LOGINFor several seconds, I couldn’t speak. I stared through the windshield, but I wasn’t really seeing the street in front of me anymore. I was seeing Hart. The Hart I’d known for a decade. The man who had always been there. The man who had taken my calls at three in the morning. The man who had never asked me whether something was right or wrong. The man who had simply asked me what needed to be done. And now he was talking about changing. Because of them. Because of Claire. Because of Margot Sinclair. Because of a trial. I clenched my jaw. “Did you give them something?” Silence. My heart began pounding. “Hart.” Nothing. “Did you give Claire something?” Still nothing. I sat up straighter. “Did you give her evidence?” He finally spoke. “Why does it matter?” My stomach twisted. It mattered because I needed to know how much he had told them. It mattered because every piece of evidence could destroy me. It mattered because if Hart had turned, I needed to know bef
I barely made it to my car before I slammed the door hard enough to make the windows tremble. For several seconds, I simply sat there in silent fury, my hands gripping the steering wheel. I didn’t realize how hard I had been clenching my jaw until it started hurting. Claire. That worm had somehow managed to get under my skin without even raising her voice. She hadn’t threatened or mocked me. She hadn’t even looked particularly triumphant. That was what made it worse. She had looked at me like I was already finished. Like she knew something I didn’t. I hated that look. I hated her. But more than anything, I hated the uncertainty. Hart was supposed to be the one thing I didn’t have to question. For ten years, I had never had reason to question his loyalty. Not once. He had always been there. Whenever I needed something done, I knew Hart would do it for me. Whenever someone became a problem, Hart made the problem disappear. Whenever I was afraid, he remind
I closed the door behind me as quietly as I could. For a moment, I just stood in the hallway. I could still hear the faint hum of the hotel at night. Voices drifted from somewhere downstairs, followed by the occasional sound of footsteps. Eva was waiting for me. Downstairs. At midnight. After everything that had happened between us, I should have woken Lucian. I knew that. But something inside me told me I needed to hear what she wanted first. I tightened the belt of my robe around my waist before walking toward the elevator. Every step I took made my stomach twist a little tighter. I had spent months preparing to take for Eva Sterling to court. I had studied her lies, her schemes, her relationships. The people she’d manipulated, the money she’d stolen, and the evidence she’d tried to destroy. I thought I understood her by now. But standing in an elevator at midnight because she had asked to speak to me privately made me realize something. I didn’t know what Eva
I woke sometime during the night. I wasn’t sure what had pulled me out of sleep at first. The room was dark, except for the faint light coming from the city outside the windows. For a few seconds, I simply stared at the ceiling. Then I became aware of something beside me. Warmth. Lucian. He was asleep on his back, one arm resting across the space between us. His breathing was slow and steady… peaceful. I turned my head toward him. There was something almost surreal about seeing him like this. After everything that had happened, I still occasionally woke up expecting to find him in a hospital bed, surrounded by machines. Instead, he was lying beside me, normal. And somehow, we had found our way back to this. I smiled faintly as I reached over and gently brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead. He didn’t stir. “You’re impossible,” I whispered. He didn’t react— he obviously didn’t hear me. I smiled again and shut my eyes— there was no point in stay
Lunch was surprisingly peaceful. At first, we talked about everything except the trial. From the hospital, to my upcoming discharge, life at the Dhark mansion. Even work. And the things we’d do once this nightmare was finally over. Then Claire asked me: “What are you going to do when you get home?” “Work.” I immediately replied. Because there was much of it to be done. She groaned. “Of course.” “I have a company to run.” I stated. “You almost died.” Claire countered. “And?” “And maybe you could take a break.” I smiled. “I’ll consider it.” “You’re lying again.” I shrugged. “Probably.” Claire shook her head in defeat. I watched her for a moment. There was something different about us now— The way we spoke, the way she looked at me, the way she would reach across the table without thinking and touch my hand. It almost felt natural. Like something that had always belonged there. I turned my hand over and intertwined our fingers. She looked down at o
By the time Claire arrived at the hospital, I had already woken up. I had spent most of the morning staring at the ceiling, wondering how long it would take before I was allowed to leave this place. For most of my life, I had hated hospitals. The antiseptic smell of it and settle colors always triggered anxiety I didn’t know I had. Hospitals carried the memories of the worst days of my life— the last days of my mother’s. And now, every time I looked around the room, I remembered why I was here. Hart. The bullet. The knife. Claire beside my bed when I couldn’t even open my eyes. I didn’t want to remember any of it. I wanted to go home. I wanted my life back. And more than anything, I wanted Claire back in it. Then the door opened and Claire walked in carrying her handbag. The moment I saw her, a smile lit up my face. “There you are.” She smiled back. “Hi.” She walked toward me and stopped beside the bed, studying me with steady brown eyes. I raised a







