LOGINDamien's POV I was halfway through a meeting when my phone began vibrating against the table.I ignored it the first time.The second time, I glanced at the screen.Security.I stood before anyone could ask why."Excuse me."I left the conference room and answered as soon as the door closed behind me."Damien Laurent.""Mr. Laurent, it's Daniel from building security. You need to come downstairs."Something in his voice made me stop walking."What happened?""There was an incident in the lobby. Claire is unharmed, but we'd like you to come down."I was already moving toward the elevator."What kind of incident?""We're still working that out. Security pulled her away before anything happened."The elevator doors opened.I stepped inside."Where is she now?""She's with the security supervisor."I ended the call.The elevator descended too slowly.By the time the doors opened onto the lobby, I could see Claire standing near the security desk with one of the guards beside her.She look
Claire's POV The brush was halfway through my hair when I saw her.I stopped in front of the mirror, my hand still raised, because for one strange second the bedroom was gone and I was standing beneath the warm lights of the gala again. Music drifted through the ballroom, low enough that conversations carried easily over it, and people moved between the tables in dark suits and evening dresses while chandeliers threw small flashes of gold across the polished floor.Damien was near the entrance, speaking to two guests.I could see him clearly enough to recognize the expression on his face, the polite concentration he wore when he was listening to someone he needed to take seriously, and then my attention moved past him.Tiffany was standing nearby.I remembered looking at her without knowing why.She had one hand resting lightly against her waist, and when she lifted the other to adjust a strand of hair, something at her wrist caught the light. Gold, delicate and narrow, with a dark s
Damien's POV The first thing I noticed when Detective Reynolds started the footage was how ordinary the corridor looked.That bothered me more than the damage itself.On the screen, the service passage behind the gala venue was nothing but concrete walls, a metal door, and a strip of fluorescent lighting that made everything look drained of color. There were no guests there, no music, no champagne glasses being carried past, none of the noise that had filled the rest of the building that night.Just an empty corridor then someone appeared.The image had been enlarged and enhanced, but the improvements only made the figure more distinct without making the person identifiable. The face remained hidden by the angle of the camera and the shadow beneath the brim of a cap. A long, light-colored coat moved across the frame, and one shoulder dipped slightly as the person walked.I leaned closer.The figure stopped at the restricted door.Reynolds paused the footage."We couldn't get the face
Claire's POV The examination room was cooler than I expected.I sat on the edge of the table with the paper beneath me crinkling whenever I shifted, one hand resting over my stomach while Damien stood beside the chair with his coat folded over one arm. The blinds were half-closed against the afternoon sun, leaving the room washed in pale strips of light, and somewhere beyond the door a printer hummed before falling silent again.I had been trying not to wonder about the baby's sex.That was a lie.I had wondered every day.Damien had too, although he had been careful not to make a prediction. Every time I asked him what he thought, he found some diplomatic way of refusing to answer, which I had eventually decided meant he had an opinion and didn't trust himself to defend it.The doctor entered carrying the familiar tablet, smiled at us, and began preparing the equipment."How are you feeling?""Good," I said. "A little tired.""Anything unusual?""Nothing that concerns me."Damien lo
Claire's POV The nursery door was still open when I reached the hallway, and the soft light spilling through it made the rest of the penthouse seem strangely distant.I stopped there for a moment, one hand resting against the frame.Inside, Damien was sitting on the floor beside the crib with his back against the wall, a screwdriver loose in one hand and a small instruction booklet lying open beside his knee. One of the crib's side panels was already attached, and several pieces of wood were arranged neatly beside him as though he had spent the last hour trying to convince himself that assembling furniture was a task worthy of the same concentration he gave everything else.He looked up when he heard me."You've been standing there for a while.""Have I?""Long enough for me to wonder whether I've assembled it incorrectly."I stepped inside and looked at the crib."It doesn't look incorrect.""That's not the same as saying it's correct."I laughed and crossed the room.The nursery sm
Damien's POV By the time the rain began tapping against the windows, most of the executive floor had emptied.I liked the office better after everyone left. During the day, there were too many voices, too many footsteps, too many people appearing beside my desk with questions they could have answered themselves if they had bothered to read the emails I sent them. At night, the glass walls reflected the lamps and the city lights until it became difficult to tell where the office ended and the darkness outside began.Damien was still working.His office door stood open, and every so often I could see him moving behind the glass. He had taken off his jacket and loosened his tie, and there was something almost painfully familiar about the sight of him like that. I had known him in expensive suits and formal dinners, under wedding lights, in airports and hotel rooms, in the quiet hours after arguments when neither of us knew what to say next.I had known him before Claire or at least, I h
Claire's POVDamien's words settled over the room with all the force of a collapsing building. "We will need to discuss the divorce arrangements this week."For a moment, I wasn't sure I had heard him correctly. The candles flickered softly between us. The meal I had spent hours preparing filled th
Claire's POVThe receptionist smiled as she handed me a small envelope. "Don't lose that," she said. "Most mothers end up keeping the first ultrasound forever."I looked down at the photograph tucked inside the envelope and felt something tighten in my chest.Forever.It was such a simple word, suc
Claire's POVThe message remained open on my phone long after I had finished reading it.Outside the penthouse windows, Manhattan glittered beneath the deepening evening sky, its countless lights stretching toward the horizon like stars scattered across black velvet. Normally I loved this view. The
Claire's POVThe next morning, I left the penthouse before Damien not because I had an early meeting and not because my schedule demanded it but because I couldn't bear the thought of sitting across from him at breakfast while pretending his words from the night before hadn't lodged themselves bene







