Daniel’s POV.The sound of the slap echoed in my ears long after my palm left Mia’s face. It was sharp, ugly, final like something breaking that couldn’t be put back together. She stumbled back a step, clutching her cheek, eyes wide and brimming with tears.I’d never seen her look at me that way before. Not even when we fought. Not even when she hated me. This was different. This was shock. Betrayal.But damn it, she pushed me.“Coward,” she spat, her voice shaking, but her words cutting clean through my chest. “You’re pathetic, Daniel. Pathetic. Running around pretending you’re a man when you can’t even control your own house. That little tramp Annabella, she owns you. You think I don’t see it?”Her words hit harder than I expected.“You’re losing everything,” she hissed, stepping closer. “Your company, your family, your mind. And for what? Some girl who doesn’t even want you?”My blood boiled.I’d told her not to go to Annabella. I’d warned her. But Mia never listened. And today, sh
Daniel’s Pov“Mia!”The word tore from my throat like fire. I slammed the car door and stormed across the driveway, my chest burning, my hands trembling from pure rage.“Mia!” I roared again, louder this time, so the whole damn neighborhood could hear.I didn’t care who was watching. Let them all hear me, let them know this house was full of lies.The front door cracked open and there she was, standing small in the light, her face pale, her eyes darting like a cornered animal.She didn’t even have time to speak. I shoved past her into the house, slammed the door so hard behind me the frame shook.“Daniel” she started.But I was already shouting.“Mia!” I barked again, turning on her like fire. My voice filled the living room, my chest heaving.From the corner, Gary my dog leapt up from his spot and started barking like mad. Deep, sharp barks that rattled through the chaos, his claws scratching against the floor as he spun circles.“Quiet!” I snapped at him, but my eyes never left Mia.
Daniel Pov.She scoffed in my face. That little sound cut deeper than any word she could’ve thrown. Her arms tightened around Peter, dragging him closer to her chest like I was some kind of threat. My own son. My blood. Yet the way she held him, it was like he belonged only to her.And without another word, she turned and walked away. Straight into the toilet. The door slammed, and I heard the sharp click of the lock.I froze, staring at that door. My fists clenched, jaw locking tight until my teeth ached.“Annabella,” I called out, my voice deep, trying to sound controlled when really, I was shaking. “Open the door.”Nothing.I pressed my palm against the wood, leaning my forehead close. “Don’t do this. Don’t hide from me. We need to talk.”Still silence.Something inside me cracked. I slammed my fist into the door, once, twice. The sound echoed through the hallway, vibrating through my bones.“Open the damn door, Annabella!” I shouted, each word raw.I kept hitting it, knuckles stin
Daniel’s Pov.The knock at my office door was soft, almost hesitant, but it still made my jaw clench. I had told them I didn’t want to be disturbed. The day had just started, my thoughts heavier than the glass of whiskey sitting untouched in front of me. Yet something in that knock carried urgency, and I knew before the door even opened that I wouldn’t like what I was about to hear.“Sir,” my guard stepped inside, eyes downcast. “Your wife… she was at the mansion.”For a moment, my mind went blank. The words didn’t make sense, couldn’t make sense. I had to replay them in my head before they settled like shards of glass in my chest. My wife. Mia. At Annabella’s.The glass slipped from my hand, shattering on the rug. Amber liquid bled into the fibers, but I didn’t care. My pulse roared in my ears as I surged to my feet. “What did you just say?”He flinched but repeated it. “She was there.”Mia at the mansion. The word hit me harder than a blow. My chest tightened, a burn clawing up my t
Mia’s POV.I stared at her, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe. The words tumbled out before I even realized what I was saying.“You own it all. You’ve always owned everything.”It came out sharp, like glass splintering. My throat tightened, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Something in me had snapped the moment she walked into the mansion, the moment she turned those eyes on me, eyes that used to be mine to look down on, eyes that had once been filled with hesitation and shyness, now steady, calm, cold.Her face didn’t flinch the way I expected. Instead, her brow furrowed, and she tilted her head slightly, confusion flickering across her pale features.“Own what?” she asked softly. Her voice was fragile but not weak. There was something in it , something steady that made my chest burn.I laughed, but it wasn’t real laughter. It was bitter, choked, hollow.“What do you have that I don’t have?” I hissed. “That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t even know. You don’t even realize it because y
Mia’s POV.I hadn’t seen her in years.Not since that noght at the gala with Mr John McQueen.The night everything I thought I wanted became tainted with her name, her face, her shadow. The night I felt her eyes burn into me at Soundgood, when Daniel’s hand was still warm on my waist, when the air was thick with betrayal and shame.Annabella.Even thinking it now, my chest tightens, as though my body remembers what my mind has tried to bury. She had stood there, beautiful even then, though her expression was carved in shock and devastation, and she had turned away with a silence so sharp it left me bleeding long after she disappeared. She never yelled, never demanded, never gave me the satisfaction of a scene. She just walked away. Walked away from Daniel. From the wedding. From me.And I thought, stupidly, that I had won.Years have passed since then. I am the wife. I am the one who shares his home. His name. His bed. But every night, every hour, every breath of Daniel’s silence remi