INICIAR SESIÓNOliviaBy the time I drove into my apartment complex, the sky had already darkened. I parked my car in my usual spot, turned off the engine, and just sat there.I rested my forehead briefly against the steering wheel and let out a slow, weary sigh.Today had just been… No—everything lately had been too much.The blackmail.The constant fear that one wrong move would shatter everything.I really wished that I could talk to someone about it.To tell someone how scared I was… how trapped I felt.How every decision I made felt like walking on thin ice over deep, freezing water.But I couldn’t.I couldn’t afford to.This was my problem. My burden. My cross to carry alone. Dragging someone else into it would only make things worse.I straightened up, forced myself to take a deep breath, and grabbed my bag.I locked the car and walked toward my apartment building. All I wanted right now was a hot shower and just sleep. I had no appetite for food at all.When I reached my floor and turned tow
Axel“Mother!”I didn't even know she was awake.She didn’t say a word and simply turned and walked out, as if every ounce of strength she had left was focused on putting distance between herself and the room.I rushed after her immediately.“Mother!”She stepped into the next hospital room, the one she had been placed in earlier, but she had barely crossed the door before her body seemed to give up on her entirely.“Mother…!”I lunged forward just in time, catching her as she collapsed. The impact drove us both to the floor, but I didn’t feel the pain. All I could feel was the terrifying lightness of her body in my arms.I wrapped my arms around her instinctively, holding her upright as she crumpled against my chest.Her hands flew to her mouth, both of them pressing tightly as if she were trying to keep something inside—her screams, her heartbreak, her dignity. But it was useless.Broken sobs tore through her. Her shoulders shook violently, her breath coming out in painful gasps as
Axel I sat beside my father’s hospital bed, my mind utterly blank. I didn’t know how long I had been sitting there like that—staring at the steady rise and fall of his chest, listening to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor beside him. Could it really be true? Could Father have been married before he married Mother? No. It was impossible. My father was a man who valued family, reputation, and responsibility above all else. He had always been devoted to my mother. Yet no matter how much I tried to deny it, the image of Mother’s face refused to leave my mind. That look of shock, fear… recognition. It hadn’t been the face of a woman hearing a ridiculous lie for the first time. It had been the face of someone whose worst nightmare had just stepped out of the shadows. What was really going on? How did Mother know Sarah? Why had she fainted the moment she saw her? My head throbbed painfully as the questions piled up, one after another, until it felt like my skull might sp
Jasmine My eyes instantly widened in shock. Did I hear that right? Did she really just say that? Vincent’s… first wife? Wait... No. That couldn’t be right. That had to be some kind of a joke, right? I looked at the woman standing in front of Axel… Sarah, who looked far too calm for someone who had just dropped a bomb like that. Axel stared at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads. “What? What does that even mean?” Before Sarah could answer, Katherine exploded. Her composure vanished entirely as she stepped forward, her face twisted with anger. “The nerve!” Katherine snapped. “The absolute audacity you have to come here and spew such nonsense! You should have been thrown out of here long ago, you pathetic liar!” She turned sharply toward Derek and Jose, pointing at Sarah like she was pointing at filth. “You two… get this lunatic out of here immediately!” But Sarah didn’t flinch. She didn’t raise her voice or argue. She didn’t even look offended. She just stood there
Axel The hospital lights were the first thing I noticed when I pushed through the revolving doors and rushed forward. Derek and Jose were right behind me, walking as fast as I was as I thought of one person… My father. The call had come last night when I was in an urgent meeting with some of our top investors in Toronto, trying to seal some contracts. The moment Mother’s call came through and she told me that Father had collapsed during a meeting here in New York, everything inside me just went blank. I had wanted to leave Toronto immediately, but couldn’t. There were no flights until hours later. The plane landed in New York around 5 a.m., and I came straight to the hospital. When I got to the hospital corridor, my eyes quickly scanned the waiting area until I saw them. My mother sat rigidly on one of the chairs, her head lowered, her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. Aunt Katherine sat beside her, unusually quiet, her lips pressed into a thin line. Jasmine stood a fe
Olivia Earlier that same day… “…and that is why strategic alignment remains the backbone of sustainable business management,” the lecturer said as he paced slowly across the front of the hall. “No matter how brilliant an idea may appear, without structure and accountability, it will eventually collapse.” I sat there with my pen hovering uselessly above my notebook, the words on the board blurring into meaningless lines. My heart was in turmoil. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t focus. The lecturer’s voice kept fading in and out, drowned by the pounding of my pulse in my ears. I glanced down at my watch. Too early. I forced my eyes back to the lecturer, but my thoughts betrayed me immediately, drifting back to the message burned into my mind. I checked my watch again. Please… just end already. The lecturer adjusted the papers in his hand and cleared his throat. “That will be all for today. I’ll see you all next time.” The sound of chairs scraping against the







