All Chapters of Love Disguised as Revenge : Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Aria’s POVMy phone buzzed against the desk for the third time in ten minutes.I didn't bother to see who it was.Not when I had six designers waiting for approvals and a client who was coming in twenty minutes."Aria, the Hensley account, wants final mockups by Saturday." My creative director, Priya, leaned into my office doorway with a tablet in her hand. "Think we can push it?""We can push it." I signed off the last invoice without looking up. "Tell them Monday. Give the team the weekend to rest.""She smiled. “You’re the only CEO I know who actually protects her team’s weekends.”“Then you’ve been working for the wrong CEOs.”Priya laughed and disappeared back down the hall, and I let myself lean back in my chair to rest from all the chaos for a while.Instinctively, my fingers drifted up to the thin gold necklace around my neck, the one I never took off.Jason had given it to me six years ago.Back then, I was a dancer with a stack of bills I couldn't pay. Then Victoria Cross of

Aria’s POVI didn’t sleep.Instead, I sat on the edge of Noah’s bed long after his breathing had evened out, watching the rise and fall of his small chest under the dinosaur blanket. Jason's threat kept ringing in my head, and I knew I had to do something to save the forty-one workers in my company.One thing was for sure: if I refused Jason, he wouldn’t just take Lumina. He would burn it. Clients would vanish, contracts would be terminated. My designers, the interns who still believed in me, Priya, who stayed late without complaining, and all of them would be out of work because of my pride.I reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from Noah’s forehead.I had to do this for the forty-one workers. And most importantly, Noah, so I could still provide for him.By the time the sky started turning gray, I had already made my decision.The next morning, I arrived at Cross Group headquarters at 8:17 a.m. The building was everything Lumina wasn’t. It had floor-to-ceiling windows, p

Aria’s POVToday, Jason scheduled a meeting concerning a project.Even in the boardroom Jason was still deciding to turn down every suggestion I made.And things got worse when Mark decided to speak up for me.Mark had been with me since the early days of Lumina. He was one of the few people who stayed loyal even after Cross Group took over. When Jason dismissed one of my design ideas in front of everyone, Mark didn’t stay quiet.“With respect, Mr. Cross,” Mark said, his voice steady, “that direction weakens the brand. We’ve tested it. The clients responded better to the original approach.”The room went silent.Jason didn’t raise his voice. He simply looked at Mark with that cold, empty expression.“Is that your professional opinion,” Jason asked quietly, “or are you still loyal to a company that no longer exists?”Mark’s face tightened. “I’m loyal to good work.”Jason leaned back in his chair. “Then you’ll do good work somewhere else. Effective immediately, you’re reassigned to the

Noah’s POVI woke up and my head didn’t hurt anymore.For a long time my head had felt hot and heavy, like someone had put a big warm hat on me that I couldn’t take off. Mommy kept putting cold clothes on my face and whispering soft things to me. I remember throwing up and crying and holding her shirt really tight. But today the heavy feeling was gone. My tummy felt normal again. I could breathe easily.I sat up in my bed and looked around. The morning light was coming through the curtains, making little stripes on the floor. I liked those stripes. Sometimes I tried to jump from one to the other without touching the dark parts.“Mommy?” I called.She came into the room quickly, like she always did when I called her. Her hair was a little messy and her eyes looked tired, but she smiled when she saw me sitting up.“You’re awake,” she said, sitting on the edge of my bed. She put her hand on my forehead the way she always did. “Fever’s gone. How do you feel, baby?”“I’m okay,” I said.