MasukETHAN’S POV The coffee machine was down the hall. Past the nurses' station. Past two empty waiting rooms.I'd walked this route three times already tonight. Learned which buttons to press. Which ones stuck.The machine made a grinding noise. Spit out something that barely qualified as coffee.I got two cups. Black. No sugar.I didn't know how Isabella took her coffee. Realized I should know that. Realized there were a thousand things I should know about her and didn't.When I got back to the corridor, she was exactly where I'd left her. Standing outside Brahms's room. Staring through the window.She'd been standing there for hours. Hadn't moved except when the nurses made her."Here," I said. Held out one of the cups.She looked at it. Then at me.Took it without comment.I watched her take a sip. Her face didn't change. No grimace. No reaction.It had to taste terrible. But she drank it anyway. One slow sip after another.Through the window, I could see Brahms. Still unconscious. St
ETHAN'S POVI caught her before she hit the floor.My body reacted before I thought. It was fast, but not clean. The movement pulled sharply through my back and shoulders, a reminder that I was still recovering, still not fully steady on my feet.I adjusted my grip as I lowered her with me.Careful. Controlled.We ended up on the floor against the corridor wall.My back hit first. I felt it immediately. A dull, spreading pain that I ignored because there was no time for it.She didn’t resist.That told me everything.Her strength had already run out.She was shaking. Not subtle. Not contained. Her whole body trembled against mine like she couldn’t regulate it anymore.And then she broke.She cried like someone who had crossed a line she could not come back from.It wasn’t controlled. It wasn’t the kind of crying people try to hide.It was loud. Unfiltered. Raw.The kind that comes when there is nothing left to hold on to.I kept my arms around her.Not tight enough to restrain her.Ju
ISABELLA’S POVI had barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, my mind replayed my conversation with Ethan. His voice. The way he had said it. The truth he had finally admitted.We were both victims.It didn’t settle. It wasn't comforting.It just stayed there. Turning over and over until sleep became something shallow and unreliable.I must have drifted off at some point.Because the alarm woke me.It started at 2:00 a.m.Sharp. Immediate.Not the softer alerts I had gotten used to. Not the ones that came and went without consequence.This one was wrong.I knew it before I was fully awake.I was already sitting up, already turning toward the bed.“Brahms?”The monitors were flashing.Numbers shifting too fast. The rhythm I had memorized over the past days was gone.“No. No, no.”I was on my feet before I realized I had moved.“Non… non, pas maintenant,” I whispered. No, not now.The door opened.Two nurses came in quickly. One went straight to the machines. The other to him.“Que se
ETHAN’s POVI believe that you think you did. I hadn't planned to say the next part.“There's something else I need to tell you," I said."Another apology?""No. A truth. One I haven't told anyone.""What truth?"I stared at my hands for a moment.Not to avoid her.To steady myself.“I don’t remember that night either,” I said. “Not clearly. Not the way I should.”She went still.Completely.“What do you mean?”“I remember the event. The gala. Conversations. Faces.” I paused briefly, keeping my breathing even. “Then I remember a drink. Something about it felt… off.”Fragments came easier than full sentences.“After that, it’s not linear. It doesn’t connect properly. Pieces without order.”I swallowed.“I woke up the same way you did. In that room. Disoriented. Missing time I couldn’t account for. Then I saw you sleeping next to me.”I watched her absorb that.The way her shoulders changed position.The small shift in her jaw.She was recalculating.Everything.Her voice was quieter
ETHAN’s POVI found Isabella on the hospital terrace just after midnight.It took longer than it should have.The walk from my room to the elevator was slow. The corridor felt longer than it had earlier. By the time I stepped out onto the terrace, my body had already started protesting. My back pulled with each breath that was too deep. My legs felt unsteady in a way I could not ignore.She was leaning against the railing, staring out at Paris.The city lights reflected faintly against the glass panels and caught along the side of her face.She noticed me almost immediately.Straightened but didn't turn.“It’s late. You shouldn’t be up.”“I know.” I took a step forward, then another, slower this time.She turned now. Looked at me properly.Her eyes moved over me once. Noticing the stiffness. The way I held myself too carefully.“You should be in bed,” she said.“I will be. After this.”“Five minutes,” she said.I nodded.Crossing the rest of the distance took more effort than it shoul
ETHAN’S POVBrahms was sitting up in bed when I entered his room.It had been five days since the transplant. Five days of watching monitors. Waiting for signs of rejection. Watching for anything that could go wrong.And now he was awake. Fully awake.I paused just inside the doorway, one hand resting briefly against the frame. Not for effect. For balance.“Bonjour,” he said when he saw me.His voice was small. “Bonjour,” I replied.He studied my face with quiet focus. Looking for confirmation.“Tu parles français?” he asked.You speak French?I shook my head, indicating I didn't understand what he said. “I don’t speak French,” I said.He blinked. Then nodded quickly.“Oh. Sorry.” He switched without hesitation. “Hello.”“Hello,” I replied.I gave myself a second before crossing the room, then moved toward the chair beside his bed and lowered into it carefully.Sitting was easier. Not painless. Just manageable.Isabella had explained everything to him yesterday. Who I was. Why I was
LUCIA’S POVI walked into the new ISMARA building at seven in the morning.“What brings you here so early, Lucia?” Isabella asked."I have an idea." I pulled out my tablet, opening the file I had worked on. "A way to solidify your position at Moretti Luxe Group. Legally and permanently.""I'm liste
ISABELLA'S POV The space was quiet when I stepped inside. The lights were on but low, illuminating clean walls and wide floors that still smelled faintly of fresh paint.Large windows lined one side of the room, looking out over the city. New York moved relentlessly beyond the glass, unaware of wh
ETHAN’S POV The reports from Paris arrived at six in the morning, delivered by encrypted email to my private server. I had been awake for an hour already, coffee cooling on my desk while I stared at the city skyline.I opened the first file. Financial records for ISMARA, spanning three years. Reve
ISABELLA’S POV My phone started buzzing early the next morning.I groaned and reached for it on the nightstand, eyes still half-closed.“What?”“Have you seen the news?” Lucia’s voice was too bright, too awake for this hour.“I was sleeping.”I squinted at the clock. 6:47 AM. The curtains were sti







