Mag-log inElena’s POVElena had learned a long time ago that scandals rarely arrived with a warning.They arrived quietly.A photograph.A whisper.A headline.Then, before you could explain yourself, the world had already decided what you had done.She stood in Adrian's office, staring at the message on her phone.“DNA TESTS CAN BE MANIPULATED.“Her head spinning.She locked the screen."I can't do this."Adrian looked at her."Do what?""This."She gestured between them."The rumors. Sophia. The pregnancy. The photographs. The blackmailer. Every time I get close to you, my life becomes another headline.""Elena—""No."She shook her head."I've spent too many years rebuilding myself."Adrian stepped closer."And I'm asking you not to throw that away because of something we haven't even confirmed.""You don't understand.""I understand more than you think.""No, Adrian."Her voice cracked."You understand how to survive a scandal because you've lived inside one your entire life. I don't want t
Elena’s POVThe words refused to leave Elena's mind.“She's carrying Adrian's child.“She read the message again.Then again.Her fingers tightened around her phone until they hurt.For years, she had convinced herself that she was finally free from Adrian.Then he had returned.He had protected her.He had stood beside her when someone tried to kill her.He had looked at her with the same eyes that once made her believe their marriage could survive anything.And when she finally agreed to work with him again, she had made one condition.They would be equals.No lies.No manipulation.No pretending.Now Sophia was pregnant.And apparently, the baby belonged to Adrian.Elena shakes her head hard.Her phone rang again.Adrian.She stared at his name.She couldn't answer.Not yet.A message arrived immediately.“Please pick up. We need to talk.“Elena closed her eyes.‘Do we?‘She had spent too many years believing Adrian would always choose her.Perhaps that had been her mistake.She tu
Elena’s POVThe photograph was everywhere by eight in the morning.Elena stared at her phone, unable to breathe.There she was.Standing beside Adrian outside the Laurent Holdings building.His hand was lightly resting against her back.Her face was turned toward him.To anyone looking at the picture, they didn't look like enemies.They looked like a couple who had found their way back to each other.The headline beneath the photograph made her head spin.“ELENA AND ADRIAN LAURENT RECONCILING?“Another headline appeared seconds later.“DIVORCED POWER COUPLE SECRETLY BACK TOGETHER?“Then another.“LOVE OR BUSINESS? ELENA SPOTTED WITH EX-HUSBAND AFTER RECENT ATTACK.“Elena locked her phone."Unbelievable."She had agreed to work with Adrian because the blackmailer had threatened everything she had built.She had agreed because someone had tried to kill her.She had agreed because Adrian was the only person she trusted enough to stand beside her when the danger became impossible to ignor
POV: ElenaElena had once believed the hardest part of loving Adrian was loving him.She had been wrong.The hardest part was deciding whether she could trust him again.She looked across the table at the man who had once been her husband.The man who had broken her heart.The same man who had thrown himself between her and a bullet.And now they were being hunted by someone who wanted everything they had.Elena stared at Adrian across the conference table.For the first time since their divorce, neither of them was running.No accusations.No lawyers.No slammed doors.Just two people sitting across from each other with the same enemy waiting outside.Adrian broke the silence.“Then we do this together.”Elena folded her arms. “Together doesn't mean you take control.”“I know.”“I don't think you do.”His jaw tightened, but he didn't argue.That surprised her.A month ago, Adrian would have challenged every word she said. He had always been like that, powerful, decisive, accustomed t
Elena’s POV“I never stopped loving you.”The words hung between them.Elena stared at Adrian as if he had just spoken in a language she no longer understood.For a few seconds, neither of them moved.Then she laughed.It wasn't a happy laugh.It was short, bitter, almost painful.“Don't.”Adrian's expression tightened. “Elena—”“Don't say that.”“I mean it.”“That makes it worse.”His jaw clenched.Elena turned away from him, pressing her fingers against her temples as memories rushed through her mind.Their wedding day.His hand around hers.The promises.The late-night conversations.The arguments.The day everything had fallen apart.And finally, the divorce papers.She had spent years teaching herself not to remember.Now Adrian stood in front of her, reopening every wound she had carefully buried.“You don't get to say that now,” she whispered.“Why?”“Because you're too late.”The words came out harder than she expected.Adrian flinched.Elena saw it.She hated that she noticed
Elena’s POVThe room was too quiet.That was what Elena noticed first.After the gunshot, after Adrian throwing himself over her body, after the frantic drive to the safe apartment, the silence felt almost unnatural.She sat on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped tightly between her knees.Across the room, Adrian stood beside the window.He hadn't said much since they arrived.Neither had she.But silence had never been neutral between them.Not after their marriage.Not after their divorce.And certainly not after tonight.Elena looked down at her hands.They were still trembling.She hated that.She hated even more that she knew why.It wasn't only fear.It was Adrian.The way he had grabbed her.The way his body had shielded hers without hesitation.The way he'd looked at her after the shooting, as if the possibility of losing her had physically wounded him.She closed her eyes.She could still hear his voice.“I'm not leaving you.“Her chest tightened.That was dangerous.F







