LOGINGraham's Point Of ViewMy hand flew to my face. The sting was sharp. Hot. Real. "DAD!" The word burst out louder than I intended… more shock than anger, my palm still pressed against my burning cheek as I stared at him. My eyes watered involuntarily, though whether from the physical pain or the humiliation, I couldn't say. He didn't flinch. Didn't even look slightly guilty. If anything, his jaw tightened further, as though my reaction had only deepened his irritation. The man who used to check under my bed for monsters now looked at me like I was one. "Don't 'Dad' me," he said, each word clipped and deliberate. His voice was low, controlled in that dangerous way that meant he was already past angry. This was the tone that preceded consequences, the one that made my childhood self go silent and obedient. "Start explaining yourself." I straightened slowly, despite the tremor in my legs, my jaw tightening until my teeth ached. "What have you done, boy?" There it was. The q
Graham's Point Of ViewI was still in my office, after Lillian left. Same chair. Same desk. Same damn silence that had been sitting here with me for hours like it paid rent. The city lights spilled in through the glass wall behind me, stretching across the floor in long, amber streaks. They touched the edge of my desk, stopping just short of my shoes like they knew better than to come any closer. Like even the light could sense the mood I was in. My fingers tapped once against the polished wood. Then again. The rhythm felt hollow, purposeless. Then I stopped. The quiet wasn't helping. It pressed against my temples, made my thoughts louder than they should have been. Made everything I was trying not to think about impossible to ignore. Nothing was helping. Not the files open in front of me, their words blurring into meaningless shapes. Not the half-finished drink sitting untouched to my right, ice long since melted into diluted amber. Not even the fact that I had been staring
I stared at him.Not the casual kind of staring people did during conversations, the polite glances exchanged over coffee or idle chitchat.No.This was the kind where your brain stopped cooperating with you entirely. Where every rational thought scattered like startled birds, leaving nothing but stunned silence in their wake.Where words refused to come out because they were still trying to figure out if what you had just heard was real or if the universe had finally decided to play a prank on you. A cruel, elaborate joke at your expense."My woman."That was what he said.Just like that.Like it was normal. Like it was a fact as simple as the sky being blue or water being wet.Like men walked around claiming people as theirs every Tuesday afternoon, as casually as ordering lunch or commenting on the weather.My heart hammered against my ribs, though whether from indignation or something else entirely, I couldn't say.I blinked once, trying to reset whatever had clearly malfunctioned
Two days.That was how long I had been inside Jaxx’s suite.Two whole days.If someone had told me that a week ago, I would have laughed straight in their face and asked them what kind of nonsense they were smoking.Yet here I was.Still here.Still breathing the same air as him.Still walking around his massive suite like I hadn’t accidentally stepped into a completely different reality.My assistant had practically taken over my life outside these walls. Calls, meetings, messages, scheduling… everything was being handled by her. The first few hours I had tried to protest, tried to grab my phone and regain control of my schedule like the responsible adult I usually was.That lasted about twenty minutes.Jaxx had taken the phone out of my hand, set it somewhere I couldn’t reach it, and simply said, “You’re staying.”And somehow… I did.I didn’t even know how that happened.It bothered me.Because the logical part of my brain kept whispering that something about this entire situation m
Jaxx’s Point Of ViewI was supposed to be checking something on my phone.Emails. Messages. A few updates that had come in from people who apparently believed their problems couldn’t survive the night without my immediate attention.Important messages from Roman were sitting there too.I had noticed the notifications earlier.Normally I would have opened them immediately. Roman didn’t send messages without reason, and anything that came from him usually meant business, something that required decisions, attention, strategy.Tonight, however, those messages could wait. Roman could wait. Because what I was seeing right now couldn’t. But I hadn’t read a single word in the last five minutes.The screen dimmed in my hand. My thumb hovered over it without moving. The glow of the phone reflected faintly across my palm, but my eyes had already left it. Because my attention wasn’t on the phone anymore.It was on her.Elena stood a few feet away near the vanity, wrapped in a soft robe, a towel
Lillian’s Point Of View“I hate youuuuu!”My scream tore through the underground garage and bounced back at me from every concrete wall.The echo came back louder. Ugly. Broken. I didn’t care. I didn’t care how I looked. Didn’t care if someone heard me. Didn’t care if security cameras were pointed straight at me.My chest heaved as I stood there, my hair a mess from where I had been gripping it moments ago, tears still sliding down my cheeks.“I hate you!” I shouted again, my voice cracking. The sound echoed between the parked cars. My breathing was ragged. Hot anger sat inside my chest like fire. “Elena!”I spat her name like it tasted bitter in my mouth.“Why don’t you just die?!” The words flew out before I could stop them. My voice bounced off the ceiling pipes.“Die!”I pointed angrily at the empty air like she was standing right there in front of me with that stupid calm face of hers.“Do you hear me?!”My hands shook. “Die!” My voice rose higher. “Die and get out of our lives!”
Elena’s Point Of View“You think you can run forever?” he hissed, each word dripping with venom, his voice low, intimate, like a nightmare whispered straight into my bones.I clawed at his arm, my nails raking over his skin, desperate to pry him off me. My lungs screamed, my scalp burned where his
Elena’s Point Of ViewThe yard went still.The silence pressed down heavy, thicker than the night air. My chest heaved, every breath slicing fire through my ribs, but I didn’t look away. My words hung there… Even in death, father is a million times better than you… like a blade no one wanted to tou
Elena’s Point Of ViewThe room went very still. My sister’s face went white, her mouth forming a sound that was not yet a cry. I could feel every beat of my heart like a curse. For a moment I saw nothing but my mother’s face… lined, hard, convinced of a righteousness that we were not allowed to que
Elena’s Point Of ViewIt’s been weeks since that breakdown, and I’ve done everything to avoid Graham and his mistress. I just don’t trust myself to stay calm around them, so it’s easier to pretend they don’t exist.No, that’s not fear. That’s me protecting what’s left of my sanity while quietly figu







