Zack’s POVNight refused to end, stretching like punishment across hours that would not dissolve, and I sat inside the car with trembling fingers clutching cigarette after cigarette, smoke curling through my lungs already aching with sorrow, mind tearing itself into pieces. Clock showed three in the morning, yet everything inside the chest screamed louder than time itself, shame clawing against my ribs, rage setting fire against my skull, grief choking through my throat until no breath felt clean anymore.Sophia’s words replayed endlessly, her voice breaking when she said she carried life inside, my child, fragile seed of both of us, and I had left her there, moonlight staining her skin while tears cut through silence. Coward. Monster. Man who loved and failed in the same heartbeat, that's all I was. Every drag of a cigarette felt like a punishment, a tape against my lips, as if my body begged for the destruction it deserved. How dare I leave her with the weight of pregnancy alone, w
Leyla's POV The mansion felt too still, the silence suffocating me and drowning me into thoughts I didn't want to face. Morning light had faded into a muted afternoon glow, the kind that made every color richer, deeper, almost edible until the shades dimmed and cooled off to the freezy shades of a Cresent shaped moon. My thoughts had been restless all day, wanting and desiring something aching, something that was not legit. Alex, my little puppy was at the office, and the silence pressed against me until it felt like a hand sliding slowly over my skin. I had tried to work, read, distract myself with anything that wasn’t her. But Stacy, that bitch had a way of slipping into my damn head uninvited, curling herself into the quiet corners of my mind until I couldn’t think about anything else. She wasn’t supposed to matter. She was supposed to be a shitty problem I could ignore, a complication that smelled of trouble and felt like temptation carved into flesh. With all the chicks that d
Zack's POV The taste of her was still on my lips, bitter with the memory of what we’d just done, and no amount of deep breaths or the slow burn of crystalline could wash it away. I stood on the balcony, shirt hanging half-buttoned, the smoke curling around my face like a veil I didn’t deserve to hide behind. Inside, Stacy slept, limbs tangled in silk sheets, her hair a dark spill across my pillow, her skin still warm from the heat I’d given without meaning. I felt nothing for her—nothing except the hollowness that came after pretending I could want someone else enough to forget the one person who still had the power to destroy me with a look.The night pressed in quietly, the air carrying the faint smell of the pool’s filter, the distant rustle of leaves, the heavy scent of chlorine mixing with the sweetness of jasmine that grew along the garden wall. That’s when I saw her.Sophia.She was down by the pool, sitting at the edge, her bare feet just touching the water, the moonlight pa
Stacy's POVFrom the moment I stepped into the ballroom, I felt the weight of eyes. Not just on me, but watching us—me and Zack. Me and my greatest achievement. The woman who had the luck, or let's say the project of getting the most handsome and entrepreneurial Son. I could feel all the jealous eyes of the young women in the hall staring at me like I didn’t deserve him, like I shouldn't be the one by his side. I bet they cum at the mention of his name and have wet dreams about his muscular arms on their thighs. Good enough, he's mine, and he's too much of a gentleman to put his dick anywhere else than in me.The ballroom shimmered under crystal light, with heavy scents of luxury perfumes and business class wine. I stood tall in my silver dress, polished to perfection like the diamond on my ring finger. Balmar pride ran through my spine, straightening it, strengthening me. Tonight, the Holmes family’s legacy was tied to mine, and I had won. But even queens crave forbidden things.My
Zack’s POVShe stood there, against the stone railing of the balcony, looking like something the night was trying to keep for itself. Hair tangled from the breeze. Eyes hollow from too many storms. I had never seen Sophia like this. Not even the day she first stepped into this house. She was no longer porcelain. She was worn marble. Beautiful and cracking. She was trying to break out of her fragile shield and stand against the most inconsiderate person I'd ever seen. Glorious actions, strong ones, she should be proud of, but unfortunately, the wrong adversary. And it was my fault.I didn’t know what I would say when I stepped out here. I only knew that I couldn't stay inside when she left the hall with those eyes, ready to pierce me and kick me out of her existence for good. She was boiling with rage. I couldn't breathe seeing her walk away like that. But now that we were alone, words felt like sharp glass lodged in my throat."Sophia," I breathed. She had told me to go back inside t
Sophia’s POVI stood by the window, wrapped in my robe, watching the shadows of leaves dance across the marble floor. The morning light felt sharp, like blades slicing across my skin, and my body slowly started showing symptoms of the being growing within me. It had been two weeks since the wedding. Two weeks of silence. Two weeks of pretending. After Stacy’s drama the other day, I didn't even want to have any contact with him. Things have been pretty quiet, I guess the moon is watching over me and my baby. I'm surprised I've not yet bathed with acid or been served poison. Something was up with Leyla, she looked disturbed and irritable, and it wasn't by me. Whatever, I don't really give a damn about that... she's just a pain in the ass, far away from my real ache. Zack avoided me. Stacy watched me like a predator. And I… I was crumbling quietly.The wooden sound of the breaking door hit my ears just as I turned to reach for my clothes. Sharp. Unapologetic. I didn’t need to ask, Alex