MasukEverett's POVMargaret stepped into the office not long after Diella left."The team from the Chicago site just arrived, Sir," she announced before asking, "Would you like to brief them yourself, or should I have one of the project leads handle it?""Who's on the team?" I asked, already reaching for the folder on my desk.She listed the names off one by one. I half listened until the fourth name left her mouth."Flynn West."My hand stilled over the folder for a second before I picked it up."He's with this team?" I asked, sounding more like I was expecting the man to be with this specific team."Yes, sir." She glanced up at me. "Is that going to be a problem?""No." I closed the folder after taking a brief look through it. "Bring them to my office."Margaret left without any further questions. Ten minutes later, she returned with the team in tow.I stayed behind my desk as they filed in, the group spreading out to stand in a loose line in front of me.There were five of them, and mos
Everett POV The sight of her sent a fresh wave of irritation boiling through my veins. For some damn reason, just looking at her these days was enough to set me on edge."What are you doing here, Diella?" I asked, keeping my tone even and controlled despite the anger simmering inside me. "This isn't the first time I've warned you about these unannounced visits."She tilted her head, that wild smile never leaving her face as she slid off the desk and moved closer, her hips swaying with confidence. "Oh, come on, darling," she cooed, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I'm here to discuss plans for our engagement party tomorrow. Aren't you excited? I've been handling everything so you don't have to lift a finger."I gave her a bored expression, brushing past her without another glance as I dropped into the chair behind my desk, feeling the leather creaked under my weight. She followed, settling into the seat opposite me like this was a casual business meeting. Her eyes sparkle
~LIORA~ Considering the fact that the last form of interaction we had was the day, he supposedly caught me cheating on him with Spencer, which didn't even count as a conversation as he was too busy staring at me with disgust and trying to escape from the house.Nothing about that conversation made me believe telling him about a pregnancy would suddenly fix anything.“Hmm.”The doctor hummed thoughtfully.“You know, having a child is a blessing." Seeing that I still didn't look happy, he added, "Many people pray for something like this to happen. I think you should give motherhood a chance.”Give motherhood a what?I raised my brows at the man.This man didn’t even know what he was talking about. He wasn't a woman and he sure as hell wasn’t pregnant and single.If he were, I doubted he would be saying something like this to me.Motherhood wasn't some simple decision, and neither was raising a freaking child alone.The reality of my situation was not comforting.Still, I knew he meant
Everett's POVThe shock etched on her face resembled that of a person who had just heard the most absurd news.Her eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, she simply stared at me. It was as though she was trying to decide whether I was being serious or not.Before she could say anything, I continued.“Isn’t it what you and Father wanted?" I raised a brow at her. "So I think you should be at least a little bit happy about the news.”Mother remained silent for a moment as she processed my words. Her gaze lingered on my face, searching for any expression at all that would contrafic what I was saying.“I know,” she finally said. “But I thought you and Liora were perfect together. I thought you loved her.”My jaw tightened at those words.'Love,' I scoffed.I turned my head toward the window, watching the passing buildings outside.“Look, what Liora and I had was a simple agreement,” I replied firmly. “She understood her part, she played her role, and I did the same. I really don’t want t
LIORA’S POVOn arriving at the penthouse, the moment I stepped out from the elevator, I noticed Margaret standing there, instructing one of Everett’s men who was handling my luggage. My eyes narrowed as I approached her.“What is going on here?” I asked.Margaret spun around to face me. Shock flashed across her face before she composed herself. “Mr. Montague asked me to clear your belongings,” she replied in her usually polite tone. “I thought he had discussed it with you.”I glanced at the man, recognizing him as one of Everett’s bodyguards. Two large rolling bags and a smaller one already sat packed beside him. My gaze returned to Margaret.“Yes, we discussed it,” I replied, even though Everett had never given me the chance to explain anything. I saw no reason to cause a scene while his staff stood right there.“Oh, thank goodness,” Margaret said, relief softening her tone. “You will also need to come by the office today or tomorrow to clear out your desk. I had someone gathe
~DIELLAAfter riling Liora up and making mention of the wedding, I knew she was going to try to follow me.The moment I entered Everett's room, his eyes snapped towards me."I only just texted you five minutes ago. How did you get here so fast?" He looked at me suspiciously.I smiled despite the cold look he was throwing my way."I was already on my way over before you even called," I replied as I cat walked over and sat on the seat next to his bed. "Had to make sure my husband was okay."He stared at me like I was absurd."I'm not your husband."I rolled my eyes at that harsh expression on his face.Noticing the small shadow behind the door, I knew it must be Liora."The heavens really are on my side, don't you think?" I intentionally raised my voice higher.Everett gave me a tired questioning look, but I continued anyway."You know, this whole situation worked out far better than I expected. Now you don't have to come up with some excuse to end things with her.""We can finally get
LIORAMy phone woke me up. The screen showed a number I didn't know. I almost ignored it but something told me to answer."Miss Jovan?" A woman's voice echoes through the speakers. "This is Andrea Cole from the Wall Street Journal. I'm writing about your engagement to Everett Montague and I wanted
LIORASunday morning I woke up to my phone ringing. Unknown number. I almost didn't answer."Hello?""Liora Jovan?" A woman's voice. Professional. "This is Rebecca Chen from People magazine. I'm writing a piece about you and Everett Montague. Do you have time for a few questions?""No. Sorry." I hu
LIORAMy phone wouldn't stop buzzing. I woke up to the sound of notifications going off like fireworks. One after another after another. I grabbed it from the nightstand and squinted at the screen.Four hundred and seventy two I*******m notifications.My stomach dropped.I opened the app. The first
LIORA They all filed back into the conference room. Derek looked annoyed that I was taking up more of his time.I pulled up my presentation. "Okay. So the previous campaign focused on product features. Specs, capabilities, technical details. It was fine. But fine doesn't make people care."I click







