LOGINDAMON’S POVI went to dinner with Chelsea because I wanted Sera to stop me.That was the truth I refused to admit to myself until I was already sitting across from my fiancée, watching her smile at me as though nothing in the world had changed.I had spent the entire drive there wondering if Sera would call.She didn’t.I had hoped she would.I had wanted her to be angry enough to walk into that restaurant and drag me away from Chelsea, or at least angry enough to tell me that she didn’t want me sitting across from another woman.Instead, Sera had let me leave.Of course she had.Her pride would probably kill her before she ever admitted that something hurt.I knew that woman too well.Chelsea smiled across the table.“You seem distracted.”“I have a lot going on.”“Mia.”I looked at her.“Yes.”She reached across the table and placed her hand over mine.“I understand that she’s important.”I moved my hand away gently.“She is my daughter.”Chelsea’s smile tightened.“Of course.”I st
DAMON By the time I returned to the office, I had stopped thinking about Chelsea.There was only one thing that mattered.Mia.I spent the rest of the night going through everything my people had collected, forcing them to retrace every lead, every connection and every movement surrounding the kidnapping.I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for someone to make a mistake.I needed to make them make one.Hours passed, then one of my investigators walked into my office.He looked different“Sir.”I looked up.“What did you find?”He placed a file on my desk.“We found something.”I opened it.At first, I didn’t understand what I was looking at.It was an old photograph.A little boy, with dark curls and a small face. His expression was cautious, almost too serious for a child his age.I stared at him.Something inside me went completely still.“Who is this?”“We don’t have a confirmed identity yet.”I looked closer.There was something familiar about him.Something I couldn’t explain
DAMON’S POVI went to dinner with Chelsea because I wanted Sera to stop me.That was the truth I refused to admit to myself until I was already sitting across from my fiancée, watching her smile at me as though nothing in the world had changed.I had spent the entire drive there wondering if Sera would call.She didn’t.I had hoped she would.I had wanted her to be angry enough to walk into that restaurant and drag me away from Chelsea, or at least angry enough to tell me that she didn’t want me sitting across from another woman.Instead, Sera had let me leave.Of course she had.Her pride would probably kill her before she ever admitted that something hurt.I knew that woman too well.Chelsea smiled across the table.“You seem distracted.”“I have a lot going on.”“Mia.”I looked at her.“Yes.”She reached across the table and placed her hand over mine.“I understand that she’s important.”I moved my hand away gently.“She is my daughter.”Chelsea’s smile tightened.“Of course.”I st
SERAThe moment Damon walked into his grandmother’s house, I knew he had already made up his mind.He had barely spoken since we left Venus Industries, but the silence around him felt nothing like the cold silence I had become used to. There was anger beneath it now, something dark and controlled that made me uneasy because I knew Damon well enough to understand that he was most dangerous when he stopped showing what he felt.His grandmother was waiting for us in the sitting room, looking as composed as she always did, with her silver hair perfectly arranged and her posture straight despite her age.Her expression changed the moment she saw Damon.“Damon, what happened?”He didn’t sit.“Did you know what Victor did?”The question came so suddenly that even I felt the weight of it.His grandmother stared at him.“Victor?”“My father.”Something shifted in her expression.“What are you talking about?”Damon stepped closer.“I want the truth.”She looked between us, clearly confused, unt
CHAPTER 6SERA’S POV“Sera, Mia has been kidnapped.”For a second, I forgot how to breathe.The phone nearly slipped from my hand, but I caught it before it hit the floor, my fingers trembling so badly that I could barely hold it against my ear.“What did you say?”“Sera, I’m so sorry, I—”“What did you say?” I screamed, my voice breaking as I pushed myself away from Damon’s desk. “Where is my daughter?”“I don’t know. She was in the classroom, and I only stepped away for a few minutes. When I came back, she was gone. I already called the police, but—”“Where is she?”“Sera…”“Tell me where my daughter is!”My voice echoed through the office, and Damon was already moving toward me.He had heard enough.He reached for my phone, but I pulled it away from him, pressing it harder against my ear as tears blurred my vision.“Ms. Patel, did you see anyone? Did anyone come near her? Did she say anything before she disappeared?”“No. She was playing with Bonnie, and then one of the teachers sa
SERA’S POVMonday morning arrived with a quiet insistence, the city outside buzzing like it always did. I stepped into Venus Industries, my heels clicking against the polished floors, my nerves buried beneath a thin bundle of composure.“Good morning, Ms Thompson,” Margo greeted, with his clipboard in hand, his and his expression neutral. “Your desk is ready, follow me”I followed him, my bag swinging gently at my side. The office smelled faintly of polished wood and espresso. My desk was neat…papers stacked in precise lines, my computer blinking softly.“Mr. Blackwood prefers that you be at your desk by seven o’clock,” he said, gesturing to the chair, the computer, the neat stack of files already waiting for me. “He arrives at seven-thirty. His coffee should be on his desk by seven-forty-five, black with one sugar. He does not like to wait for it.”I set my bag down. “Understood.”“The schedule for the month is in the top drawer.” He pulled it open, revealing a thick binder. “All me







