Mag-log inNora's POV7 Months later...The bell above the bakery door chimed as another customer walked in, and I looked up automatically with a smile already on my face. The morning rush had been relentless, but I couldn't find it in myself to complain. My life had been controlled by fear, secrets, bloodshed, and men who lived in a world I never should have been dragged into. Now my biggest concern was whether we'd run out of cinnamon rolls before noon. It felt almost laughable.The bakery was thriving.I had thought of what to use the money Aleksei had given to us to invest in. Then I thought of a bakery. I had always loved baking since I was little...the fresh smell of bread and cake batter filling the air. It was refreshing, and it worked! I had successfully started up the business with Lola and Elia's help. It was a struggle at first, but we made it work.Some days, it was so busy that Lola and I barely had time to sit down. We had hired two employees last month, and even then the
Mikhail's POVI woke up feeling like death. For several seconds, I lay motionless on the bed staring at the ceiling, my mind blank and my body heavy from the alcohol coursing through my system. Then reality returned all at once. Nora. Houston. Gone. The ache hit immediately, sharp and merciless, squeezing around my chest until breathing felt like work. My throat felt dry enough to crack, my head pounded with every beat of my heart, and the half-empty whiskey bottle sitting on my nightstand explained exactly why. I groaned and pushed myself upright, instantly regretting it when the room tilted slightly. "Fuck." Pressing my palms against my eyes, I tried to steady myself. Sometime after Nora left yesterday, I had drunk myself into oblivion. I remembered standing in the foyer watching her walk away. Remembered the sound of the front door closing behind her. Remembered the unbearable silence afterward. Everything beyond that was whiskey, anger, and grief.Dragging myself out of bed, I
Mikhail’s POVThe mansion had never been this quiet before.Not even after deaths.Not after funerals.Not after bloodshed.This silence was different.It felt hollow.Rotting.Like the entire house had finally become what Nora always called it from the very beginning.A cage.The flowers in the living room had died days ago. Nobody bothered replacing them anymore. The roses I once filled the mansion with for her had withered into dark brittle things before the maids finally threw them away. Even the marble halls felt colder now, stripped of the warmth her presence unknowingly brought into them.I spent most days locked inside my office.When I was not working, I was drinking.And when I was not drinking, I was staring at the ceiling unable to sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I saw blood soaking through Nora’s clothes while she cried about our baby.Our baby.Even now, two weeks later, the words still carved through me like glass.The whiskey burned going dow
Nora’s POVPain wakes me first.Not sharp.Not violent.Just deep.Heavy.Like my entire body has been hollowed out and stitched back together wrong.My eyelids feel too heavy to open at first. My throat burns like sandpaper and every breath tastes sterile and cold. Somewhere nearby, machines beep steadily in slow repetitive patterns.I force my eyes open.Light floods my vision instantly, making me wince.Everything is blurry at first.White ceiling.Soft gray walls.A large window with pale morning light bleeding through the curtains.It takes several seconds for my vision to fully adjust before I realize I am lying in a hospital bed.Private room.Private wing.Of course.Romanov money could probably buy an entire hospital if they wanted.My head turns slightly.Flowers.So many flowers.Bouquets cover nearly every available surface in the room. White roses. Lilies. Orchids. Expensive arrangements tied with silk ribbons. Cards rest beside them, some handwri
Nora’s POVThe SUV flies down the highway like a bullet ripping through darkness.Everything shakes.The engine screams beneath us while the driver fights the wheel with both hands. Trees blur past the windows in streaks of black and gray. Rain from earlier still clings to the road, making every sharp turn feel like we are seconds away from death.Behind us, headlights remain locked on our tail.Mikhail.I can feel him even before I see him again.Relentless.Viktor grips my arm tighter as another gunshot cracks through the night.The rear of the SUV jerks violently.“Faster!” Viktor snaps.“We are losing the tire!” the driver yells back.Another shot rings out.Then another.The fourth bullet destroys the tire completely.The explosion is deafening.The SUV swerves hard.Everything happens at once.The driver loses control instantly. Tires screech against wet asphalt as the vehicle fishtails across the highway. My shoulder slams painfully into the door while Vikt
Nora’s POVThe room smells like metal, dust, and old rain trapped inside concrete.I sit tied to the chair exactly where Lucien left me, my wrists raw from struggling too long against ropes that refuse to loosen. The bulb above me flickers every few seconds, throwing weak yellow light across the walls before dimming again. Time drags strangely here. Every minute feels stretched thin and uneven.At some point, exhaustion settles into my bones so deeply that even fear becomes tiring.But my mind never stops.It keeps circling the same things over and over again.My parents.The accident.Mikhail.The pregnancy I still have not spoken aloud.My stomach twists painfully at the thought of it. I press my bound hands tighter against the chair behind me and force myself not to think about it. I cannot afford to break now. Not here.The door opens again.Lucien walks in carrying a glass of water. Calm. Composed. Like he is visiting someone instead of holding them captive.He crou
Nora's POVI wake up to a pounding headache, the kind that throbs behind my eyes like a drumbeat I can’t escape. The room swims into focus slowly—the massive king-sized bed with its black sheets, the high ceilings, the balcony doors letting in slivers of morning light. My body feels heavy, like
Mikhail's POVWe leave the fairgrounds faster than I planned.The fireworks are still popping overhead when Aleksei’s call comes through—short, clipped, furious.“She’s gone.”Two words.That’s all it takes to turn the night from magic back to ash.I hang up without a word.Nora’s hand is s
Nora’s POVMuch to my utmost surprise, Mikhail takes us to a funfair.I swear this man keeps confusing me in ways I never deemed possible.THE MIKHAIL ROMANOV, Russian mafia don and billionaire CEO, at a freaking funfair.It was already late in the evening by the time we get there. And I’m not
MIKHAIL’S POVAfter we finish, we lie still in silence next to each other before I stand up and head into the bathroom, grab a bowl of water and a washcloth, and head back into the bedroom to clean her up.Slowly and reverently, I glide the warm cloth over her skin, erasing the remnants of us both.







