로그인POV: Edmond"What did you tell him?""That things were moving forward." She opened her eyes and looked at me sideways, that look she had, the one that landed somewhere in the center of my chest."It wasn't a lie." I looked at her for a moment."No," I said."It wasn't a lie, and it’s not the truth either."“He’s not strong enough to handle the truth. If he knows we are no longer together, he may be forced to withdraw into his shell and slow down his recovery. I can’t bear it if his treatment fails again. I need him to recover faster so we can get back out inheritance,” she stated firmly.“He will be fine, Lina. I will not let anything stop his healing progress, I won’t ...”“Thats the problem, Eddie. He trust you so much and it’s going to break his heart when he finds out the truth. I can’t let him find out, that’s why I need you to stay away from us. If you keep coming here and your grandfather finds out about your secret visits, we’ll get in trouble again, and this time, Jason will
POV: EdmondSaturday was supposed to be simple. I had a full morning of calls scheduled, a lunch with the board that had been rearranged three times and could not reasonably be rearranged a fourth, and an afternoon that belonged entirely to the stack of contracts sitting on my desk judging me quietly every time I walked past.I knew Selina went to the farmer's market on Saturdays.Not the large one downtown that everyone knew about. The smaller one on Whitfield Street, three blocks from her building, the one that set up between the old library and the dry cleaner with the faded yellow sign.She had mentioned it once, months ago, in a conversation that had no reason to stick in my memory as firmly as it had. She had said the tomatoes there were the only ones worth buying in this city, and she had said it with the particular conviction she reserved for things she considered non-negotiable.I had cancelled the lunch with the board by nine-thirty. I told Marcus it was a conflict. He had l
POV: EdmondIt was the groceries that finally broke me. I had been driving past on a Tuesday morning, the fourteen-minute route, traffic lights cooperating for once in a way that felt almost cruel, and I had seen her.Not just a glimpse this time. She was standing outside a corner shop two blocks from her building, juggling three bags that were clearly too heavy, trying to get her keys out of her pocket without dropping everything, and she was losing the battle spectacularly.I was past her before my brain finished processing the image. I circled the block. I told myself I was just making sure she was fine. I told myself I would keep driving if she had managed the bags. I told myself a lot of things in the forty seconds it took to come back around.She had made it approximately six steps from the shop door and was now crouched on the pavement attempting to repack a bag that had given up entirely, canned goods rolling gently toward the gutter.I pulled over, I was out of the car before
POV: EdmondThree weeks.Twenty-three days, to be exact. I had counted every single one of them like a man serving a sentence, which was exactly what this was, a fucking sentence. It’s a cage dressed up in expensive furniture and a woman who smiled too wide at dinner and called me ‘darling’ in front of staff who didn’t care either way.Alexia had redecorated the east wing guest room. That was where she slept, because that was the only room in this house I had made available to her. She had complained once, loudly, dramatically, with tears that dried suspiciously fast the moment she realized I wasn’t watching. I had stood in the doorway of the master bedroom, looked at her, and said with complete calm,“You wanted a husband just to be a wife, didn’t you?Well, congratulations wifey, you got a last name, you are a wife to a total stranger. Don’t push it, don’t make me take my anger out on you. Enjoy your title and status while it lasts.” I told her, shutting the door in her face. She h
POV: SelinaThe cold of the marble island bled through my thin dress, a shock against the back of my thighs that made me gasp. Edmond didn’t move. His hands stayed at my waist, fingers splayed, thumbs pressing into the ridge of my hip bones with a pressure that was almost punitive.“Alexia’s husband,” I said, the words tasting like copper.“That’s what you are now.” You could see the sadness and pain in my eyes, the thought alone upsets me. His jaw tightened. A muscle flickered at the corner of his mouth.“Don’t.” He warned me.“Don’t what?Say it out loud?” I scoffed. My fingers were still laced behind his neck. I could feel the heat of his skin through his collar, the dampness at his hairline from the stress of the day.“You married her, Edmond. You stood there and let that vile old man put her hand in yours and you said...”“I said what I had to say.” His voice was so quiet it was barely a vibration in the air between us.“That I accept her as my wife?Come on, my love, you know I
POV: SelinaThe drive back to my apartment was quiet. Jason had fallen asleep almost immediately after we settled him in the backseat, his head resting against the window, chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of someone finally at peace after too much chaos. I sat beside him, one hand resting on his arm, watching the city blur past the glass.Edmond drove, he didn’t say a word, neither did I. But every few minutes, his eyes would find mine in the rearview mirror, and something unbearable would pass between us, the kind of thing that didn’t need words, the kind of thing that hurt worse because of it.“He may be your husband, Alexia, but I own his heart.” I had said it, and I had meant every syllable. But somewhere between that grand exit and this suffocating silence, the weight of what those words actually meant had crashed down on me. He was married, not almost, not in some vague, complicated way that left room for interpretation. He had signed the papers. Alexia’s ring was s
POV: Selina“What was that for, Nicole?Why were you whispering to my grandfather, what game are you playing?” Sofia asked her friend furiously as Eddie went into his office to vent his anger on the poor vase on the window and the bookshelf. I could hear the sounds as he shatters anything he could
POV: Zoey“You just dug your own grave, Zee. I will make you pay for this humiliation!” Richard texted me a few minutes after they left the party. I read his message and scoffed within me, enjoying my first taste of revenge. I can imagine him pacing my sitting room in anger, cursing and swearing at
POV: SelinaHe was still asking me what is going on and I was thinking of the perfect answer to give him that won’t cause a scene here. But he noticed my ruined makeup and the bruises on my cheeks and my arms where Jacklyn and the security pulled and dragged me around like a thief. Everywhere was a
POV: Selina“Stop it, Jacklyn!Stop embarrassing me!” I let out furiously, trying to walk away. But she dragged me back and slapped me hard across my face, smearing my makeup and hurting my skin. I glared at her, raising my hand to retaliate. But Richard held my hand mid-air and stopped me from hur







