LOGINAlexander’s POVMy shoes stomp hard against the ground in quick motion. My head spins, getting clouded by the echoing voices.“Alexander?” That soft voice slips through. But I’m not stopping. My eyes are on the elevator door at the end of this open space. My chest tightens. The room keeps shrinking around me.“Alexander!”My hand is yanked back, and I’m forced to turn. I suck in a breath, my teeth digging into my bottom lip, my chest swelling, and my blurred gaze locking with Sophia’s. Her eyes are reddened and misty. Sadness clouds her features. “A–Alexander…” She stutters, pulling at my wrist, coming too close. My hands tremble. But when her hand covers mine, the noise starts to quieten. When she takes my phone from my hand and locks our fingers, I blink, and my gaze refocuses on her, my tears on the verge of slipping out. Sophia stares at me as if her entire world is crashing. My heart won’t stop pounding. No words. Just silence and the unspoken pain between us.My chest tight
Alexander’s POV“Guess,” Sophia says.Wine? I think, still staring at it. But it’s a much bigger bag to hold only a single bottle of wine. I shift my eyes back to her and smile, my gaze slowly lowering to her lips. I whisper, “Can I see it?”She nods, glee in her eyes.“I wanna kiss you on the way there…”A chuckle spills out of her. “I’ll roll us back to my desk and kiss you all the way,” I continue, shortening the space between our lips to half an inch. “You don’t think I can?”She’s still laughing. I take matters into my lips, eliciting giggles from her as I start rooting my shoes against the ground, one firm foot after the other, rolling my seat in the direction of my desk again. I coax her mouth open, tangling it with mine. The muscles in my thighs and hips are working overtime to keep me still sitting, when with every roll of the casters, I almost slide off the seat.Sophia slips down my thighs. She gasps, clinging tighter as I halt and hold her close, both of us laughing with
Alexander’s POVDean has cleared every photo from the coffee table. But my wife pushes the door wide and steps in, her smile slowly fading to a look of suspicious curiosity as she stares from me to Dean. Then her gaze drops to the envelope in his hand.I unbutton my suit, swallow, and step out from behind my desk, heading toward her. “My love?”Her mouth twists into a wry smile as she meets my gaze again. I note her full hands. In one hand is a baby-blue purse that matches the turtleneck she’s wearing, and in the other hand, a black medium-sized gift bag with pink ribbons. Long navy coat, and navy wide-leg pants. She strolls in slowly, heels hitting the ground with a sound that matches my heartbeat.Dean remains in motion, too. “Good evening, Mrs. Thorne,” he greets with a slight dip of his head, going past her.“Hello, Dean,” she eyes the envelope in his hand, her curiosity amplifying brightly in her light hazel eyes as her gaze follows it, even when he’s at the door.“Are you not he
Alexander’s POVAll day, it’s been one meeting after another, plus a lunch meeting with a politician. Now, my nose is buried in reports. My eyes are starting to strain, but I’m hoping to get through as many reports as I can before leaving this place. This is one thing I don’t enjoy, even though it’s one of my most important responsibilities. “Thank you,” I mutter to Leah as she drops my third cup of coffee for the day without a word and turns to leave. I pick up the small mug and take a long sip, my eyes still on the financial department’s dashboards and graphs, tracking cash flow runway, burn rate, and profit margins. It’s almost the end of the year. The 31st of January 2026 will make it exactly seven years since I became CEO. I started as CEO-in-training; thought I wouldn’t last a month. But here I am today, impressively still doing the same thing I’ve hated for seven years. I must admit, the past few months in this seat haven’t been all that bad. They’ve been my best moments in
Alexander’s POVThe meeting is adjourned after two long hours and thirty minutes. The ad is happening, and there’s still a lot more to go over with each team. But for now, I’ve got other things to do, like stealing a quick moment for a video call with my wife before my lawyers arrive to discuss where we are with finalizing the M&A. It’s taking so much longer than I could have imagined.I walk side by side with my secretary, listening as she walks me through the timeline of my packed day. My COO, CFO, and father-in-law are not too far behind, each occupied with their own discussions and responsibilities.“Set up another meeting with the marketing and PR team for today. I’ll see the manufacturing team tomorrow,” I say to her as we walk briskly.“All right, sir.”“Call my jeweler and tell him to send over some new designs I can pick from as a gift.”“Will do.” She takes note.“Reach out to DMI and let me know if they have a date already for the shoot.”“What shoot?”“Just call Dimitri. O
Alexander’s POV“I think we should go with Apex Silicone,” Stephen refutes calmly, turning in his chair—Stephen’s my COO.I turn my full attention to him, all ears. “They are our first best option for a reason…” He gestures. “They’ve designed microchips for some of the best gadget companies in our generation. They’ve got a great reputation, and they’re much closer to us than Litho Core Semiconductors all the way in Minnesota.”“Fair enough,” I nod. “I think they’re great, too. But Litho Core has been in the game longer than them.”“Doesn’t make them better.”“True.”“They sent something.” Brian pitches.My head snaps forward, my eyes landing on Brian, whose hand is up in front of the room. “Who?”“Litho Core,” he answers.I glance at my father-in-law, who looks pleased, then back at Brian. “Keep talking.”“So, we reached out to all three companies last week; they were more than eager to work with us… However…” He clicks on his remote, switching to a blank screen, then heads for his l
Sophia’s POVAlexander’s calmness fills the elevator like gravity. I stare at my reflection against the panel—blonde hair secured in a neat bun, my teal silk skater dress falling perfectly—a 360-degree improvement from the last time I was here.He slowly holds my hand and locks our fingers with gen
Sophia’s POV⁓August 25, 2025: Dimitri & Lena’s Wedding Day⁓It’s exactly one week since my failed attempt at running away. One week since my second and best kiss ever. One week since I got reintroduced to Alexander Thorne as his fiancée. And one week of receiving large rose bouquets from him daily.
Sophia’s POVHe’s got nipple piercings, a back half-full of tattoos, smokes cigars, swore never to get married, but says he’s marrying me in October.I’m the first woman he’s invited into his penthouse and bedroom; he kisses like a sinner and promises to show me things I can’t handle yet. He lies ef
Alexander Thorne’s POVPhone in hand, I tap a slow rhythm against the steering wheel, my gaze fixed on the pristine lineup of cars in my private garage. My mind is elsewhere.Dimitri left thirty-five minutes ago. I sent Garvey home, too, yet I’ve been seated inside the darkness of this car, waiting.







