Chapter 141

THIRD PERSON Caleb showed up at Aurora's office unannounced the next morning, his face tired, his eyes carrying the guilt he'd been holding onto for weeks. He stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, and he looked at her like he wasn't sure if he was welcome."Aurora.""Caleb." She didn't move from her desk. "What are you doing here?""I heard about the charges." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You finally did it."She stared at him. "How did you hear?""Word travels fast in legal circles." He walked toward her desk but didn't sit. "I came to apologize."She leaned back in her chair. "For what?""For how I handled things with Gregory's case. For not telling you what I was doing. For putting you in danger." He looked at her, his eyes earnest. "I was so focused on winning, so focused on taking him down, that I forgot you were the one who had the most to lose. I'm sorry."She didn't respond. She just looked at him. She remembered the way he'd looked at her in t

Chapter 142

THIRD PERSON Damian stood in the hospital corridor, his back against the wall, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead and the smell of antiseptic burned his nose and he couldn't stop staring at the door that led to his grandmother's room. His mind was a mess of fear and anger and guilt, all of it tangled together until he couldn't tell which was which.The doctor came out a few minutes later, her face tired, her voice measured. "Mr. Sinclair. Your grandmother is out of danger."He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "But?""She's in a coma. Her heart gave out and she's been through a lot. We're hopeful she'll wake up, but it could be a week. Maybe longer.""A week?""At least. Her body needs time to recover. We're doing everything we can."He nodded, his jaw tight, his hands clenching into fists inside his pockets. "Can I see her?""For a few minutes. She's stable."He walked into the room and the sight of her hit him like a punch t

Chapter 143

It was finally the dash of my case with Gregory.I sat in the courtroom, my hands clasped together on the table in front of me, my palms sweaty, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. The room was packed with people I didn't recognize, reporters with their notepads, Gregory's family sitting on the other side of the aisle with their eyes cold and their faces hard, and I didn't look at them because I couldn't, I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing me scared.Caleb sat beside me, calm and steady, his hand resting on the table like he wasn't nervous at all, and he leaned over and whispered, "You ready?"I nodded, not trusting my voice.Gregory sat at the defendant's table, his expensive suit pressed and his hair perfectly combed, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, like he'd already won. I wanted to scream at him, wanted to make him feel even a fraction of the fear he'd made me feel all these years.The judge entered and we stood and the proceedings b

Chapter 144

Damian sat in his office, staring at the stack of paperwork on his desk without really seeing it. His mind was still back at the hospital, still replaying the image of Eleanor in that bed, still hearing Vanessa's voice screaming at him through the door of her apartment. He rubbed his face with both hands and tried to focus. He couldn't.The door burst open without warning.Vanessa stood there, disheveled and desperate, her hair a tangled mess and her clothes wrinkled like she'd been wearing them for days. Her eyes were red and wild and her hands were shaking as she stepped into the room."Vanessa." He stood up. "What are you doing here?""I came to talk." She slammed the door behind her, the sound echoing through the office. "I came to make you understand.""Understand what?""That you can't just walk away from me. That you can't just throw me away like garbage."He walked around his desk, keeping his distance. "We talked about this. It's over. I told you—""I don't care what you told

Chapter 145

Weeks passed and slowly things began to change.I didn't notice it at first, not consciously. I was too busy with work, too busy with Arya, too busy trying to put my life back together after the trial. Gregory was gone. The case was over. I should have felt free. I should have felt relieved. But I didn't. I just felt... empty. Like I'd spent so long fighting that I didn't know what to do with myself now that the fight was over.The days blurred together. I'd wake up, get Arya ready for school, go to work, come home, make dinner, put Arya to bed, and then sit in the dark living room staring at the wall until I was tired enough to sleep. It was a routine, a safe one, one that didn't require me to think about anything beyond the next task. And for a while, that was enough.But then there was Damien.He kept showing up. Kept trying. It was subtle at first, almost invisible. Flowers on my desk at work, nothing extravagant, just a small bouquet of daisies or a single rose in a simple vase.

Chapter 146

The keys felt heavy in my hand as I stood outside the house, the old Victorian with its wraparound porch and climbing roses, the same roses my mother used to tend every morning before breakfast. I hadn't been here in years, not since before everything fell apart, not since before my parents died and Gregory stole everything. I'd driven past it a few times since moving back to Sacramento, but I'd never stopped. I'd never been able to bring myself to walk up those steps and open that door.But now it was mine again.The court had awarded it back to me, along with everything else Gregory had stolen. It had taken months of legal battles, endless paperwork, and more sleepless nights than I could count. But it was finally done. The house was mine. My parents' house. My childhood home.I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The smell hit me first, old wood and dust and the faint trace of lavender that always lingered in the air, the same lavender my mother used to dry and hang in the kitche