LOGINALEXANDER'S POVI stormed into the office where Georgina was waiting, her posture too perfect, her smile too calm, like she had been expecting me all along. My hands were shaking, from anger. Rage. Every fiber of me screamed at her. I wanted to smash the glass, tear the papers, drag her out by her hair and make her feel every second of the chaos she caused.“You,” I growled, pointing at her, “What did I ever do to you as a child that you hated me that much? What did my parents do to you? you think you can get away with this?”Her laugh was cold, calculated. “Alexander… calm down. Honestly, there's no reason for you to be angry right now. You have no idea what I’ve done. Everything you know about your life… it’s been carefully shaped. Every step, every misfortune, every loss, I made it all happen.”I stepped closer. “You really do have the guts to say that to my face? You bastard! I gave you everything and even took you as a mother but your were so full of evil and bitterness. ”Georgi
ABIGAIL'S POVI was standing in front of the mirror adjusting the strap of my dress when Alexander walked in behind me, his presence filling the room before he even said a word. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, his chin brushing lightly against my shoulder as he studied our reflection.“You look beautiful,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss just below my ear.I rolled my eyes playfully, though warmth spread through me. “We’re just going shopping, Alexander. It’s not a gala.”He tightened his hold slightly. “You could be wearing a paper bag and I would still think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”I laughed, swatting his arm lightly. “Stop exaggerating.”“I don’t exaggerate,” he replied smoothly, though the faint curve of his lips told me he enjoyed teasing me.For the first time in days, things felt… normal. Peaceful. After everything, Richardson’s obsession, Tristan’s abduction, the constant tension hanging over our heads like a storm cloud, I had begun t
RICHARDSON'S POV I stepped into the dimly lit apartment of the most discreet hacker in the city, and I could not shake the feeling that something was shifting beneath my feet.The building was old, hidden between two abandoned warehouses by the docks. The stairwell smelled of damp concrete and rusted iron. I knocked once.The door opened halfway, and a pair of sharp, assessing eyes stared at me from behind thick lenses.“You’re late,” the man said flatly.“I didn’t give you a time,” I replied, pushing past him without waiting for permission.His apartment was dark except for the glow of multiple monitors illuminating the walls in a cold blue light. Cables ran across the floor like veins. Screens flickered with data, code cascading endlessly.His name was Felix. He shut the door behind me. “You said it was urgent.”“It is.”He motioned toward a chair. I didn’t sit.“I need everything on Alexander,” I said. “Every record. Every erased file. I want his past dug up like a corpse.”Feli
RICHARDSON'S POV.The club was dark, the kind of darkness that swallowed the room in shadows while neon lights sliced through it like knives. The bass thumped through the floorboards, rattling my chest with every beat, yet I barely noticed. My mind was elsewhere, on Abigail, on Tristan, on the constant, gnawing frustration that no matter what I did, she always managed to slip through my fingers.“You’re not looking happy tonight,” a familiar voice said beside me. I turned my head slightly, squinting through the haze.“Not happy?” I repeated, letting a bitter laugh escape. “I’m far from happy. Nothing is going according to plan.”My friend, Darius, leaned back on the booth across from me, a grin tugging at his lips. “Ah, I see. Abigail again, I take it?”I didn’t answer right away, choosing instead to swirl the drink, listening to it slosh against the sides of the glass. “She’s untouchable,” I said finally. “Every move I make, every step I plan, she anticipates it. Even now, Alexander
JOSELYN'S POVThe chill of the evening bit through my coat as I stepped out of the car and looked up at the building that housed the man I had come to rely on the hacker. He called himself Gantz, though I suspected it was as fake as his credentials. Still, the guy knew things. Dangerous things. Things that could unravel Abigail’s perfect little facade, and I was willing to pay any price to get my hands on them.I walked through the side entrance, the smell of electronics, stale coffee, and cigarette smoke hitting me immediately. The fluorescent lights flickered, as though the building itself didn’t want to stay awake at this hour. Gantz’s silhouette appeared from behind a bank of monitors, his fingers tapping furiously at a keyboard.“Joselyn,” he greeted, his voice low, almost like he was amused that I had made the trek. “I wasn’t expecting someone like you to show up personally.”I raised an eyebrow. “Someone like me? Care to elaborate?”He smirked. “You don’t look like the type to
ALEXANDER'S POVThe moment the footage ended, I was already moving.“Open the basement,” I ordered, my voice cutting through the thick air in the control room.“It’s already open, sir,” one of my men replied quickly.I didn’t wait for another word. I took the stairs two at a time, rage and dread battling inside my chest. The secret passage yawned open behind the wardrobe like a mouth that had swallowed her whole.This time, I didn’t go down blind.“Flashlights,” I snapped.Three beams sliced through the darkness as we descended. The air grew colder with each step, the dampness clinging to my skin. I could still see the faint outline where she had collapsed in the footage. The scrape marks near the metal door. The scuff from Richardson’s shoe.I walked to the exact spot where she had fallen and crouched.“Abigail,” I murmured under my breath, pressing my palm to the cold concrete as if it would still hold the warmth of her body.“She’s not here, sir,” one of the men said unnecessarily.
ALEXANDER'S POVI sensed the shift before Abigail said a word to me.Georgina had stopped behaving like a woman chasing power and started behaving like a woman protecting it. She's my stepmother and I know her so well.That was far more dangerous.I stood by the window of my study long after midnig
ABIGAIL'S POV The message came through encrypted, but I knew it was bad before I even opened it. These days I've never gotten any good messages.My phone buzzed once on the kitchen counter. Just once and I was already eager to take it. I’d been standing there staring at my half-packed suitcase, con
ABIGAIL'S POV.Pressure did not always arrive loudly.Sometimes it crept in quietly, politely, the way an empty chair at a table screamed louder than an insult ever could.I noticed it first in the silence.For weeks, my calendar had been full without me trying, I had attended luncheons, private te
RICHARDSON'S POVThe confirmation came at 3:17 a.m.I was still in my office, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, staring at a wall covered in maps and printouts when my phone vibrated. I didn’t need to look at the screen to know what it was. My gut had been tight all night, the kind of tension that did







