LOGINVICTORIAThe moment the door closed behind us, the silence changed.It felt like everything we had just said outside had followed us in and settled into the walls.I stood there for a second, my hand still resting on the door handle, my mind trying to reset. The space looked the same. The lights were soft, the furniture was exactly where it had always been, and the city still stretched out through the glass.Nothing had moved, but something had shifted, and I could feel it.Clark walked past me like he had done it a hundred times before. He didn’t pause or hesitate. He just moved through the space as if he belonged there and nothing had changed.That annoyed me more than I wanted to admit.I let out a slow breath and pushed myself away from the door, walking deeper into the penthouse. I moved toward the desk and picked up my tablet, forcing my attention onto the screen. I had messages, reports, and legal updates waiting.All of it was important. This was what mattered.Not him. Not
VICTORIAThe elevator ride down felt longer than it should have.No one spoke after we left the penthouse. Not me, not Clark, not even Daniel. The woman stayed behind, and somehow that made everything feel heavier, like we had walked out with pieces of something unfinished.I kept my eyes forward the whole time. I didn’t trust myself to look at Clark yet because if I did, I wasn’t sure what I would see. Or worse, what I would feel.We stepped out into the night, and the air hit me immediately. It was cool and sharp. It helped, but not enough.Clark walked beside me, close but not touching. I could feel his presence without looking. It sat there, steadily, like he was waiting for something.I didn’t give it to him.The car door opened, and I got in without a word. He followed right after, sitting beside me like it was normal and nothing had changed.But everything had.The driver pulled away smoothly, and the city lights started moving past the window. I watched them without really see
VICTORIABut I didn’t end up stepping back.That was the first thing I noticed about myself in that moment. I stayed right there, close enough to feel the heat from his body, close enough to see every small shift in his expression.Clark didn’t move either.We just stood there, facing each other, with too many things sitting between us that neither of us wanted to say out loud.The room felt smaller. Tighter too. Like the walls had moved in just to watch what would happen next.“You knew what it could become,” I said again, softer this time.It wasn’t because I wasn’t sure. It was because I wanted to hear how he would say it again.His jaw tightened just slightly before he answered. “I knew what it was,” he repeated.That answer sat there for a second. Then I let out a small breath. “That’s not the same thing.”He didn’t reply immediately.And that silence… it did something to me. Because Clark wasn’t the kind of man who stayed quiet unless he was choosing to.And right now, he was c
VICTORIA I didn’t take my eyes off him after I asked the question.The room felt quiet, but not peaceful. It was the kind of silence that pressed in on you, like it was waiting for something to break. Clark stood a few steps away, his face calm, but I knew him well enough now to see the tension underneath.It was in the way his shoulders held still. They were too still.He didn’t answer immediately. That told me more than anything else.I crossed my arms slowly, not to protect myself, but to keep control. “It’s a simple question,” I said. My voice stayed even. “Did you ever think about using it on me?”Clark let out a small breath, like he had been holding it in.“No,” he said.The answer came fast. Too fast.I tilted my head slightly, watching him. “That’s not true.”His jaw tightened just a little. “It is.”I took a step closer. “You didn’t even think about it?” I asked. “Not once?”He didn’t move.“I thought about a lot of things back then,” he said carefully. “That doesn’t mean I
CLARKI saw it the second she turned the file toward me.My name sat there like it had been waiting for this exact moment. There was no way to deny it.For a second, everything in the room felt too quiet. Like even the air had stopped moving just to watch what I would do next.Victoria didn’t say anything. She just held the file up, her eyes fixed on me sharply.“Why is your name here?” she asked.Her voice wasn’t loud. But then again, it didn’t need to be.I exhaled slowly and kept my face calm. “Because I worked on early models,” I said.That was the truth. Just not all of it.She didn’t react right away. She lowered the file slightly, but her eyes didn’t leave mine.“Models for what?” she asked.I took a step closer. “For legal identity structures,” I said. “It was just a theory back then. Nothing real.”“That doesn’t look like just theory,” she replied.I glanced at the pages again. I knew exactly what she was seeing. Diagrams. Notes. Timelines.Things that should have stayed buri
VICTORIA I didn’t touch the file she was handing me immediately.I just stared at it in her hand like it might disappear if I waited long enough. My name was printed clearly on the front like it had always belonged there. But the date under it made my chest feel tight.Years before my marriage.That didn’t sit right.“Open it,” the woman said quietly.Her voice wasn’t pushing, but it wasn’t soft either. It was steady, like she had already accepted whatever was inside and was just waiting for me to catch up.Clark stepped slightly closer to me. “You don’t have to do this here,” he said.“I know,” I replied. But I still reached for the file.My fingers brushed hers for a second as I took it. Her hand was cold. Not nervous, just cold. Like she had been holding onto this for too long.Daniel didn’t say anything. He just watched.I opened the file slowly. The first page wasn’t what I expected.It wasn’t legal language or complicated reports. It was simple. It had basic details like my nam
VICTORIAThe second the guard said someone was in my closet, my whole body snapped into motion. I didn’t even wait for Clark to speak. I headed straight for the private garage with fast steps, my heart banging hard but not from fear. I was angry. Really angry. I hated the idea of someone walking i
TRENTStanding in front of Victoria felt like standing in front of a mirror that showed every bad choice I had ever made. I felt her anger hit me before she even spoke. It came off her in waves. She crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and looked at me like I was something she had already beaten and
VICTORIAThe entire body felt so cold as I stared at the photo.I held it between my fingers and stared at it, my eyes scanning every inch even though my mind already knew something was wrong.My hair was styled exactly how I wore it last week. It had the same soft waves and clean part in the middl
CLARKI didn’t think. I just moved.The sound of glass breaking barely registered before my body slammed into Victoria’s, immediately driving her to the ground behind a stack of heavy crates. Another sharp thud rang out above us, and metal clanged as a dart buried itself inches from where her head







