Sarah’s POVSitting at the kitchen table, my heart was basically doing cartwheels in my chest, could’ve sworn I left it back in the living room somewhere. Waiting for Ester was torture. Alessandro had peaced out earlier, after pulling his usual smooth move, calmed her down with a kiss and one of those “trust me, it’ll all be fine” lines. I mean, I wanted to believe him. Really, I did. But faith isn’t exactly my strong suit these days.However, it was still difficult for one to overcome a dark fear. Adrian had gone from that darkness, and it loomed still quite large. His recognition is what the court's concern needs. Ester entered with soft concern on her expression, so the door groaned. A cup of tea was put by her before me.Then she did walk across that table. Ester realised that I needed composure because her quietness spoke volumes sufficiently, and she understood me. Beginning was something about which I had no clue. Revealing everything felt like it might completely untangle me,
Sarah’s POVThere’s a certain silence that comes after trauma.It isn’t peace. It’s not even numbness.It’s more like… waiting to wake up.I spent days in that waiting room inside myself. Floating. Functioning. Pretending I was steady when in truth, I was drowning under the weight of fear. Fear that Adrian would come back. I feared that I lacked credibility. He'd always find a way to win because men like him knew how to cheat the system even if they feared it.But Alessandro…He didn’t let me drown.He didn’t push me, either. He waited. Quietly. Patiently.Holding me when the tremors returned at night. Sitting beside me in the courtroom lobby when I stared blankly at the walls.When I doubted myself, he anchored me.When I wanted to run, he was holding my hand.He told me “It’s not your fault” repeatedly until then I almost could believe that it.“You do not have to do this alone.”Since they failed to finalise the divorce, it started with step one.I had at an earlier time filed for
Alessandro’s POVThe war wasn’t over.Not yet.The recordings, Adrian’s filth, his own words damning him, sat secure in my possession. I hadn’t leaked them. Not yet. The world didn’t deserve that victory until I cornered him within the court where it mattered most, where his arrogance would shatter as undeniable evidence weighed on it.A public scandal would scorch his name, but a courtroom defeat would bury it for good.I wanted Sarah to be the one to end him, not just me.She needed to stand, to fight, to see herself win.And she was ready.It took time, patience, and nights when I held her while she trembled. But slowly, she stood. Slowly, she chose to confront him.I had told her, “You are not his victim anymore. You’re his reckoning.”I could see it in her now, the fight, the resolve.Sarah had filed for divorce before.But now Sarah had also pressed harassment charges.She chose the battlefield.I would arm her.The recordings would remain untouched until the court dates, until
Adrian’s POVShe was always mine.Even when she left, even when she filed for divorce, even when she decide to move onSarah was mine.That day, when I cornered her, when I pressed myself against her trembling frame, it wasn’t some accident, some reckless impulse.No. I chose it. I planned it. I savoured it.The way she trembled beneath me. The tears that streamed down her face.They didn’t disgust me.They thrilled me.She could fight. She could scream. She could beg.But deep inside her, beneath all that self-righteousness, she wanted it. She always had.I felt it in the way her breath hitched.I heard it in the tiny, broken gasps she gave.I saw it in the lust that danced in her eyes.I didn’t rape her this time.I could have.I wanted to.But I didn’t. I held back.I wanted her to remember my touch. I wanted her to remember my presence. The way I pressed against her. The way I claimed her without needing to take her fully.She would always belong to me.Gabriel. My son.Let her par
Sarah’s POVA few days had passed since that evening.Ever since I've seen Adrian.The house didn’t feel as suffocating anymore.Ester made sure of that. She filled the rooms with warmth and soft sunlight, and she shared stories almost daily in addition to new flowers, plus the special love a best friend provides. She did not make a demand for feelings I was not ready to express, or put pressure on me to talk. She just stayed, so she offered her companionship then. She gently reminded me that I had got my back.But most of all, it was Alessandro.Alessandro, who never drowned me either. Alessandro quietly stitches all of the broken pieces of me back together again. He did this without asking for anything in return for it.He had laced his fingers with mine, also whispered, “Let’s go out,“ when I had curled into myself, terrified to step outside the door.Just for five minutes. I’ll be right here.”He didn’t force me. He didn’t drag me. He simply walked beside me.It started with a rela
Sarah’s POVIt had been a week since that night.A week since Adrian stormed into my world one last time.A week since fear seeped so deeply into my bones, it felt like part of me.But strangely, the past seven days had been… quiet.No phone calls.No cryptic letters.No footsteps outside my door that made my chest tighten in panic.Just silence.And in that silence, there was Alessandro.He never left, not for a minute.I hadn’t gone outside since that evening, yet this time, the walls didn’t seem like they were tightening around me. They didn’t seem like a trapThey felt warm.Soft.Like protection, not confinement.Because Alessandro made them feel that way.He was just… there.Helping me breathe when I forgot how. Making sure I ate, slept, and took one small step at a time.When I pushed the plate away or turned my face from the pillow, he didn’t press. He simply stayed, patient, quiet, waiting, like he had all the time in the world.And when the nightmares came, because they alw