Vanessa POV I got back to the mansion with Mandi, exhaling in relief as the door shut behind me. Bella went home. I was holding my breath and I wasn’t even aware until now. I could hear my heart still beating loudly in my chest as I leaned against the door, gripping my phone so tightly to the point where my fingers ached.That call.Someone had been digging into Liam’s birth records. Someone had been looking for his father.I sighed deeply, moving a shaky hand through my red hair. My thoughts were spiraling out of control, with the worst of possibilities flooding my mind.Who? And why now?I had a horrible suspicion.Mandi and Bella asked what happened when we left the restaurant, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak up.I adjusted my skirt, walking past the door and into the living room. The penthouse was a little lively, the nanny I recently hired was watching over Liam, Gwen and James. The lively city hummed from the outside. But all that, did nothing to calm me.I needed to talk
Tuesday, April 23rdEdward POVThe Business deal was finally concluded.I smiled vibrantly, leaning back in my chair and staring at the polished wood table in front of me. Everything taking place came into view. Across the room, the Roman investors shook hands with my team, satisfied with the deal I had pitched to them. It had taken months of negotiations, late-night calls, and more patience than I usually had for business. But now, the contract was signed.Now I was one step closer to expanding my empire.However for some reason, my mind didn’t feel the rush of satisfaction it usually felt after sealing a major deal. My mind was somewhere else. On someone else.Vanessa.I exhaled and checked my watch. It was late in Rome, but back in New York, she would still be awake. What was she doing right now? Was she reading on the couch, curled up in one of my shirts like she used to? Or was she with Daniel?My jaw clenched at the thought.Daniel.He wasn’t backing down. I had seen the flowers
Vanessa POVThe atmosphere was dark, and the air smelt very thick, heavy, suffocating. I knew this place. Knew it too well.A dull glow of a single bulb blinked over my head, causing shadows to form on the cracked walls. I felt my pulse race in my ears, a troubled rhythm that matched the sharp click of polished shoes against the concrete floor.No.I felt my stomach turn violently as I forced myself to move, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. My feet felt like lead, my breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t here. I couldn’t be here.“Vanessa.”The voice echoed over me like honey already poisoned —sweet, deceptive, and deadly afterwards.Something wasn’t right.The voice came again, Low. Deceptively soft.“You thought you could run from me?”My blood ran cold.I knew that voice.I spun around, my pulse pounding against my ribs, and there he was—Kaz, standing in the shadows, his black eyes fixed on mine. He walked forward, the little light striking the sharp lines of his face, and the snee
Vanessa POVI heard my office door shutting behind him with a Soft click. It sounded louder than my heart beating in my chest.My mind was still trying to process it all.Kaz Jones was right here,Standing in my office.Alive.Free.I struggled to keep my balance as my knees trembled. It wasn’t easy for me to remain standing because every inch of me was screaming to run. But I couldn’t show fear. Not to Kaz.He waltzed round the office like he owned the place, tracing his fingers on my table, touching the fabrics on the shelves and the mannequins in my office.Then his gaze landed on me. Most days I wore confidence on me like an armor. I felt exposed in this state, vulnerable even. Today my confidence had dissolved. Now it was like tissue paper.“You look so much better than the last time I saw you Vanessa. I missed you.” He said to me, his lips forming a soft smile on his face. But I knew it was fake because his eyes remained cold.I took a step back, subtly reaching for my phone be
Daniel’s POV I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried—God knows I tried—to give her space, to let her figure things out without pushing. But each day that passed, knowing she was slipping further away from me, gutted me in ways I didn’t think possible. I stared at the apartment keys on my kitchen counter, a sleek silver chain attached to a rose gold fob. I’d just finalized the arrangements this morning. Wendy had been relocated into a high-rise unit two blocks from my penthouse. It was secure, monitored, and came with a personal bodyguard I’d hired to keep her out of trouble—and out of Vanessa’s orbit. I told Wendy it was for her own good. She didn’t argue. Maybe she knew, deep down, that whatever we had was long gone. And maybe, I was done pretending otherwise. I turned the gift box over in my hand, a soft leather wrap tied neatly with a gold ribbon. Inside was a custom bracelet—simple, elegant—etched with the words: Still Yours, Always. It wasn’t grand. It wasn’t meant to win
Vanessa’s POVThe sirens came first.I felt them pierce through me like jagged glass, ringing in my ears. Cutting into the shock that enveloped me. I barely even registered the flashing red-and-blue lights outside the window, or the heavy footsteps echoing through the boutique until I felt Daniel’s arm around my shoulder, anchoring me to something solid.“It’s okay princess,” he whispered to me, his voice low and steady. “They’re here now.”My mouth opened, but I couldn’t speak. Nothing came out. Just the shallow wheezing of someone trying to remember how to breathe. A police officer knelt in front of me, his badge glinting in the low light of my studio. I didn’t know I was still shaking.“Ma’am? Can you hear me? Are you hurt?”My eyes flicked to his face. He looked young—maybe mid-thirties—but there was something tired in his expression. Like he’d seen too much.I tried to nod, but my head wouldn’t move.Daniel answered for me. “She’s in shock. He tried to strangle her. I pulled h
Edward’s POVThe wheels of my private jet touched down with a gentle bounce, but the moment was anything but smooth for me.Rome had been a success. The business deal was closed, the Roman investors had signed off on the proposal, and my company stood to gain millions in international expansion. On paper, I had everything to celebrate.But I didn’t feel victorious.All I could think about was Vanessa. Her voice on the phone two nights ago had been so… distant. I knew her well enough to hear what she didn’t say. Something was wrong. And my gut hadn’t stopped twisting since that call.The driver was already waiting when I exited the terminal. I nodded stiffly at him, dropping into the backseat and telling him to head home. I didn’t even take off my jacket. My mind was racing too fast.I’d texted Vanessa from the car, just a simple: I’m home. I missed you.No response.Odd.Ten minutes passed. Still nothing.By the time we pulled up to the house, tension coiled in my chest like a vice.T
Vanessa POV My eyes opened as I caught a glimpse of Sunlight piercing into the living room. Morning came too soon. The Iight lingered, warming the room in soft hues of orange and gold. I wasn’t sure of the time I’d fallen asleep. All I knew was that I’d been wrapped in Edward’s arms, tucked between two very different worlds—Daniel’s penthouse and my shattered sense of safety. My eyes fluttered open, dry and sore. I was curled up on Daniel’s couch, wrapped in a blanket, still wearing his baggy T-shirt. The air smelled faintly of coffee and something citrusy, probably the reed diffusers he always had scattered around. It was too pristine. Too calm. Like last night hadn’t even happened. But it had. Kaz had returned. He’d stepped into my new beginning like a ghost rising from the grave. I sat up slowly, and pain pinched my ribs—a reminder that this wasn’t a dream. That I’d been cornered, grabbed, pinned. And saved. By Daniel. And then, held. By Edward. Two men. On
Edward POV Vanessa lay beside me, her breath still warm against my chest, her thigh draped possessively over mine. Her skin glowed in the faint light spilling through the sheer curtains, and my fingers moved slowly along the curve of her spine like I was drawing a memory I didn’t want to fade.I couldn’t stop looking at her.Every little rise and fall of her chest, every blink of those sleepy eyes as they tried to stay open, it was all undoing me. She looked like she belonged here, tangled in my sheets, flushed from our night, marked by my mouth and my hands. And for the first time in what felt like years, something inside me had gone quiet.That noise, that ache I carried around from the pressure, the secrets, the war zone my life had become, it was gone.All because of her.She stretched slightly, a lazy, sensual arch of her back that brought her even closer to me. Her fingers traced circles on my abs, and then she looked up at me with a crooked smile. “You’re staring.”“Can you b
Vanessa POVIt was 4:03 a.m. when I heard the front door open.I hadn’t slept.Not after that text. Not after the way my body still burned from Edward’s touch in his office, the way he whispered filth and reverence in the same breath. My mind kept replaying every second of it, his fingers inside me, his mouth against my skin, the ache he left behind when he walked away.Now he was here.I heard the muffled voices. Donovan checking in, Edward’s low reply, and then the soft thud of his shoes moving through the house like he belonged to it.To me.I sat up in bed, my heartbeat thudding in my chest, every nerve on edge. The short silk night dress I wore clung to my skin, too thin, too teasing. My thighs pressed together instinctively, still sensitive, still wanting.The bedroom door creaked open.And there he was.Edward stepped into the moonlit room like something out of a fever dream, his shirt rumpled, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, his hair tousled like he’d run his hands through i
Edward POVI watched the city lights blur past me, sights of light and shadow mixed together as the car sped through Manhattan. Every time I blinked, I saw Vanessa, pressed against my desk, flushed and breathless, the taste of her still on my lips. The ache she left behind hadn’t dulled. But I’d buried it beneath a harder truth:Someone had stolen from me.Not just from my company—but from the people I trusted, the people I protected. And now Jonathan said they had the bastard.The blacked-out SUV pulled up outside an old shipping warehouse by the Hudson. Abandoned on paper—but the NYPD and Jonathan had taken it over tonight like it was a war front.A uniformed officer met me at the door and nodded, radio clipped to his shoulder. “Mr. Silver, right this way.”I followed him down a narrow hallway that reeked of mildew and metal. Every footstep echoed, hollow and sharp. At the end, two detectives flanked Jonathan, who stood outside a room with one-way glass. His usual calm demeanor was
Vanessa POVThe city lights moved past me like a blur through the tinted windows of my car, but my mind was stuck. Somewhere between Edward’s mouth on mine and the rough whisper of his voice still echoing in my ear.“You’re my peace."I hadn’t said anything back. I Couldn’t.Not because I didn’t feel something. I did. God, I did.But because when a man like Edward says something like that, it demands more than a casual response. It demanded the kind of answer that changed everything.I pressed my fingers to my lips, still swollen from his kiss, as the car eased past the bridge. Donovan drove with soft r&b music filling the environment, giving me space, as always. I was grateful for it. My body guard Harris, sat beside him to accompany me too.Because right now, I was shaking inside.The feel of Edward’s hot body on mine… the way his fingers moved with both hunger and reverence… how his lips had claimed my skin like he was afraid I’d vanish if he didn’t taste me deep enough.It hadn’t
Edward POVI hadn’t left the penthouse in days.The world outside kept spinning. Meetings, board calls, messages piling up — but I was stuck. Drowning.The theft at the company had gutted a chunk of our reserve accounts. Tens of millions wired out before anyone noticed. No trace of the thief yet. Kaz was still out there, lurking like a phantom in the dark.And then… the attack at Liam’s school.Still a goddamn blur.The footage was too grainy, too fast. No clear shot of who orchestrated it, but I knew, deep down, Kaz’s stink was all over it.I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the pile of contracts and financial reports scattered across my desk. My tie was loose around my neck, sleeves rolled up, head pounding.I didn’t go back to the mansion. I couldn’t face Vanessa. Couldn’t face Mandi, Liam… the life I promised to protect but was failing miserably to.And her.Vanessa.God, her name haunted every breath I took.I missed her. I missed her laugh, the way she looked at me when
Vanessa’s POVMay 1stA new month. Four more months to go before my fate with Edward would be decided.Four more months before the contract that bound us together — and quietly unraveled everything inside me — would end.Nine more days before Liam’s birthday.I sat on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at my phone. The soft morning light filtered through the large windows of the mansion, painting everything in pale gold. Spring was in full bloom outside, but inside me, a quiet storm raged.I was supposed to be excited. Planning a birthday party for my son should’ve filled me with happiness and energy. It was his first real celebration since we moved here, and for the first time, I had the chance to give him something magical.But the question gnawed at me: Should it be big, or intimate and simple?Did Liam need balloons, crowds, clowns, and photographers? Or did he just need a backyard, a cake, and the people who loved him?I pulled my knees up to my chest, thinking about it.An ima
Daniel POVThe door slammed behind me, rattling in its frame. Silence swallowed the penthouse, the only sound my heavy breathing, still ragged from the argument. I dropped Wendy off at her apartment, I couldn’t stand her presence anywhere near me.I tore off the tailored jacket, flinging it across the back of the nearest chair. It slid off and hit the floor, but I didn’t care. I ripped at the buttons of my shirt next, needing to get free of the fabric, of the night, of everything Wendy Hawthorne had just dragged me into.I stalked across the room, ignoring the glittering skyline outside the windows. New York pulsed beyond the glass like a living thing, but I was numb to it. Numb and raw and furious.How the hell had it come to this?A fake engagement. A fake wedding date. August 10th, she had said. She’d even smiled, that sickly sweet, picture-perfect smile for the cameras, clinging to me like a trophy she didn’t deserve.The taste of the lie still burned in my mouth.I collapsed onto
Daniel POVThe night felt heavier than usual.I stood in front of the mirror, straightening the cuffs of my jacket, hating every second of this.Fake smiles.Fake stories.Fake love.The thoughts lingered deeply in my head.And the worst part?I was volunteering for it.For her.For Vanessa.I gritted my teeth and ran a hand through my hair. The dark navy suit clung too tightly to my frame, like it knew this whole thing was a goddamn lie.The media crew was already on stage in the studio, setting up lights, microphones, banners with the movie’s logo plastered across them.I glanced at my watch.Any minute now.Wendy had insisted on doing the interview in their studio, all glamorous and public.Because God forbid she missed an opportunity to flaunt her “perfect life” to the world.I heard her heels clicking down the hall backstage before I saw her.Wendy swept into the room, a vision of strategic perfection—silver gown clinging to her like a second skin, lips painted a bold red, her b
Vanessa POVEven at night time, I couldn’t sleep. My eyes remained wide open.With the distant hum of the lively New York city and the occasional thuds from running up through staircases, it felt like the walls themselves were holding their breath. I lay in my king-sized bed, staring at the ceiling, the silk sheets tangled around my legs.Sleep wouldn’t come. It had been this way for days.I turned over and reached for my phone on the nightstand, half-hoping to find a message from Edward. Anything. Even a simple “Are you okay?” would have been enough.But my screen was empty.Nothing.Biting my lip, I opened my messages anyway and typed:You up?I hovered my thumb over the send button. Then, at the last second, I deleted the text.No.I wasn’t going to chase him.Not tonight. He was under pressure, a theft in his company, the weight of protecting Liam and I. It was a lot to handle.I could easily go to his room to check if he’s there but that could escalate things. But No.I rolled on