LOGIN(Rose’s POV)As I got home that night, I had to process everything I had gotten. I was highly confused. I had just discovered that Benson’s ex-wife is Patrick’s wife. After Patrick died, both of them are still together. This is telling me that everything was arranged. Both of them know about Patrick’s death.I closed the door behind me slowly and leaned against it, my fingers pressing into the wood as if I needed something solid to hold me in place. My heart was still racing from everything I had uncovered, and for a moment, I just stood there, staring into nothing.It didn’t make sense.Or maybe it did—and that was what scared me the most.I dropped my bag on the chair and walked into my room, my steps slow, heavy. My mind refused to be quiet. Every thought led to another question, every question to something darker.Benson.Patrick.His wife.The connection between them was no longer something I could ignore. It was right there in front of me, staring back like a truth I didn’t want
(Rose’s POV)By the time we arrived, the night had settled fully.The restaurant stood quietly under soft lights, calm and inviting, the kind of place that didn’t need to try too hard to impress. Benson pulled over smoothly and parked, his movements as controlled as always.For a second, neither of us moved.I reached for the door handle.Then I felt it.His hand.Warm.Firm.Resting gently on my lap.I froze.Not out of shock.But awareness.Slowly, I turned my head toward him.Our eyes met.And in that moment… everything else disappeared.There was something in his eyes I hadn’t seen this clearly before.Not control.Not calculation.Emotion.Raw. Unfiltered.Dangerous.He looked at me like I was something he had been holding back from wanting… and had finally decided to take.We didn’t speak.We didn’t move.We just looked at each other.Seconds passed.Heavy ones.Then suddenlyHe leaned in.And kissed me.It wasn’t rushed.It wasn’t hesitant either.It was certain.Like a decisio
(Rose’s POV)There’s a difference between coincidence and design.At first, everything felt scattered like pieces of a story thrown into the air without direction. A failed marriage. A second one formed under questionable timing. A man who died too suddenly. Another who never really left the scene.But nowNow the pieces are no longer floating.They are aligning.And I can see it.Benson and his ex wife… their story isn’t over. It never ended. Not truly. What they had didn’t collapse, it shifted. It changed form. Like a snake shedding skin but remaining the same creature underneath.And Patrick…Patrick was never just a husband.He was part of something.Something planned.Something controlled.Something I am only beginning to understand.I sat quietly on the edge of my bed, the file Daniel gave me resting on my lap. I hadn’t opened it again, not physically, but every detail inside it had already carved itself into my mind.Benson visited Patrick frequently while he was alive.Not occ
(Rose’s POV)I didn’t move for a long time.The room was quiet, but my mind wasn’t.It was loud. Too loud.I looked down at my phone again, at the picture I had snapped in Benson’s house. Then I shifted my gaze to the photograph inside the file Daniel gave me.Back and forth.Slowly.Carefully.As if my eyes were trying to find a mistake my mind refused to accept.But there was none.The woman in both pictures was the same.Not similar.Not close.The same.A cold weight settled in my chest as the truth unfolded itself without asking for permission.“The woman…” I whispered under my breath.“Is Patrick’s wife.”Late Patrick’s wife.I leaned back slightly, my grip tightening around the file. For a moment, I just stared at her face again, but this time, I wasn’t seeing Benson’s past.I was seeing a connection.A dangerous one.Because now, the question wasn’t just who she was.It was how she moved.How she transitioned from Benson’s life… into Patrick’s.How does a woman divorce a man l
(Rose’s POV)After a few minutes, Benson finally came out.I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I saw him again. There was something about his presence that always did that to me—not in a way that made me weak, but in a way that made me aware. Careful. Calculated.“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting,” he said, his voice calm, steady, like nothing ever really shook him.I smiled, soft and understanding, the kind of smile that didn’t question but accepted. “I understand. You needed to attend to him… and that’s not a problem.”My eyes stayed on his a second longer than necessary, carrying just enough warmth to feel real. I let it linger—not too much, not too little. Just enough.He noticed.He always notices.Good.I shifted slightly, folding my arms loosely, my tone changing just enough to sound curious without being intrusive. “You said his mother is gone… since when did she leave? And where did she go?”The effect was immediate.It wasn’t loud. Benson wasn’t the type to
(Rose’s POV)The door slowly opened. For a second, everything felt suspended—like time itself was waiting to reveal something I wasn’t prepared for. Then I saw him. A little boy. He couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old, standing right there at the entrance like he belonged—like this was his space, his home. And then he spoke.“Daddy…”The word was soft, innocent, and natural, but it hit me like something heavy crashing straight into my thoughts. Everything inside me stilled. I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I just stood there, staring. My eyes slowly shifted from the boy to Benson, and in that moment, I saw it—the truth.Benson’s expression changed completely. The calm man I had been sitting with just seconds ago was gone. In his place was something else, something caught between surprise, tension, and something deeper. Something real.“Go back to your room,” Benson said quickly. His voice was firm but not harsh. Controlled, yet shaken.The boy didn’t move immediately. In
(Ariana’s POV)Before I could open and close my eyes, a whole month had passed in Alex’s sister’s house. Thirty long days. Thirty restless nights. It felt like I had been dropped into another woman’s life, forced to wear her shoes, breathe her air, and survive her reality.A month ago, I was living
( Third person POV ) Lucas had been living alone in the house long before Ariana ever left.The silence that filled the mansion was not new — it had always existed, heavy and cold, lingering between the walls like a truth no one dared to face. But now, with Ariana gone, the emptiness felt exposed.
(Alex’s POV)On my way home, my mind was crowded with thoughts — heavy, restless thoughts that refused to let me breathe. How would I overcome Vanessa and Alex? How would I secure Ariana’s freedom? Every turn of the steering wheel felt like another turn into uncertainty. I kept wondering what might
(Ariana’s POV) The pen felt heavier than my entire life. It rested in my trembling fingers, its tip hovering just above the paper, as if waiting for permission to destroy everything I had left. Lucas stood across from me, calm, confident, dressed in patience and lies. “Just sign here,” he said







