INICIAR SESIÓNRose I had used Brandt once before for something significant. His face that time proved he would have preferred doing anything other than being in front of me. He had not enjoyed it that time either. But he had done it because the alternative was something he enjoyed less, which was the only reliable way to ensure cooperation from a man whose interests were not aligned with yours. You gave them a worse option and then watched them choose you. As simple as that. I made a call to the police commissioner through Brandt's formalities. I had expected it to take the full two days. It took eighteen hours. That told me Brandt was afraid enough to prioritise it, which told me he understood the situation better than I had given him credit for. The commissioner, Hartley. I met him at one private address he sent to me. It looked nothing like his office, which he had insisted on. I had agreed to because that kind of arrangements suited me fine. And in a way, benefited me. He was in his si
Serena Looking back, my heart finally settled. I have enough. After a year of running, I finally had something solid. Something that could not be argued away. I hadn't informed my team yet but — they were about to hear it for the first time. I kept this drive safely. It was encrypted, backed up across three separate servers in two different countries, copies held by Lawrence, by my lead attorney, and by a firm in Zurich that existed for exactly this kind of thing. I had built a fortress around that file, layer upon layer of protection, because I knew what it was worth. I knew what Rose would do if she ever suspected it existed. But I had been carrying the knowledge of it since the night I left. My memories flooded back to the car park outside the hospital where I had been too afraid to walk to my car and had stood in the shadow of the stairwell instead and heard Rose's voice come through the concrete. That night was etched into me. The cold seeping through my coat, the fluores
SerenaI had Dieter visit my apartment the following day.He came alone . Without any assistance. Just him and a laptop and a folder that he set on the slab with the specific careful manner of someone who had something worthy. Eli was with Carla. Marcus was on his way. My lawyer had asked to be present, and I agreed to it. He had been in Victor's world for nine years and understood context more than most people could, and I wasn’t going to let that pass.We sat down as Dieter opened the folder.He cleared his throat.“I want to walk you through this in order. Not because the order is complicated but because the cumulative weight of it matters. If I give you the conclusion first, you lose the foundation of how she dealt with it.”“Go ahead.”He went ahead. He showed me approximately eleven transactions. Which proved eleven separate property and financial transfers spanning four years, beginning before Damien and I had even met. Not all of them connected to Holt Meridian. Some were sm
SerenaI excused us and that is we enetered the room opposite us. The room had eight chairs and a table and a window onto a narrow courtyard and nothing else.Mara stayed outside, waiting for me. Park's people were in the corridor. I sat down because standing would have made it a different kind of conversation, and I needed this to be the kind where I could control what my face did.Damien sat across from me.He did not rush. I had expected him to rush. Three minutes is not very long, and most people, given three minutes, try to fit everything into the first ninety seconds out of fear that the door will close.He sat down. He put his hands on the table. He looked at me once, fully, as if checking and confirming if I was real. Then he started. Firstly, he complained about those forged documents. All of it. Seventy-eight percent of his asset base transferred over eight weeks while he was figuring out something different, thinking that was the reason for wrong turns. He said it withou
Serena My breath hitched when my eyes swept over my surroundings. I've always liked things like this. But today, that feeling evaporated the moment I felt a pair of eyes shooting into my back like twin bullets.I had been walking toward the conference hall with Mara, discussing the afternoon panel we were both supposed to speak on. My heels clicked against the floor in a rhythm I had perfected over years of corporate spaces. I was comfortable here. I was in control. And then the lift doors opened, and everything changed.I saw him the moment the doors slid apart. He was by the far wall, shoulders slightly hunched, pretending to look at his phone. The posture was weird and that was what gave him away. You do not spend three years with someone and then forget how they act, no matter how much time has passed. You do not share a life with a person and then lose the ability to read the language of their body.I knew immediately it was Damien.My chest constricted. My feet kept moving.
Damien's PovI booked a flight at half past eleven at night from one of the most frequented booking sites, from the comfort of my study desk, with the screen the only light in the room, the rest of the flat dark and quiet.I sat there for a while after confirming everything was set, and I wondered about what I was doing.Zara's last words still echoed through my head."Don't lie to her again. Even by accident."I stared at the booking confirmation on the screen.The flight was real.The reservation was real.The city was real.For the first time since leaving Zara's apartment, this no longer felt like an idea. It was something I had already committed to.I leaned back slowly.What exactly was I supposed to say when I found Serena?The question had followed me all evening.Every answer I came up with sounded wrong."I'm sorry."Too late."I didn't know."Not enough."Rose manipulated me."An excuse.I tried again."I wasn't responsible for everything that happened."That sounded even w
Rose's PovThe moment I heard “mission accomplished" and saw the news on the internet. Every stress in me diminished. It's hard trying to compete when you're as white and pure as a baby horse. This is just the beginning. That night, I remember he came to me sweet and eyes filled with lust but got
Serena's Pov Beeping.That was the first thing.Not pain, not light, not the slow crawl back into consciousness that they show in films where everything is soft and gauzy and someone is holding your hand. Just beeping. Steady and indifferent, like the world had kept running while I was somewhere e
Serena's Pov I sat on the couch muching on some snacks. My last encounter with the lawyer went smooth. I was watching an episode in a documentary. And it got me real bad. I was so engrossed that I didn't hear the doorbell ring.The sound of the cameras alarm brought me back to reality. I hesitated
Serena's Pov The smell of eggs hit my nostrils before I opened my eyes.I lay still for a moment. Damien's side of the bed was empty and cool. I got up, washed my face with cold water, and looked at myself in the mirror until I felt ready. Then I walked out.He was at the stove in a grey t-shirt,







