mallory ever sent—gone. The whole conversation just wiped out, like it’d never happened.Pressure squeezed my chest.I checked my calls. Nothing there, either.And that’s when panic set in—not dramatic, more like this steady, crawling dread that gets inside your head and starts pulling out questions you don’t want to ask.I left and drove straight to Mallory’s apartment building.The elevator dragged upward, way too slow. My nerves burned
Zena’s POVI hated Mallory.Not because she was smarter than me. I could handle that.I hated her because she was slipping out of reach.I watched from inside a parking garage, arms folded, as one of my men tucked a weapon into the back of a shiny black SUV.“You know the plan?” I asked.He gave a curt nod. “We grab her after the spa. In and out.”“And her guards?”“We handle them.”He sounded sure. Too sure. That should’ve set off alarms for me.I stood there, arms tight around myself, eyes glued to the garage across from us.Three days.I’d spent three days tracking Mallory everywhere she went.Morning appointments. Lunch meetings. Shopping. Always somewhere fancy. Two spa visits a week.She moved all over Atlanta like she owned the city.And she never went alone anymore.At first, I thought Mr. Norman was paranoid. Then I found out Jace assigned those security details himself.For whatever reason, that stung. Jace still went out of his way to protect Mallory, even if he sounded hal
Zena’s POV Something about Mallory just got under my skin.It wasn’t the way she’d fill a room with noise or start drama over basically nothing. That part was almost predictable. What bothered me was how hard it had become to figure her out.So there I was, hovering at the dining table well past midnight—laptop open, hunting through years of articles, Instagram posts, snapped photos nobody should’ve kept, and even trashy gossip blogs. Anything tied to Mallory and Jace, I wanted it. I expected to catch a mistake. Something in the timeline. Maybe another man. A secret Mallory hoped nobody’d notice.Instead, I kept running into the same damn thing: history. Photo after photo. Mallory and Jace glowing at charity events, on yachts, wrapped around each other on a balcony in Miami, laughing like they could never break. I swear every search just brought up more of them, tangled together—breakups, makeups, constant drama that rich people like to call love.I leaned back in my chair and sighed
“You know Mr Norman, your kind of man is the kind whom I try to imitate in ruthlessness.”“So Mr Norman your threats are nothing but vague.”“Consider yourself a dead man if you are just trying to waste my time.” Mr Norman replied.“I never possessed such accurate information in my years of existen
On Charlotte’s and Jace's way back to the room from the balcony, Charlotte was lost in thought as she kept replaying Mr Norman's last sentence in her head,“If there is something you wish to tell this family…”“You should do it before the doctor does.”“Charlotte!” Jace called out, but there was no
Bruce turned slowly toward the television.Jace’s inauguration speech was being broadcast live“That’s who?” Bruce asked.“The guy from last night.”Bruce stared at her and looked at the TV, then back at her.“You slept with him?” he asked.She didn’t answer.Bruce's expression changed. He looked a
Charlotte fell on the floor hitting her head on the wall.He slammed the door behind her.“You filthy slut!”Bruce's voice was loud and aggressive; one would think he was under the influence of alcohol.Charlotte held her face looking at him.“What—”“You didn’t come home!” he roared.“You didn’t c







