Mag-log inChapter 132. Nadia's POV. "How convenient.." I said, the words coming out sharper than I intended, though I didn't take them back."Nadia, please.""Who is she?" I demanded. "Who is the woman in those photos, Ronan?"He hesitated, just long enough that my stomach twisted even harder."Jolene," he said finally, quietly.The name landed like a physical blow. "Your ex-wife?""Nothing happened," he said quickly, desperately. "I woke up this morning and I had no memory of anything, no idea how I even got there. She said she was just as confused as I was.""I really don't know if those photos are true," I said, my voice breaking now, tears streaming freely down my face. "But if they are, oh my god, Ronan, I am so hurt. So betrayed. I know I hurt you in the past. I know I betrayed your trust. I left you, I kissed someone else, I know all of that. But I never once did anything this extreme. Even when I was seeing Damian, I swear to you, I never slept with him. I was so conflicted about my
Nadia's POV. The house had gone completely quiet by midnight, Lily long since asleep in her room, the television I'd tried watching earlier now dark and forgotten across the room. I sat curled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket I'd taken from the hall closet, my phone resting in my lap, hoping it would just light up with his name already.It didn't.I kept turning the whole evening over in my head, trying to make sense of it. This wasn't like him at all. Ronan missed things sometimes, got pulled into meetings that ran long, but he always called, always texted something, even a single line letting me know he was still breathing if possible. And this wasn't just about me. Lily was upstairs asleep, completely unaware her father hadn't come home from work, and if I hadn't been here, she would have been the one calling around confused, wondering why her dad had simply vanished on an ordinary Tuesday.Already around midnight, something about the whole situation had started sitting wrong in
Damian's POV. The office had become a place I actively avoided lately, the quiet hallways emptier each week as more of my staff quietly handed in resignations, unwilling to stay attached to a name still bleeding out in every tabloid across the city. I hadn't gone in three days. There was nothing left there for me to fix for now at this point, not today, and staying home alone with my own thoughts had started feeling worse than useless.I decided to pick the kids up myself instead of leaving it to the driver.Lucas raised an eyebrow when he spotted me waiting outside the school gates. "You're picking us up?""I have time today," I said, which wasn't entirely a lie.We drove to a small ice cream shop a few blocks from the house, one they used to beg to visit constantly a few months back, and settled into a booth by the window, both kids ordering something absurdly large with three different toppings while I stuck to a plain cone, watching them dig in with the kind of enthusiasm I hadn'
Ronan's POV.The first thing I became aware of was the pounding behind my eyes, a slow, deep throb that seemed to pulse in time with my own heartbeat. I lay there for a long moment before I even tried opening my eyes, my mouth dry, my limbs heavy in a way that felt wrong, disconnected from the rest of me.When I finally forced my eyes open, nothing about the ceiling above me looked familiar. Cream colored, a light fixture I didn't recognize, the faint hum of an air conditioning unit somewhere off to the side.I sat up too fast, and the room tilted sharply, my stomach lurching with it. I pressed a hand flat against my chest to steady myself, and that was when I registered it, my bare skin under my palm. No shirt.I looked down at myself, confusion sharpening into something colder. My chest was bare, my trousers still on, a heavy duvet pooled around my waist. I patted at my own arms, my shoulders, some instinctive need to confirm I was actually still myself, still intact, still whole if
Nadia's POV.I checked my reflection one final time, smoothing down the front of my dress, my stomach fluttering with excitement. I'd managed to get back home in time from the gathering I attended earlier, and quickly got ready, expecting Ronan. Seven thirty came and went. I told myself he'd probably gotten caught in traffic. Besides, it wasn't eight yet, I thought. Then, twenty minutes passed this time around, and I texted him, but my message sat there unanswered. By eight thirty, I called Ronan again, my feet now moving towards the sitting room, meeting Seth and Kane, both working on something on their phones and laptops. Straight to voicemail.I called again, my thumb pressing the screen a little harder than I could help it as I sat on one of the couches beside Seth. Straight to voicemail again."He's probably just stuck somewhere..." Kane said, glancing up from where he sat sprawled on the couch.I paced the length of the room, my phone clutched tight in my hand, my mind alre
Ronan's POV. I was just getting back to the company that afternoon after spending the morning at two different clients' offices for meetings.I stayed in my car for a few minutes after pulling into the parking lot, the contract still spread across my lap. The meetings had taken longer than they should have, by at least twenty or thirty minutes, mostly because one of my shipping clients kept going back over terms we'd already settled twice.I rubbed at my eyes, then gathered the pages into a neat stack. I'd go through everything properly once I got upstairs.When I finally stepped out of the car, my stomach immediately reminded me that I hadn't eaten much since breakfast with Nadia and Lily.I sighed. Yeah, I should just order food. I don't think I really wanted to drive somewhere out right now just to sit and lunch by myself, and lose another hour when I already had enough waiting for me at the office. Besides, I was already anticipating the dinner date with Nadia. I would just eat i
Nadia Dinner was torture. I stood by the counter, serving the food as they ate. Simone made a face after her first bite of the roast. "This is very dry," she said, pushing her plate away. She dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "Honestly, Nadia, how long have you been cooking and you still can’t
NadiaI couldn’t believe the words had come out of my mouth. My heart pounded so loudly in my ears, that I thought it might burst out of my chest. My temples throbbed with the pressure, while my fingertips were numb with the tremors that wouldn’t stop. I stared at Damian’s back, still waiting fo
Nadia’s POVSimone had left them. Simone had walked out six years ago and never once looked back. And still, when Lucas fell, when Isabella was scared, the school called her. Damian called her. And I was told not to trouble myself.I walked away from Margaret without speaking. I walked into my bed
Nadia It was my 30th birthday that day when I hoped my husband and my step children would at least remember that this day was a little bit out of the ordinary.But I could only dream… I am not certain of when I became invisible in my own home. It happened slowly, until one morning I woke up and







