LOGINZAVIAN NOLVEN POV"Well, spit it out. I don't have all day.""Ugh," She rolled her eyes, pulled the seat back, and dropped into it with a dramatic sigh. "You're no fun."I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.She leaned forward, resting her elbows against the desk before meeting my gaze. There was something almost too deliberate about the way she looked at me, like she was trying to figure out what had changed. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were getting married?" she asked. "I thought we were close."I stared at her for a moment. "Are we?Her lips parted slightly, and for a second, she looked genuinely offended. Then she sighed, resting her chin against her hand. "You're breaking my heart, Zavian."I leaned back in my chair and studied her. She had always been good at making everything sound more dramatic than it actually was. If I didn't know her better, I might have believed she was genuinely hurt. But I knew her. And whatever this was was all an act. I closed the open files on m
KAIDA REED POV Nessa sat across from me, her eyes boring into my desk like it was the most important thing in the room.I waited patiently, a strange sensation churning in my chest because I had a vague idea of why she'd finally decided to show up in front of me. Nessa had been a good friend to me. Even in my past life, she had never done anything to hurt me. She had always been there for me, protecting me the best way she could.But everything was different now.And if, after all she had seen and heard on the news about who her brother really was, she was still here to beg and plead with me to forgive him...then I was going to be deeply disappointed."I'm sorry," she finally got out, her reddish eyes lifting to mine. Then she reached over the table, her hand closing on mine before I could even think to pull away. "I know you know why I'm here..." she choked out as a single tear slid down her cheek. "I can see it in your eyes already that you're disappointed, but...I'm left with no
LUCIEN DRAVEN POV I was getting out of here.I glanced up at the door, my brows dipping as I saw the guards stationed in front of it. So Zavian really thought he'd won, huh? He thought he could just steal my woman and send me to jail the same way his father did to mine.He was wrong. And he made a mistake by keeping me alive, because once I got out of here, I wasn't going to stop until he was six feet below the ground.And Kaida? She was going to be mine no matter what. I refused to let her go. She was the one who loved me first. She was the one who promised to stay by my side no matter what happened...no matter what I did.I tried to turn, then groaned, cold sweat chilling my skin as burning pain spread through my lungs. God damn it, when would this pain end? If it hurt so much just to move a little, then how the hell was I going to get out of here?"Another week," I muttered, the words feeling feverish on my tongue. "Let's wait another week."At least by then, the pain would have
KAIDA REED POV "So you're telling me we've had a spy in this company?"Leila nodded, the look on her face grave as she tapped on her computer, scrolled for a few seconds, and clicked on a video.I leaned in to get a better view, then frowned after a few seconds, a bitter taste spreading through my mouth as I watched one of the workers I trusted a lot walk into my office and take pictures of the documents that were on my desk.I couldn't believe my eyes. Father only hired the most loyal people he knew, and she had always been hardworking and literally one of the best we had. Seeing her like that was truly heartbreaking "We've questioned her all night before you got here, but she's refusing to say anything. She is insisting she only sold the information to your rivals, but the specific documents she took photos of were your proposal for Lucien."I looked up. "Do you think she's working for Lucien?""Not at all. We checked her bank account, and she's been getting huge payments every mo
ZAVIAN NOLVEN POV"Well?" I asked without looking up from the stack of files spread across my desk as the door opened. "Were you able to find out why Helena and Damon have been meeting?""Not exactly," he said, his footsteps stopping in front of my desk, then he dropped the thick folder in his hand beside the files already on my desk. I reached for it without a word, flipping it open as he began speaking."They met at a club a few months ago," he said at the same time I read through the part on the report. "That's where we believe they first came into contact. Since then, they've been meeting periodically...but never enough to establish a pattern."My eyes moved over the pages. There were photographs. But they were mostly taken in hotel lobbies or at her house, and given how tense they looked in most of the pictures, you would either think they were enemies or secret lovers trying not to get caught.Just based on the pictures, it didn't look like their meeting had anything to do with
ZAVIAN NOLVEN POV"Do you think you should be going to work already?" I asked quietly, pulling the zipper of her dress all the way up before letting my hand linger at the small of her back as our eyes met in the mirror."Why?" she asked softly, amusement dancing in those beautiful eyes of hers. "You don't want me to go?"I slowly shook my head. "I just want you to take things slow." Liar. "I am. But this board meeting is important.""Is it?" I asked softly. "I think they'll understand if you postponed it, don't you?" My hand slipped around her waist, drawing her a little closer. "You've been through too much these past few weeks. You deserve a little time to breathe before throwing yourself back into work."She turned until she was facing me completely, her expression melting into something so unbearably gentle that it made my heart clench. She reached for my hand without hesitation, intertwining our fingers as if it was the most natural thing in the world."I know you're worried, b
YILENA HOLT POVTHE NIGHT BEFORE.RESTAURANT."What do you want? Why did you bring me here?"The woman smiled lazily, as if my irritation was mildly entertaining, then looked up from her steak."You should eat first," she said calmly, lifting a bite to her mouth. "Aren't you hungry?""Cut the bulls
KAIDA REED POV"Where are you going?"Lucien paused near the door, his hand tightening around the phone in his hand. I stared at it, my lips pursing.Did he get a message from Helena? I bet he hadn't told her yet that he had to return the money they stole. I wondered how that conversation would go
HELENA REED POV"What the hell happened to her? You were supposed to be watching her!" Lucien yelled, his hand pressing into Yilena’s shoulders as he shook her."I was watching her!" she pushed him off, her chest heaving as she glared at him. "But I have a life too. You don’t expect me to be by her
KAIDA REED POV I turned to my car, my hands grabbing the door handle to open it when the headlights of an oncoming car suddenly blinded me.I paused, blinking the droplets of water from my lashes. Who the hell could it be?The car stopped. Lucien came out.My blood turned to ice, everything insid







