LOGINDamien'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
RoseI woke up having a feeling the day wasn't going to end well. Elias was in his high chair trying to put his fist in his mouth. I propped the tablet against the fruit bowl.I was reading a financial aggregator just like my usual routine. The headline caught my attention. It was about an investment conference in London with photographs attached.I read the name on the badge and my coffee cup hit the floor causing it to shatter. My hands froze mid-way. Instinctively, I turned and realized none of these affected Elias.Serena Whitmore was boldly in caps on the badge. My eyes settled on the image for a very long time. In it, she was standing in front of a banner. Hale Group International. Her name badge was clear. Her posture was straight. She looked like she had been doing this her whole life, and the aura I could read through it was so natural.The second photograph was worse.In the second one she was speaking to someone. It felt so engaged. Leaning in slightly. Looking at it, it wa
SerenaMaria suggested we make a conference. And here we are. I agreed before I was entirely sure why.This was more like an official opening. Attached is my name on the program under the Hale Group International heading. Visible but not loud. Present enough to register.Mara directly stated, “You can not run a six-billion-pound operation behind closed doors forever. People need to see you exist. They do not need just a speech. They have to see the face behind it as well.”I thought about it and realized she was right. And that was why I agreed to this conference.The conference was held in London, a hotel in the financial district that had been hosting investment events since before I was born. Three hundred and forty attendees, according to the program. Mostly institutional. A few private offices. Several people I recognised from Victor's files and had been briefed on by Marcus.I chose to wear a fitted grey suit. It wasn't my kind of style, but I had to look presentable. It fit co
Damien It's been a while since I visited Zara. We do keep in touch but not physically. Once I got to her apartment, she offered me water and we went straight into business. The place was small. Quiet. Too organized for someone who had only recently gotten her freedom back. There were books stacked neatly beside the window. Zara sat in the chair across from me, both hands in her lap, and she narrated what happened on the road that night the same way she had probably rehearsed it a thousand times. She sounded like she had promised herself that when this conversation finally came, she was not going to let the emotion of it get in the way of the information. From what she narrated, we were both in the car. Both of us. She was seated in the back seat. We had been coming home from somewhere she no longer remembered clearly, a school event or an errand, something ordinary. She described every detail she remembered. And from there, I knew not to doubt her. No one would come up with som
ZaraI had been out of the facility for three weeks.People kept asking how I was adjusting. I said fine. They nodded and looked at me like they were checking something.The truth is, I was far from adjusting. I was working. Trying to smoothen things for the best.The flat Damien had arranged for me was small, which suited me. Clean, with a mini-sized desk by the window, which was what I needed. In the first week, I did not go out much. I sat at the desk and took my time to go through every piece of documentation I had kept in my head and began to transfer it into something I could work from.I tried recalling some names. Dates and their connections I had traced through the limited access the facility's system allowed.I had been very careful about what I saved on anything that could be monitored or transferred. I kept it up here, instead. All of it.I just needed to start one, and everything else flows behind it. I was not soft about what had happened to me.I want to be clear about
DamienI sat still at my desk with pieces of paper scattered before me. Yes, I now had proof. For days now, I had it before I use it.You want to know what that feels like? Holding something that could blow your entire life apart — and choosing not to. Instead, you're choosing to wait. Every morning, I told myself: today. Every night, I put the papers back in the drawer.When I first gathered this evidence, I wasn't sure of my reaction. I ended up carrying it to work and carrying it home for days. Back and forth. To say I'm not impressed would be a lie. Rose had been the warmest she had ever been in her life. Wow. I was wondering what was going on in her mind.Was she scared? Confident? Did she think I was stupid?I got documents from Dieter, which Howe had sourced through a different route. They were specific enough that no lawyer would dismiss them.Alteration traces on two of the signed documents. Notary records that did not match the dates on the filings. Fortunately for me — han
SerenaFor a second, I was taken aback by her bold suggestion. She did not ask me first whether I wanted them. She just called and looked back at me with seriousness.“I have set up a meeting. Here is the address.” She handed me a piece of paper with the day and time. I nodded and did as she said.
SerenaI was supposed to meet a visitor today. Her name is Mara Voss. I hurriedly finished everything just to meet her. Twenty-five minutes later, I got a call stating that I had a visitor. And I guess she was in.The way she held her head up and walked nearly tripping made me admire her confidence
DamienLast night, I couldn't close my eyes.Not really. I'd drift, then jerk back awake, my mind already chewing on the same two words before I even had time to think. Victor Hale. Victor Hale. A part of me kept drawing closer to it, like a pull I didn't ask for. And my heart ached every time I me
SerenaEli was four months old and had recently found ways to entertain himself and associate with nature.I, on the other hand, was trying to figure out something.Victor had left me more than I thought I could handle. And I was still trying to figure things out to be kept in place. It left me wit







