LOGINGEORGEThe reporters rushed my car the moment it pulled up to the office building. A dense wall of microphones and shouted questions closed in around me before I had even fully stepped out onto the pavement."George, can you confirm the penthouse photos?""George, is it true you and Ms. Hale are back together?""Sir, if we could just get a formal statement on the Western Market contract!""Get them off here," I told my security guard at the G3 gate. I kept my jaw tight and did not slow my stride toward the front doors. "All of them. Now."My security team stepped into the press line with four uniform guards. Their broad frames pushed hard against the media recorders to clear a narrow path toward the lobby entrance. Flashes from cameras blinded my eyes, but I kept my face blank.By the time I reached the elevator banks, the cha
GEORGEI stood at the curb long after Leila's car had turned the corner. My hands remained curled into tight fists that I had not consciously made. Something had cracked open deep inside my chest, a raw rage that left my breathing short and my jaw locked so tight the bone ached. I turned on my heel and walked back inside the building. My boots clicked against the floor of the lobby as I took the elevator straight back to the penthouse. The front door was still hanging wide open, exactly as Leila had left it. I pushed it open further and stepped into the quiet foyer, my voice dropping into a vibration that filled the empty space. "Sabrina!"My voice carried through the wide entryway and came back to me flat. It was absorbed by nothing but the heavy silence of the living room. "Sabrina!" I yelled again, the sound tearing through my throat. Nothing. No one answered.I pushed the guest room door open so hard the metal handle slammed against the wall with a sharp crack. The bed was
KARLIt was half past six in the morning, and I was already standing at the grand window of my office. The city below the clear glass line was still gray and half-lit by the early sun. My phone suddenly buzzed against my desk, the sharp vibration sounding loud in the quiet suite. I turned away from the glass. My palms felt cold against the phone as I picked it up. Sabrina Hale. I stood right there by the window pane, letting the bright light of the screen hit my face as I opened the message. Seven images loaded one after another on the screen. They arrived with a fast efficiency that made my chest tighten before the first small thumbnail even finished downloading. The visual proof was absolute. George asleep on his side with his face turned toward the pillow, and Sabrina was right beside him. Attached beneath the last photo was a single text.(Done. As promised.)I set the phone down on the windowsill, but I picked it back up almost immediately. I could not stop myself from s
LEILAThe apartment was still dark when I woke up, and my mind immediately drifted back to last night. I had fallen asleep with George's deep voice lingering in my ear, listening to him explain everything about Sabrina. The silence on the fourteenth floor was absolute, but it didn't last as my phone suddenly vibrated on the wooden nightstand, rattling heavily against the wood once, twice, and then again. The persistence told me it wouldn't stop on its own. I sat up and reached out, my fingers feeling cold as I swiped to unlock the screen. A flood of message notifications from a number I didn't recognize filled the screen. I opened the chat, and my thumb froze right above it. More than five pictures were attached to the very first text. My hand hovered over the bright screen for a second, my heart beating faster as I tapped the first photo to download it. Something behind my ribs turned to ice. It was George's face. He was asleep on his side, his face buried in a white pillow.
GEORGEThe rain was steady against the penthouse windows by the time I got home, my jacket still damp as I pulled it off and called Leila before I'd even turned on the lights."How's she doing today?" I asked, settling onto the couch."Kicking a little more than usual," Leila said, and I could hear the warm smile in her tone through the line. "I think she likes the rain.""My meeting ran long tonight," I said, looking out at the blurred city lights below. "The board wanted a full progress review on the Western Market site before they'd sign off on the next phase.""You sound exhausted," she said."I am. You sound it too.""Long day," she admitted. "More aches than usual, if I'm honest."Something in the way she said it sat heavier in my chest than I let on."I'll come by tomorrow morning," I said. "So we visit the doctor. Just to be sure.""I'm fine, George. It's not something you should worry about." she said. "The doctor cleared my charts yesterday. I'm already reviewing the master
KARLWe were in the private suite, the '09 Bordeaux already breathing on the sideboard, the door locked and the floor's private key access exactly why I'd chosen it.Sabrina sat across the table, her legs crossed, her phone resting face-down beside her glass."You weren't exactly subtle about what you wanted," she said, nodding toward the phone."The most important thing is that you're here now," I said, taking a drink from my glass as I studied her.She didn't take her eyes from mine."Tell me about you and George," I said. "The real version. Not what people read in blog posts."She looked at me for a moment before she answered, turning her glass slowly by the stem."We met in college," she said, her voice flat. "Both of us certain we already knew exactly how the rest of it would go." She paused, her thumb tracing th
EVELINA “Sign them whenever you’re ready.”A white envelope landed on my keyboard. For a second, I thought it was another batch of revisions from Sterling Group. Then I saw the words on the front.Divorce Agreement.Julian Sterling stood across from me in his charcoal suit, still buttoned up. His
EVELINA Dominic.For a second, I thought it would be Julian. Or Theodore. Or nobody.Hotel hallways were always full of people coming and going. Most of the time, nobody looked twice at you.But Dominic was walking toward me. His hands were in his pockets, his expression flat and unreadable. He st
EVELINA The door opened.Aria Vance walked in with one hand resting lightly on Julian’s arm. She glanced around the table easily, already smiling before anyone spoke.Julian looked across the room. His eyes passed over me without stopping before settling on his parents.“Dad. Mum.” A beat. “ This
EVELINA The corridor felt different when I stepped out of Dr. Yuen’s office.People were moving faster. Reception staff straightened behind their desks. Nurses glanced toward the entrance like they were expecting someone important.A name passed quietly through the hallway. “Aria Vance.”I kept wa







