June 18thDaniel’s POVThe sky and I were already more than acquainted by now. I sat in the chair of my private jet staring at the clouds while the engines vibrated in a low hum. The world below blurred into patchwork fields, winding rivers, and the ocean stretching like liquid steel.I was used to sights like this more times than I could count. Late-night flights for business trips, early mornings chasing board approvals, flying halfway across the world to put out another corporate fire. But this wasn’t business.This was Vanessa.Every mile between New York and London felt like another mile closer to her, closer to the quiet hope I’d been guarding since the day I first pulled her into my arms and saw her soften against me. Since the night she told me yes to Zanzibar.That yes had changed something in me.I wasn’t the kind of man who asked twice. In business, in relationships, in life. I made my move, and if the door slammed shut, I walked away. But with Vanessa, the game had been
June 18thVanessa’s POVThe day was bright enough to sting my eyes when we stepped onto the beach. The salt-heavy wind curled through my hair, tugging at the hem of my sundress as Liam dashed ahead with Gwen and James, their laughter carrying across the sand like a melody I hadn’t heard in too long.Mandi walked beside me, balancing a cooler on her hip, her husband trailing with folded beach chairs. The tide glittered in the distance, rolling waves flashing like polished glass. I felt the corners of my lips lift, hesitant but real.The body guards were also on standby, observing us from a little distance.For once, it was easy to pretend. Easy to watch Liam shriek as James buried his legs in the sand. Easy to smile when Gwen tugged me down to help her build a crooked sandcastle. For an hour, I let myself slip into their rhythm, let myself believe in a small world where the only thing that mattered was whether the tide would swallow our fortress before we finished it.I didn’t expect a
Edward’s POVThe mansion was heavy with silence ever since Nessa and Liam left. It was the kind of silence that pressed against the ribs until breathing itself felt like it was impossible. I sat on a dining chair, and stared at the stack of resignation papers waiting in front of me.The ink of my signature was still fresh, bleeding into the page like. An end.I leaned back in the chair, my jaw tight, the weight of the decision pressing into every bone. Years of sacrifice, of rebuilding the Silver name after my father’s scandals, after my own mistakes… and yet, this was the first moment that felt like clarity.If cutting ties with my mother meant losing my claim to the family company, then so be it. After all I had built my own company, and I am just getting started.I can’t lose Vanessa. I can’t keep letting my mother dictate my life, poison every corner of my future until all that was left was ruin.The door opened with the familiar click of expensive heels against hardwood. My moth
June 17thVanessa’s POVEdward and I were standing in the garden at night, Liam running circles around us with laughter that glittered like sunlight. Edward’s hand was warm in mine, his voice soft as he whispered promises he’d never broken. He leaned down, kissed me in that way that always made my heart stop, and I believed, just for that suspended moment, that everything we’d fought for, everything we’d lost, had been worth it.I didn’t want it to be over.But it was.My chest rose too quickly as my eyes blinked open, the dream dissolving into the dim light of Mandi’s guest room. The sheets were tangled around me, my pillow damp with tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed. Reality swept in like a cold tide. There was no Edward at my side, no garden, no promise kept. Just me, alone.The sharp trill of my phone on the nightstand shattered the silence. Feeling grumpy, I fumbled for it, pressing it to my ear without checking the name.“Princess?”Daniel’s smooth voice filled the line.I sat u
Chapter 117 Edward POVThe penthouse felt colder than the mansion, though I knew that wasn’t true. The thermostat glowed a steady seventy-two, but my skin crawled as if the whole place had turned into a freezer.I had run here after the chaos, after Vanessa had slipped through my hands like smoke.I didn’t defendher.Didn’t protect her.I had stood frozen while my mother ripped her heart open in front of everyone.And now the whole world knew.I tossed the remote onto the marble counter and it clattered too loudly, echoing in the silence. Every channel I flipped to, every gossip blog I came across on my phone, showed the same thing: headlines with her face, some screenshots of her masked stage persona, snippets of grainy videos that had been dug out of whatever pit my mother’s contacts had crawled through. Then her fashion house made the news as well.Lady Red Unmasked.Edward Silver’s Secret fling: Stripper Turned Socialite.Was Silver in Love with a Lie?My jaw ached from clenching
London feels like homeVanessa POVThe flight to London had been long, but Liam pressed his forehead against the plane window for almost the entire flight, wide-eyed at the sight of green below us. Fields and tiny villages spread like storybook pages, so different from New York’s noise and high rise buildings.The body guards, Harris and Cole came along, they were the only people from Edward that came along with us. Even though I hesitated, I felt it was smart they came along with us since Jules had made me even more popular on the internet.“Mom,” Liam whispered, tugging my sleeve, “is that England?”“Yes, baby,” I smiled faintly, even though my chest felt heavy. “That’s England.”It wasn’t home to me, but it was Mandi’s. And for now, that would be enough.By the time we stepped through the arrivals gate at Heathrow, my exhaustion clung to me like damp clothes. The wheels of our suitcases rattled against the floor as the body guards carried them. My hand was fixed tightly on Liam’s,