Amelia POVThe silence in the car felt heavier than it should have.Maxwell hadn’t let go of my hand since we left the gala, his fingers wrapped tightly around mine like he was afraid I might vanish into the night. I didn’t speak either. I didn’t need to. The questions from that tabloid rat still rang in both our ears, each word meant to slice, to humiliate. But none of it had broken me.Not tonight.Once we were inside the apartment, he turned to face me, jaw tight, guilt flickering in his stormy gray eyes. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You didn’t deserve that.”“No, I didn’t,” I agreed quietly, stepping out of my heels and stretching my toes across the cold tiles. “But it’s fine.”Maxwell furrowed his brows. “How can it be fine?”I shrugged off my shawl and placed it on the arm of the couch. “Because people have mouths. They’ll talk. They’ll assume. Twist truths into poison. That’s their sport.” I turned to him, gaze steady. “But you—you’re not the world. You’re mine.”His shoulders re
Victoria POVThe room felt like it was closing in on me.Walls lined with designer wallpaper and expensive art suddenly felt suffocating. Screens blared images of them—Maxwell and Amelia—on every channel, across every site. Laughing. Kissing. Holding hands like they were some goddamn royal couple.Charity Gala: The Power Couple of the Year.Is Amelia Cole the Next It-Girl in High Society?Maxwell Cole Defends Lover from Scandalous Barren Rumor—Fans Applaud His Devotion.Applaud?I flung the remote across the room. It crashed into the mirror, shattering both glass and my restraint.Applaud her for what? For being a parasite that latched onto my family? For seducing the father of my child and parading around in gowns while pretending to be his equal?I paced the room like a caged animal. My bare feet dug into the plush carpet. I didn’t care. The burn in my chest made it hard to breathe. Every headline was a slap in the face. Every picture, a dagger twisting deeper.He was supposed to re
Rebecca POVI had never felt this kind of rage. Not even when his father left me. Not even when I buried my pride under the weight of legacy and polished every inch of this family’s image.But watching Maxwell kiss that girl like she was oxygen and he was drowning? That broke something in me.I stood near the corridor, unnoticed in the shadows of the hallway outside his penthouse. The walls weren’t as thick as he thought. I heard the laughter. The whispers. The soft moans muffled beneath expensive sheets. And the moment they emerged—her in his shirt, him beaming like a lovesick fool—I knew I had lost him.To her.To Amelia.That name tasted like acid in my mouth.She was nothing special. A temporary muse. A phase. An ambitious opportunist who clung to my son like a leech and now… now she’d slithered her way into his soul.I didn’t knock.I barged in.Maxwell was making coffee, shirtless and humming something under his breath. Amelia sat on the marble counter, swinging her legs like th
Amelia POVThe road stretched endlessly before us, the city fading behind like a distant memory I wasn’t ready to let go of. I sat silently beside Nate, my hand in his, his thumb brushing gentle circles across my skin as if that could quiet the war raging inside me.“Are you okay?” he asked softly, his voice a grounding anchor in the whirlwind of my thoughts.I nodded, but the truth lay heavy in my chest. I wasn’t okay. Not even close.The streets were empty, a rare quiet for Los Angeles. The sun barely hung above the horizon, casting a golden haze across the windshield. Everything should’ve felt poetic—two lovers escaping into the unknown, leaving behind betrayal and heartbreak. But nothing about this felt romantic. It felt hollow.Like I’d left my soul somewhere back in that kitchen. Somewhere between the lie Maxwell told me and the truth I witnessed.I glanced at Nate. He was trying. Desperately. His love was genuine, untainted. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fill the c
Maxwell POVThe morning light spilled across the bedroom floor in soft gold, illuminating the delicate curve of her shoulder where the sheet had slipped away. Amelia was still asleep, her breathing slow and even, her hair a tangle against the pillow. For a moment, I simply stood there and watched her. My chest tightened in a way I hadn’t felt in years—like something fragile and alive had sprouted there overnight.I couldn’t keep running from this. I’d spent too long denying what she meant to me. Last night, feeling her in my arms, hearing her voice whispering my name, it had burned away every pretense. I’d never meant the words I love you more than I did then. And seeing her here this morning—so heartbreakingly beautiful and real—I knew I didn’t want to pretend anymore.I’d make it right, I decided. I’d tell her again, sober and unguarded. Maybe then she would believe I wasn’t just saying it in a moment of weakness.Quietly, I slipped out of the room, determined to make us breakfast.
Amelia POVThe morning sun bled through the edges of the heavy curtains, warm light creeping over tangled sheets and the imprint of a body that no longer lay beside me.Maxwell was gone.The absence felt like ice water poured over my chest.I sat up slowly, the soft cotton sheet slipping to my waist. My body ached with the memory of last night—the weight of his touch, his whispered apology, the fire and tenderness we’d buried ourselves in. I pressed my palm against the space beside me. Cold.A pit formed in my stomach.What if it meant nothing to him? What if I was just a moment of weakness—something to be comforted and discarded the morning after?I shook my head, trying to stop the rush of insecurities clawing up my throat.He said he loved me.Didn’t he?Still wrapped in the sheet, I rose quietly from the couch and padded to the stairs. My legs trembled—not from fear, but from the weight of what I might find. Maybe he’d just gone out for a walk. Maybe he was in the kitchen making c