LOGINDamien sat behind his desk, staring at the faint crescent-shaped scar he had tried so carefully to conceal. The moment had been too quick, too chaotic. Elena had barged in without knocking—something she had never done before—and in an instant, she had seen it. His wrist.A cold wave of panic ran through him. He had not expected her to notice, not like that. Not after fifteen years. And yet, her reaction… it was complicated, unreadable, a mixture of shock, confusion, and something deeper he couldn’t yet name.Damien’s mind raced. Had she recognized it? Did she remember? The scars from fifteen years ago—the boy who had shielded her during that nightmare—were deeply etched in his skin, and he knew in his heart they were etched in her memory too.Tomorrow would decide everything. Tomorrow would reveal whether the truth would finally surface or remain buried. And Damien wasn’t sure he was ready for either outcome. He only knew he had to protect her, even if that meant staying silent, even
Elena barely slept.Her mind kept circling the same questions, looping endlessly between anger, confusion, and something she didn’t want to name. She couldn’t understand why Damien had been so gentle with her lately — so warm, so unexpectedly sweet. Everyone in the office painted him as a tyrant, a man whose presence alone made grown executives tremble. Yet with her… she had never seen that side. Not once.And then there was Jessy. The mere thought of her made Elena’s jaw tighten. Hate was not a word she used lightly, but it fit. If she hadn’t worked at Black Enterprise, she would have dragged Jessy out of her house by the hair and taught her a lesson she wouldn’t forget. Not everyone was meant to be tested. Had Aunt Maria been home that night, Elena knew the situation would have escalated into something far worse. Where Elena’s temper ended, Aunt Maria’s brand of madness began—and it was merciless.The thought made her chuckle despite herself.A few minutes later, her phone chimed.
The night was quiet around the villa, the kind of stillness that made every sound echo. Elena had just finished washing the teacups when she heard a commotion outside — raised voices, hurried footsteps, and the unmistakable tension of security trying to hold someone back.She frowned and stepped toward the hallway.Before she could reach the door, it burst open.Jessy stormed inside like a hurricane.Her hair was wild, her eyes blazing, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as she shoved past the guards.“I told you,” Jessy snapped, pointing a manicured finger at the security team, “I am Damien’s girlfriend. If you don’t let me in, I will have every single one of you fired!”The guards exchanged uneasy glances. They knew the Chairman had never confirmed such a relationship — but Jessy’s threats were loud, dramatic, and relentless.Elena stepped forward, her voice firm. “What is going on?”Jessy didn’t answer.She didn’t even look at Elena.She marched straight into the l
After the Event The night air outside the gala venue was cool, brushing softly against Elena’s skin as she stepped out of the building. The event had ended smoothly, though her heart was still racing from the tension of the evening — Damien’s touch, his closeness, the way he had guided her through the crowd.Elena stepped aside and pulled out her phone.“I’ll order a ride,” she said.“No,” Damien said immediately. “I’ll drive you home.”“It’s fine, sir—”“Elena.” His voice softened. “Let me.”She hesitated. “Alright.”He knew she was alone in the villa now.He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but he wasn’t ready to leave her alone tonight.Jessy stood near the exit, watching them with a clenched jaw.When Damien opened the car door for Elena — again — Jessy’s expression twisted.As the Rolls‑Royce pulled away, Jessy hurried to her own car.“I’ll expose whatever is going on between them,” she muttered, gripping her steering wheel. “Tonight.”She followed them out of the parking lot.T
The office BuzzElena arrived at the office twenty minutes late, her heels clicking too loudly against the marble floor as she slipped through the glass doors. She rechecked the time on her phone — she was late. Not terribly, but late enough for her chest to feel tight as she hurried toward the executive floor. She glanced instinctively toward the corner office.Empty.His office door was closed.The lights inside were off.He wasn’t in yet.Elena exhaled slowly, relieved.She set her bag down and immediately began rearranging the files she had left on her desk the previous evening. Some documents needed to be sorted into the outgoing tray, and others required to be placed in Damien’s pending file. She moved quickly but neatly, trying to regain the sense of order she usually started her mornings with.She was halfway through organizing when she heard footsteps approaching.“Elenaaa,” Freda sang, dragging out her name with a sugary sweetness that didn’t match the sharpness in her eyes
The DepartureThe silence that now inhabited the villa was a new and unwelcome guest. Elena stood in the doorway of Lucas’s bedroom, leaning her forehead against the polished wood of the frame. It had been exactly one month since her younger brother had officially packed his bags for the university, and the house still felt a little too big without his constant presence. It wasn't that the villa had been silent before; on the contrary, it had been a whirlwind of life. There had been the constant thumping of Lucas’s bass-heavy music, the rhythmic clatter of Maria’s cooking in the kitchen, and the lively, sometimes heated debates over dinner. The house had been a whirlwind of energy—a sanctuary where they were finally free to be loud after years of shrinking themselves to fit into Maria's old, cramped apartment. But now, that energy was gone. Even with Aunt Maria still in the house, the vast rooms felt hollow and boring. The silence wasn't peaceful; it was heavy, an "eerie echo" of t







