ROSALIE'S POV ~I didn’t wait. I didn’t speak. I simply turned on my heels and walked away—fast. My heels clicked against the marble floor like a heartbeat I was trying so hard to ignore.“Rosalie!” Ezra’s voice rang behind me, rushed, desperate. “Rosalie, wait!”I didn’t stop. I didn’t even glance back. My chin stayed high even though my chest was caving in. I refused to cry. I refused to let my heart break over a man again. God, I was such an idiot. So stupid for letting myself believe we could be anything more than what we were—whatever the hell that even was.I wasn’t his. He wasn’t mine.So why the hell did my burn?“Rosalie… damn it, will you just stop for a second—”His hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back. Hard enough to make my breath catch. Hard enough that I had to steady myself on his chest, his warm, familiar, traitorous chest.My eyes stung. My throat burned. But I bit the inside of my cheek and threw him the nastiest glare I could muster.“What the hell is yo
ROSALIE'S POV ~I sat by the window, unmoving. My eyes followed every family that passed through the hospital gates laughing, beaming, hugging, carrying balloons, flowers, life.I wasn’t part of that world.A little boy ran past with a paper crown on his head, his arm in a bright blue cast. He was giggling, waving to the nurses who clapped for him. A father hoisted him into the air as the mother wiped her tears and pressed kisses to his cheeks.My chest twisted.Naomi had told me her father had collapsed—some emergency back in her hometown. She left two days ago with an apologetic look and a promise to return soon. I told her to go. I didn’t want to be selfish. But now I was alone.Alone in a hospital I never wanted to be in, feeling like a burden no one wanted to carry.I don’t know why, but a part of me expected Ezra. I didn’t dare call. Didn't text either. My fingers hovered countless times over my phone, heart pounding, only to drop it like it was something shameful. I didn’t wan
DAMIEN'S POV~I couldn’t sleep. Wouldn’t dare to.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Rosalie.Not the pale, lifeless version of her begging me,craving for the least of my attention. No. My mind was crueler than that. It gave me a version of her that looked alive—too alive. Standing before me with every weapon imaginable, eyes glowing with rage, voice cold and dripping with venom as she whispered,“I’ll destroy you, Damien. I’ll make sure you rot in every way that matters.”I jolted up, drenched in sweat, heart slamming like I’d seen a ghost. Hell, maybe I had. My room was drenched in darkness, but I could feel her presence. As if she had clawed her way into my mind and made herself a permanent tenant.I rubbed my face and dragged myself out of bed like a cursed soul, wandering to the bar in the corner of my massive room. I poured myself a glass of Scotch—neat. No ice. Let the burn remind me I’m still alive.It was 3:02 a.m.I didn’t know if Chloe had come back. Didn’t give a damn eith
ROSALIE'S POV ~I swallowed hard when our eyes met. Ezra was standing at the door, his gaze hard, a cocktail of rage and worry fighting for dominance. He didn’t even hesitate—his boots thudded on the floor as he walked straight to my bed, and Dr. Asher stepped back, giving him the space he clearly needed.I couldn’t look at him for too long. But I didn’t miss how his eyes roamed over me, lingering on my bruised arms and the pale face that reflected nothing but exhaustion.“She okay?” His voice was low, rough with the worry he didn’t know how to mask.Dr. Asher nodded. “She just needs rest. She’ll be alright tomorrow.”Ezra didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded along anyway. “If you say so.”“Rest, Risalie. Please.” The doctor offered a tight, polite smile before excusing himself, leaving me alone with Ezra. I didn’t want him here. I didn’t want to hear his voice, feel his concern—it was too much. So, I leaned back into the pillow, keeping my face averted.Ezra’s sigh was loud, like he
ROSALIE'S POV~The room smelled too clean.Sterile, like the hospital room I’d once woken up in, empty arms and a hollow body. The walls were soft beige, the light dimmed to be gentle, as if that would ease the chaos inside my head. Nothing would. Not anymore.I sat on the couch, rigid, unmoving. My coat was still on. I hadn’t spoken a word since they brought me here. Not to the driver. Not to the guards. Not to the therapist who was now sitting across from me with a too-soft voice and patient eyes.She crossed her legs, flipping through her notepad gently. “Rosalie… I understand today must have been a lot. Would you like to talk about what triggered the reaction at the site?”I blinked slowly. My jaw clenched. I said nothing.She tilted her head slightly, like I was a wounded bird she was trying not to scare off. “Sometimes trauma shows up in ways we least expect. It’s okay to feel angry. It’s okay to feel confused—”“Do you have a child?” I asked suddenly, my voice brittle.She froz
DAMIEN'S POV~I sighed, the kind that came from deep inside my chest—tired, annoyed, fucking done.I was already fighting hell behind the scenes. Ezra Montgomery was pushing through my shares like a vulture pecking at a corpse. Half my investors were jumping ship, the media was circling like rabid dogs, and now this—this disaster.Chloe had gone out without guards, without a second thought. She’d rushed out into the damn public like some stray looking for scraps. She was all over the blogs already—hair disheveled, pale as chalk, and vomiting in broad daylight. Filmed. Tagged. Mocked. All because Rosalie had fucking meddled, drawing Chloe out when I’d explicitly told her to keep her ass hidden until I got this mess under control.And now I had another mess to clean up. Another headline. Another screw-up dragging my name down while I was barely keeping my own head above water.The sound of Chloe retching again made my eye twitch. I didn’t move. Just sat there, eyes blank, jaw ticking.D
ROSALIE'S POVI leaned away from Diana’s mic slowly, a smile still painted on my lips. The moment my heels clicked back onto the pavement, Isla was already there, holding out the blueprint with both hands like an offering.I took it.“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, my voice calm, laced with that careful syrupy sweetness that people never know to fear until it’s too late. I held the rolled blueprint high in one hand and uncurled it with the other, turning to face the crowd with a quiet grace that made the flashing cameras fall still. “I believe it’s time the city knew the truth.”A hush swept over the paparazzi.“This—” I tapped the large, faded layout in front of me, “—is the original structural blueprint of this building. Chloe Lancaster’s cosmetics hub. An illegally constructed property… built on stolen permits, funded through ghost investors, and unfit for human habitation.”Gasps. Murmurs. Eyebrows raised behind camera lenses.“And more importantly,” I went on, voice soft now, the
ROSALIE'S POV~I still remembered that night like it was yesterday.I had just gotten back from one of those endless meetings Damien liked to drag me to. My mind was clouded with his accusations, his insults—more of his slow, silent push to make me feel like I was losing grip on everything. He’d been distant, colder than usual, but I’d convinced myself it was just stress.Then I found Chloe.She was sitting on the couch in the living room when I walked in. Her eyes flickered up at me, those sad, sweet eyes. She knew I was upset. But she always knew how to comfort me.“Rosalie, you’re just overwhelmed. Damien’s under a lot of pressure right now, you know that,” she said, brushing her hand over mine with that fake warmth of hers. Her voice, soft and soothing, felt like silk against my skin.But I wasn’t fool enough to miss the undercurrent in her tone—the way her words just didn’t sit right. She’d been my friend, my sister in this hell, or so I thought. But I could hear the lies hidden
ROSALIE'S POV~The weight of the world felt like it was pressing down on me, but it's nothing compared to the emptiness that gnawed at my chest. I sat alone, staring at the ground beneath me, the place where my baby should have been. The silence in the room was deafening, and yet all I heard was the echo of what was taken from me—what was stolen. The tiny heartbeat I would never hear again. The small hands I would never hold.I didn’t think I’d survive it—honestly, I still don’t know how I am. I moved, I breathed, I spoke... but nothing felt real anymore. All of it—everything I’ve done to build myself up, to reclaim what was lost—felt meaningless.Chloe’s empire was crumbling, piece by piece, and I felt no satisfaction in it. I should be relishing this victory. I should be smiling, should be celebrating. But the only thing I felt was the hollow ache of a mother who would never see her child grow up. Never hear them laugh, never hold their hand while they walk to school, never have th