LOGIN(Elena’s POV)For a moment, neither of us spoke.The apartment was silent except for the distant hum of traffic outside and the occasional crackle from one of the security officers’ radios.I stood frozen in the middle of my living room, or what used to be my living room. The place looked like a storm had ripped through it. Drawers hung open. Cabinet doors stood crooked. Books were scattered across the floor. The cushions on my couch had been slashed open. Someone hadn’t broken in looking for valuables. They had been searching, methodically, patiently, and desperately. And somehow that frightened me more. My gaze drifted toward the old wooden chest sitting beside my bookshelf.My stomach twisted in agitation; it was open and empty. The sight stole the breath from my lungs.“No…” I whispered.I crossed the room before anyone could stop me. My knees hit the floor. The chest was empty—no photographs, no letters, no birthday cards, no souvenirs, nothing.Every single thing that belonged t
Chapter 17: The Ghost Maya Left Behind(Elena’s POV)For a second, I thought I had heard him wrong.The conference room seemed to blur around me.The city beyond the glass walls disappeared.All I could hear was the pounding of my heartbeat.“What did you just say?”Alaric’s expression remained unreadable.“Someone accessed your sister’s storage unit.”I swallowed hard.“And they used Xavier’s security clearance.”The floor felt unsteady beneath my feet.Maya.After all this time.After two years of unanswered questions.After two years of police reports, dead ends, sleepless nights, and false hope.Something connected to Maya had finally moved.And somehow Xavier was involved.Or someone wanted us to believe he was.My throat tightened.“When?”“Thirty-seven minutes ago.”My pulse accelerated.“Where is it?”Alaric looked around the nearly empty conference room.“Not here.”I immediately understood.Whatever this was, he didn’t want discussed where people could overhear.Especially not now
(Elena’s POV)I stared at Xavier’s message for a full ten seconds before locking my screen.“We need to talk.”Absolutely not. The audacity alone almost made me laugh.After everything he had done—the accusations, the silence, standing there while Sabrina tore me apart in front of the company—he suddenly wanted to talk?Whatever Xavier Carrington had to say could wait forever.I pushed the thought away and forced myself back to the reports scattered across my desk. Vendor contracts. Financial summaries. Internal budget reviews.Work.Focus on work.Unfortunately, concentration was impossible when half the executive floor seemed determined to treat me like a piece of live entertainment.Outside the glass walls, whispers continued like background static.I caught fragments every few minutes.“Did you see the ring?”“She came back stronger.”“Alaric moved fast.”“I heard Xavier almost lost it this morning.”That last one caught my attention.My fingers paused over the keyboard.Interesti
(Elena’s POV) The message stayed on the screen longer than it should have. You should have stayed fired. For a moment I simply stared at it, my fingers frozen above the keyboard. The office around me was quiet. Too quiet. Outside the glass walls, people moved through the hallway pretending to be busy, but every now and then someone slowed just enough to glance toward my office. Toward me. I leaned back slightly in the chair. So this was how it was going to be. Not open hostility. Not yet. Just whispers. Threats sent from behind anonymous screens. Corporate warfare at its most cowardly. My cursor hovered over the message window. The sender was hidden behind an internal company address with no name attached. Of course. I exhaled slowly and closed the message without replying. Whoever sent it wanted a reaction. They weren’t getting one. Instead, I opened the first financial report sitting in my inbox. If I was going to survive this place, I needed to start acting like I
(Elena’s POV) By the time morning came, the city had already moved on from the quiet of the night. I hadn’t. Sleep had been shallow and restless, filled with flashes of Maya’s face and the echo of Alaric’s voice repeating the same chilling possibility. “She may have been silenced.” Even hours later, the thought tightened something deep in my chest. But the world didn’t stop for grief or fear—especially not the corporate world. And apparently, neither did Alaric. The black car rolled smoothly to a stop in front of Carrington Tower. The massive glass building stretched high into the sky, sunlight reflecting off its polished surface like nothing ugly had ever happened inside its walls. I stared at it for a moment. The last time I walked through those doors, security had escorted me out like a criminal. Now I was returning as the CEO’s fiancée. And apparently his financial strategy director. Life had a strange sense of humor. Alaric stepped out first, the driver opening the
(Elena’s POV)For some minutes after Alaric’s phone stopped popping with notifications, neither of us moved, the silence stretched out like a dog getting her joints ready for the day.The city stretched endlessly outside the penthouse windows, lights blinking like distant stars. I rested against his shoulder, wrapped in the soft throw he had draped around me, the warmth of the tea still lingering in my chest.My body felt strangely heavy.The doctor had warned me about that—the exhaustion, the emotional crash after the procedure. I hadn’t realized how quickly it would hit.Alaric shifted slightly beside me, careful not to disturb me too much. His hand rested loosely on my arm, thumb brushing absentminded circles against the fabric of my sweater.“You should get some sleep.” he murmured quietly.“I’m not that fragile,” I replied, though my voice sounded softer than I intended.“You don’t have to be fragile to be tired.” He muttered.I tilted my head back to look at him. “You’re hoverin







