Pedro’s POV I knew before Derrick even walked into the room. I felt it, the subtle shift in the air, the crackle of tension that hinted at the storm already gathering outside these walls. I had anticipated every move, every scandal, every desperate whisper in the corridors of power. And now, with the news of Aelia’s humiliation splashed across every media outlet, the world was beginning to understand the narrative I had so carefully crafted. Derrick entered my office with his usual measured pace, his face a mask of controlled disapproval. I didn’t need him to tell me what was happening; I already knew. Still, I held his gaze as I slowly lifted my whiskey glass. “Tell me,” I murmured, the words soft yet laced with an unyielding authority. Derrick’s jaw tightened before he replied, “It’s everywhere. Your name, Aelia’s name—the scandal has exploded beyond control.” His voice was steady, but I could sense the strain beneath it. It was as if he, too, understood that some fires, once i
Aelia’s POVI couldn’t stand it any longer.Every rumor, every whispered headline, every bitter reminder of who I was forced to be—it all echoed in my mind like a relentless drumbeat. I had been humiliated, exploited, and manipulated. And now, as I stared out the rain-streaked window of my apartment, I realized something: I was done being Pedro’s plaything.I had spent months trying to erase his shadow from my life, fighting every day to reclaim the person I once was. Yet every time I took a step forward, his presence, his calculated cruelty, pulled me back. I had tried to stand up. I had screamed. I had even nearly collapsed under the weight of his revelations. But now, amid the cold drizzle of a desolate night, I made a decision: I would escape this cage.I pulled my phone from my pocket, staring at its screen as if willing the words to appear. My trembling fingers typed a message to Mike, the one person who had truly cared for me through all this madness. “I’m leaving. I can’t stan
Third-Person POV The city was silent under the cloak of midnight, save for the occasional rumble of distant thunder. Aelia had barely stepped outside with a plan to escape, find someplace else, anywhere was better than here… she knew by morning her apartment would be swamped with reporters but she only took a step out when a shadowed figure closed in on her. A strong hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream, the sharp sting of a needle piercing her skin as she thrashed against them. Everything blurred. Her vision, her thoughts, her body. All melting away into nothing. The last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her whole was the faint glow of a cigarette ember… and the chilling smile of a woman watching from the waiting car. — Pedro stood in front of Valeria’s bedroom door, his jaw locked so tightly it ached. The message she’d sent had been simple: (“Come to my room. I have a present for you.”) Something about it felt wrong. He pushed open the door and fr
Aelia’s POVA sharp, splitting pain throbbed through my skull, dragging me out of unconsciousness. The moment my eyes fluttered open, I regretted it.The dim light of my apartment stung, my head pounded like it had been caught between steel plates, and a sickening nausea churned in my stomach. Every limb felt sluggish, as if weighed down by something heavy and inescapable.I groaned, barely able to move, when a familiar voice broke through the haze.“Aelia?”I turned slightly, wincing at the movement. Darla.She was perched on the edge of my couch, worry lining her face, her dark curls slightly disheveled like she hadn’t slept. She leaned forward, eyes scanning me cautiously before she sighed in relief. “Thank God, you’re awake.”“What…?” My throat was raw, my voice hoarse, as if I had swallowed gravel.She hurried to my side, helping me sit up despite my protests. My body ached all over, my skin clammy with a faint layer of sweat. “Easy, you’ve been out cold for a while.”But I wasn’
Pedro’s POVThe delicate aroma of black tea curled into the air, a rich blend of bergamot and spice, filling the vast yet silent expanse of my estate’s dining hall. It was a rare morning of peace, the kind that was neither earned nor deserved, just fleeting, like the illusion of control.I scrolled through my tablet, scanning financial reports and the latest trade movements. A distraction. A necessary one.Then, just as expected, she arrived.The click of heels. The slow, deliberate steps of a woman who knew how to command attention.I didn’t look up as Valeria sat across from me, draping herself into the chair with the kind of ease that made my fingers tighten around the ceramic cup in my hand.A beat of silence.Then, her voice laced with artificial sympathy, yet sharpened like a dagger.“Poor Aelia,” she mused, pouring herself a cup of tea she had no intention of drinking. “She must be going through so much with all the headlines… while you’re here, sipping tea, without a care in
Third-Person POVPedro Montonio was not a man who second-guessed his decisions.Yet as he sat in the back of his sleek black car, watching the city lights blur past, a strange tightness coiled in his chest. Aelia. The woman who had turned his world upside down in the span of days.The scandal had already spread like wildfire, her reputation dragged through the mud because of him.And now, her life was in danger.Derrick’s earlier report echoed in his mind.“The threats aren’t just online anymore. There have been people asking about her—dangerous people. And there’s a possibility someone sold information about her routine. She’s vulnerable, boss.”Pedro didn’t like that word. Vulnerable. Not when it was attached to her.So he took action. More guards. More surveillance. More control.But control wasn’t enough. He needed to see her.And when he finally did, he knew he had made a mistake.—Aelia stormed down the quiet street, her coat wrapped tightly around her, her face partially hidde
Third-Person POVAelia’s fingers trembled as she stared at her phone screen. Jamie’s name flashed persistently, and she hesitated, unsure if she was even ready for this conversation, especially with Pedro looming over her like a haunted house.But before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed accept and lifted the phone to her ear.“Jamie?” Her voice was soft, uncertain.His response was anything but gentle.“Aelia, where have you been?!” His voice erupted through the speaker, sharp with frustration. “I’ve been calling you all day! Why haven’t you answered? And what the hell is going on with this scandal?!”Aelia winced at the desperation laced in his tone, she had wanted him to call so badly, even though she lied to herself that she was done with him, she secretly waited for his call but nothing came, now he suddenly calls because of the news. Her grip tightened around the phone. “Jamie, I—I can explain—”But she never got the chance.Before she could finish, a firm hand re
Pedro’s POVAelia scrambled off me like she had touched fire, pressing herself against the farthest corner of the seat. Her breath was unsteady, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow movements. Even in the dim glow of the car’s interior, her flushed cheeks and wide amber eyes made her look almost ethereal…untouchable.And yet, I had touched her.I clenched my fists, pressing them against my thighs, willing myself to stay in control. The ghost of last night’s kiss lingered on my lips, a reminder of how soft she had felt against me. I had convinced myself it was nothing, a moment stolen under the influence of whatever drug had been forced into her system.But I was lying to myself. Because even now, her vanilla scent mixed with something floral filled the space between us and the memory of her pliant lips burned into my mind, I was fighting the urge to grab her, to see if she would melt against me again.Her small frame was curled in on itself, as if she was trying to disappea
Louisa’s words haunted him.“I have a boyfriend now.”She’d said it so easily, so carelessly, as if it didn’t mean anything, as if he didn’t mean anything. But Derrick knew better. He felt better. That night they spent together wasn’t just lust, wasn’t just two people falling into old habits.It meant something.He saw it in the way her fingers trembled when she touched him, the way her breath hitched when he whispered her name.And now she was telling him she’d moved on? That she was settling down?Bullshit.But it wasn’t until later that day, when he saw it with his own eyes, that the words really started to sink in.He hadn’t been looking for her. Not intentionally, at least. But as he stepped out of the hospital, irritation already simmering beneath his skin, he caught a glimpse of her.Louisa.Standing by a sleek black car, dressed sharply in one of her tailored outfits that hugged her body just enough to be professional but tempting.And she wasn’t alone.A man, tall, broad-shou
Darcy Never Liked Hospitals.They smelled like loneliness and disinfectant, like whispered prayers and silent cries. They were places of endings and beginnings, of cold white lights and walls that had absorbed too many last goodbyes.But she was here.Standing beside Aelia’s bed, her fingers curled tightly around the metal railing as if her grip alone could anchor her friend to this world.Aelia looked small against the stark white sheets, too pale, too still. The rhythmic beeping of the machines monitoring her vitals felt both comforting and unbearable, a cruel reminder that she was alive but not awake.Darcy’s throat tightened as she studied the bruises peeking out from beneath the hospital gown, the quiet evidence of the violence Aelia had endured. It was wrong. Aelia had always been the strong one, fierce and stubborn, the kind of person who could stare down danger without flinching.Now, she looked defenseless.“She looks better than yesterday,” a voice murmured from behind her.
The Spencer estate, once a symbol of untouchable power, felt like a fortress under siege. Reporters swarmed the gates, cameras flashing through the iron bars, their voices merging into an unintelligible storm. The phones inside never stopped ringing, board members demanding answers, lawyers scrambling to contain the damage, investors threatening to pull out.Regina Spencer stood in the middle of it all, perfectly composed despite the chaos. She had weathered storms before. She would weather this one, too.She adjusted the pearl necklace resting on her throat, exhaling slowly as she watched the news broadcast on the living room television.“Sola Spencer, daughter of Regina Spencer and sister to Alan Spencer, has been arrested as the prime suspect in the attempted murder of Aelia Spencer, her adopted sister. This comes after a series of threats were uncovered in the victim’s phone, allegedly sent by Sola herself. The Spencer family has yet to release an official statement.”Regina’s n
The moment Sola stepped outside, she knew something was wrong.The air felt too heavy, too watchful. The street was too quiet, save for the distant hum of traffic. Then came the sharp sound of a car door slamming.Two men in suits approached. Not just any men, law enforcement.“Sola Spencer,” the taller one said, voice clipped. “We need you to come with us for questioning.”Sola’s brows furrowed. “What?”A flash of a badge and a formal tone. “You’re a suspect in an ongoing investigation. Please come with us.”The world shifted on its axis. She felt it in the pit of her stomach, the kind of freefall sensation that came with being caught off guard. She barely had time to react before firm hands took her by the arms, guiding her toward the unmarked car.Her mind raced. Investigation? What the hell were they talking about?Then she saw them, reporters. Cameras flashing, microphones extending.(“Sola Spencer, do you have any comments about the allegations?”“Are you responsible for Aelia
The room was too quiet. The kind of quiet that made Darcy’s skin crawl.She sat beside the bed, hands clasped together as she stared at Aelia’s face. Peaceful. Unmoving. It didn’t suit her. Aelia was never still, never silent. She filled spaces with her presence, with her sharp wit, with the reckless gleam in her eye that always warned trouble was around the corner.Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat.She hated this. Hated how pale Aelia looked under the hospital lights. Hated the slow, rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, each sound reminding her that Aelia was still here but only barely.“You idiot,” she whispered, fingers tightening in her lap. “You absolute idiot.”She exhaled, pressing her palm against her forehead. “You promised, Aelia. You promised me. And now you’re just lying here—” She sucked in a shaky breath, her chest heaving. “I can’t, I don’t know how to do this without you.”The words scraped against her throat, raw and aching.“I should be angry,” she admitted,
Something touched her, warm, damp, seeping into her skin like a silent plea. Aelia couldn’t see it, but she felt it. A drop of something, liquid, heavy, and full of sorrow breaking through the veil of unconsciousness that held her.And then, she could hear him.At first, it was just a murmur, distant and hollow, like an echo traveling through an endless void. But the more she focused, the clearer it became.Pedro.His voice cracked and raw, whispering words between ragged breaths. She couldn’t grasp all of them, but the pain in his tone tightened something in her chest. It felt tight, suffocating. He was crying. Crying because of me? The thought alone sent a ripple through the darkness. She wasn’t angry. She should be, she knew she should be. But all she felt was… grief. A terrible, gnawing grief.And then, Penelope.Aelia’s breath…if she had any in this state, hitched. The memory of her promise came crashing down. ‘I told her I would come back. I told her I’d visit every day.’ The
Pedro’s POVThe doctor stood stiffly behind his desk, fingers twitching against the clipboard he held. The room was too quiet, except for the ticking of the wall clock, slow, agonizing ticks that did nothing but fuel the storm building inside me.“She’s stable,” he said, voice careful, controlled, like he was stepping through a fucking minefield. “But… waking up is entirely up to her.”I stilled.“What?”The doctor swallowed. “We’ve done everything we can. The surgeries were successful. There’s no internal bleeding, and her vitals are steady, but—”“But?” My voice dropped, lethal.He hesitated. “But… at this point, we can only keep her stable and monitor her progress. We can’t force her to wake up.”A sharp, seething breath pushed through my teeth.The clipboard in his hands trembled slightly, his knuckles white. He wasn’t a fool. He knew who I was, knew what I was capable of. But that didn’t change the fact that I was hearing the same fucking words I had heard once before, words that
The hospital air was thick with antiseptic and despair.Pedro stood at the edge of the chaos, rigid and silent, his presence a storm contained within flesh. The emergency ward was alive with urgency, doctors barking orders, nurses rushing between rooms, the rhythmic blaring of heart monitors filling the space. People moved around him, but he remained still, watching through the glass as the team of surgeons fought to keep Aelia tethered to the world.His breath was slow, deliberate, but his mind was anything but calm.Aelia.Lifeless.The moment he had seen her car—no, what was left of it, something in him had cracked. The twisted metal, the shattered windshield, the streaks of blood smeared against the crumpled hood. It looked less like an accident and more like an execution.His phone had vibrated in his hand then, a message flashing across the screen like a blade drawn across his throat.“You should’ve said goodbye when you had the chance.”The sender was unknown. Of course, they
“What if—what if…they don’t come back?” Penelope’s muffled voice invaded Aelia’s ears like a nightmare. She lifted Penelope’s face and carefully cleaned her tear-streaked face, flashing a smile she forced to reach her eyes. “Don’t say that, they’d definitely be back, Penny. Or have you forgotten how resilient Sam is or even how Annabel can’t stay a day without Mr. Bunny? that means she would wake up soon to cuddle him so you don’t have to worry. Kimberly will never let you have all the snacks so she would certainly be back for them.”Penelope giggled, “You’re right, Kimberly would definitely be back for my snacks.” Her eyes had a rare gleam as she added “I don’t mind giving them all to her, if only she returns… I wish I had given them to her without fighting.” her voice cracked and Aelia’s heart broke. Aelia held Penelope tighter, cradling her as though she could shield her from everything. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. The orphanage, the only home they had, now a crime s