LOGINElena’s POVIt’s a new day at the office, but it feels like the remnants of yesterday’s events lingered here.Alexander is late. For the first time in his life, everyone is already present before he arrived.He usually says good morning to everyone, with a bottle in his hand that contains some kind of protein shake. But now, he doesn’t speak to anyone as he passes. He has sunglasses on even indoors, and the only thing in his hand is a cup of steaming coffee blacker than his suit.“Good morning, sir,” India greets him, and he just nods.I’m stuck in the office opposite his. I didn’t want to just stay in his office and surprise him with my presence, especially since he made it pretty clear that he didn’t want me to be around yesterday. I just watch him from my window, debating whether or not to approach.But that whole thing is giving me mixed signals.If I approach and he doesn’t want me there, it’s going to be embarrassing. But if I don’t and he turns out to be waiting for me, then it
Tristan’s POVIn the end, I decided not to come home to my apartment and just go home to my house.The lights are already off when I arrive. The maids have all retired to their rooms. The house is quiet. I can heat Ethan snoring in his room when I pass by.The only room left alive is our bedroom.The water is running. The door to the bathroom is open. I can’t help but peek in and check on Mira.She doesn’t look up even as she hears my footsteps. Maybe she doesn’t even hear me. I don’t know. All I know is that she’s sitting at the edge of the tub, filling it with water that filled the walls with a light steam. Her face is still set with makeup, except her eyes. Black streaks of mascara are already smeared on her cheeks. Her nose is blotchy and she keeps wiping her face with the back of her hand.“Make sure she has a safe pregnancy.”Elena’s words echo in my mind.I can’t believe that she still looks out for her sister. After everything that happened, other people just won’t care. They
Third Person POVMira is seething.Why? Why did it all come to this? Why did Tristan do all that and put her and her parents in this position?And Elena….God, why does she have to be such a bitch?The past is the past. She should be good with not being the favorite daughter by now. Did she not already know that? Of course she wouldn’t be the favorite!“You really have no money?” Mira demands at her parents as they get in her car. “Nothing? You got nothing saved? How much did you steal and where did you go?”“Steal?” David asks her, putting a hand on his chest. “Mira, you should be more careful with your words!”She rolls her eyes. “There’s no one else here. You can drop the act. I have no clue why we needed to come to Elena and ask for her help. You really don’t have anything saved up? I thought you got millions from Tristan!”They look at each other guiltily. “Well, there was the party. It did cost us a pretty penny. Of course it’s waste now, but it could’ve been really good! I just
Elena’s POVI stop dead in my tracks, staring at the figures. I have no idea if my tired mind is just coming up with tricks or if this is real.I blink rapidly, putting my hand over my pocket to check if my phone is still there. In case I need to call somebody. I say nothing, still waiting. Because I refuse to be the one to break the silence.Finally, Mira steps forward. Her face is shiny with sweat. I don’t see a car anywhere close, and I start to wonder if they walked here.“Elena,” she says, her tone far from the hostile one she always uses on me. “I… I was trying to contact you. I didn’t know how else to go about it. I couldn’t reach you through your phone. Did you change your number?”I blocked her, that’s what I did.Does she really not know that?I stare at her blankly.The silence stretches between us, long and taut. I can hear Margaret sobbing in the background. Now that my eyes have adjusted to the dim lights coming from the house and the distant lampposts, I’m able to see t
Tristan’s POVYes, I ended the party right then and there.Yes, I kicked David and Margaret out of the house that they owned for many, many years. Probably even before Elena was born.Yes, right now all that’s left here is Ethan, who’s sobbing quietly in the corner.Was it easy? No. Of course not.I never particularly saw them as good parents, especially with the way they basically used Elena to get money from me when we were still married. How they gave her up as an alternative when Mira ran away instead of letting the deal fall through. I always side-eyed them for that.Still, I never thought they would cross this line.It was straight-up stealing.“I didn’t do it!” I remember David lying to me just earlier. “Someone in your team must be using my name to get money from you! You’re like a son to me—I would never do that to you!”“Then show me your bank statements,” I dared him. “Show it to me right now. I know you have a bank app. I know you’re the kind of man who keeps track of his
Elena’s POV“Isn’t it your father’s birthday today?” Alexander suddenly asks.It’s been about an hour since I got back to the office. Needless to say, he’s been… weird. I haven’t addressed what happened at Tristan’s office yet, mainly because I don’t know where to start. He’s been engaging me in conversation since I arrived. Or at least, he’s been trying really hard. I can’t say that it worked.But this one actually makes me look up from my computer. “How did you know that?”“Well, there’s a big announcement on social media.” His tone tells me that he’s really tickled by it. “They even have some sort of livestream for it. Do you want to watch?”“No,” I murmur, sighing and turning away as he clicks on the video. The sound from the doubtlessly fancy party fills the office. My head snaps back up. “Hey. Alex, come on. Stop it. I’m not interested in watching that. I’m not interested in my dad’s birthday. There’s a reason I didn’t go, and there’s an even bigger reason why I don’t want to sp
Elena’s POV“Alexander!”My scream echoes in my ringing ears. Time slows down, almost sputtering to a halt, and as I rush towards Alexander, it feels as though my limbs are traveling through amber. Slugging. Unable to reach him in time.Grace gasps. I know she didn’t mean to do it. She’s out for me
Elena’s POVChaos starts to ensue, erupting around me like a bunch of ripe volcanoes.Liam shoves Tristan. Sophie tries to stop him, yelling, “He didn’t mean it, he didn’t mean it!”But none of that is enough. I can’t get up. Penny is the only one helping me, and Alexander is busy trying to take Li
Elena’s POVIt’s my first day working with Van Asten.Or at least, it’s the only day I can try to convince Alexander to rework the deal and save Grace.The Van Asten office is huge, and they have a royal blue theme going on. Sometimes it’s an accent wall. Sometimes it’s the furniture. Sometimes it’
Tristan’s POVI came to Elena’s house fully prepared to confront her about what she did to our kids, about the two miscarriages she had that she felt the need not to tell me about. I’ve been angry and hurt and distraught. I was ready to fight. I didn’t care about her threat of being able to take me







