Jane POV.
It was my wedding anniversary. A three-year journey with Damien Blair. Getting married to Damien was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have always had this fairy tail since when I was young, to have a grand wedding and a perfect home. With Damien everything became easy
I clocked off work and made a quick stop at the store to pick up the cake I had ordered a few days before now. After a few hours of driving, I finally approached the house, one of the biggest mansions, centered at the top of a hill in New Yor
"Babe!" I gently pushed the door open, walking into the empty living room. I felt a bit disappointed, realizing my husband hadn't returned from work. I dropped the cake on the dining table before I found my way up the stairs
"Ahn! Oh, mine!" My steps halted. "Oh! Just like that!" It was not just an ordinary sound, more like the one where two people are making out. I didn't want to believe what I heard, maybe my ear was beginning to hear other things. Grudgingly I moved my feet forward, heavy and weak
"Yeah! Keep going! I love you!" The sound became very close, it was my husband's voice. "Ha- I gaped with my mouth open, my whole body shivering as I quickly grabbed the stairs wheel. Never in a million years would I think my husband was cheating on me. He has always been an example of a perfect man, loving and showering me with flowers and gifts. Maybe he did all of that so I wouldn't suspect him
I raised my hand and wanted to push the door, but I resisted. Confrontation was not something I felt at that moment; I did not want to see the cheating bastard. I turned and then rushed out of the house with tears in my eyes. Without hesitating, I got in the car, driving on the street in a high speedometer leading to the highway. My phone kept buzzing halfway into the drive. I glanced at it, and lo, it was my husband, Damien
"What does he want!" I sneered, increasing the speed of the car. He kept buzzing my phone, and after the third time I picked it up, it was a FaceTime cal
"Hey, Jenny," his pretty face revealed on the other side of the phone. "Guess what?" He smiled
My eyes popped out; for a second, it felt like I was hallucinating. My husband was in his suit, sitting in his office
"Is everything all right? Why are you looking this way?" He further asked. I couldn't say a word, I was too stunned to speak. In a second, my head was processing so many questions that my mouth couldn't say. "What is happening? Why is he suddenly at the office? I heard that sound."
I couldn't wrap my head around all that was happening. I heard him; I mean, we are just two people who live in the house, so it is him. "How he is at the office now? Or is he aware that I came to the house? Is he putting up a show just so I could doubt what I heard?" Honestly, I was getting close to being insane at this poin
" Well, Your man got the deal! We won!" His voice brought me back into reality.
"What do you think you are doing?" I finally asked, my eyes fixed on my phone screen, forgetting the fact that was on the highway driving
"What do you mean?" He inquired, curiosity on his fac
"What do I mean?" I chuckled dryly. "Playing with my intelligence, Hun? You fucking cheater!
"Pim!" A vehicle horn accelerated towards me. I quickly moved the steering wheel, driving to the other lane as I continued in the same speedometer
"Jess!, Jane! Where are you?" He jotted up the chair "What the fuck was that?
"Get off my phone! You fucking cheating bastard!" I hissed and ended the call. Raising my eyes on the road, my heart almost pulled out, seeing a vehicle accelerating towards losing its balanc
"Oh shit!" I stepped my leg so hard on the break, trying to pull over, but it wouldn't respond. I held the car steering with every bit of grip in me moving around a circle. At this point, nothing was working anymore. The break failed me, nothing was working, even I couldn't save myself and gradually the two vehicles were close
Just in the Twink of an eye, the other car collided with mine with full force, making it flip over multiple times before coming to rest on its roof. Smoke filled the whole atmosphere, looking up at the sky with tears dropping at the corner of my eyes, my whole life flashed through my eyes again
The smile on my face while walking on the aisle in my white wedding dress, the smile in Damien's eyes while we shared the wedding vows. Just like it wrinkled through my eyes, gradually it disappeared into thin air. Everything crumbled, black dots filled my eye
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"Beep! Beep!" The sound wouldn't stop in my ear; as annoying as it was, I couldn't tell what sound it was exactl
"Beep beep." I tried to glance in that direction, but I couldn't. My eyes felt heavy, more like a load was placed on it. After so many struggles, I finally flipped it ope
I found myself in a strange room with familiar settings. From the white painted ceiling to the big television ongoing with some sort of new, to the machine equipment and then landing on a strange fac
"Miss, can you see me?" The feminine voice asked as she jotted up. Her voice held with excitement and worry; she didn't in any way seem familiar, but I could tell she was worried sick about me, so I gently nodded, answering her question
"Thank Goodness! Doctor!" She rushed out.
"Hello Mrs Jane, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked, unwrapping the telescope around his neck.
"Good," I managed to respond, wondering how he knew my name.
I struggled to speak, my throat dry and scratchy. “Where… where am I? How long have I been here
" you are indeed a fighter. You have been with us for Eight weeks- “You were in a fatal accident. We didn’t think you’d make it
Eight weeks!The car accident felt like yesterday and it has been two months
"And I'm happy to inform you that your baby is saf
"Baby?!- my eyes widened in shock, my voice trembling. I had no idea I was pregnant. As I placed my hand on my forehead, struggling to wrap my head around what the doctor said, my eyes caught the television news. My eyes locked on the screen as familiar names and faces appeare
“Did anyone… Did my family come? My parents? My siblings?” I managed to as
The doctor hesitated, “No one came forward,” he admitted softly. “But there’s been a man, a stranger, who’s been here almost every day since you were brought in. He’s the one who brought you to the hospital. He never left your side
My lips parted in confusion and for a moment I appreciated the strange ma
It was eight weeks already now and my own family hadn’t come. Not a single soul had thought to look for me. Tears welled in my eyes, but before I could let them fall, the sound of the television caught my attention agai
“Damien Blair announced his engagement with Mae Lawson after ending his previous marriag
My heart sank as I murmured under my breath. My husband and my stepsister are getting married.
Jane Pov My chest pounded louder as I felt the world collapsing around me. The thought of my stepsister and my husband holding a wedding made my breath hitch in pain.The memories that happened eight weeks ago played in my ears.“No…” I choked, shaking my head in disbelief. “No! This can’t be real!”In a few minutes, I started yanking the IV drips from my arm, ignoring the sharp sting of the needles. “I have to go! I have to stop this!” I cried, my voice breaking with pain as the doctor's eyes widened in shock, preventing me from moving an inch.“Mrs. Jane. Calm your nerves.” He said in a smoothing tone but I wasn't ready to listen. Before I could pull myself out of bed, the door swung open, and a man stepped inside. He was tall and broad shouldered, his presence commanding silence all over the room. His face was hard, locked by dark hair and piercing eyes that held a concerned look on.“Stop,” he said firmly, crossing the room in quick strides. He gently but firmly grasped my wris
Jane PovThe warm sun shone on my face as I stood outside my parent's home, my gear ponding in my chest. Today was my day off and even though the strange man had advised me to stay back and get on with myself before making issues complicated again, I had insisted on coming here.Pleading for him to please stay out of it now.It has been weeks since I last stepped into this place but it felt like yesterday.There was never a reason to laugh anyways. Always being mistreated and used. My fingers nervously raised over the doorbell as I pressed on it. The chime echoed faintly Inside, followed by little voices. The door opened, and I found myself face to face with my stepmother.“Jane,” the woman said, her eyes narrowing in surprise and disgust filling it back . “What are you doing here?” I forced myself to keep my voice steady. “I need to speak with my father.” She hesitated, but then stepped aside, muttering something under her breath. I stepped inside, the familiar scent of the hous
Jane Pov SIX YEARS AFTER The sound of the private jet was soothing as I gazed out at the clouds passing by. I leaned back against the leather seat, a small smile plastered on my lips.Six years ago, I was broken and disgraced. But with the help of the man who had become my closest confidant, I had risen from the ruins. Now, I was no longer the Jane who cried on park benches or begged for scraps of love from people who didn’t deserve me. I was Jane Harrison, CEO of one of the largest oil companies in San Francisco CA, a mother to a beautiful daughter, and a woman who had reclaimed her power. All just because of one good man.Nate.My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. I glanced at the screen and smiled when I saw the name. Answering the call, I leaned back, my voice warm and steady. “What is it, Nate? Don’t tell me you’re already missing me.” Nate scoffed, a teasing laugh came through the line. “As much as I’d love to say that, we have meetings lined up, boss lady. Th
Jane's POVThe night is so vividly remembered: darkness, black, devouring the last remnant of comforting city light as I drove home alone down the dark country roads from work. My head reeled on the happenings of the day—the whisper of deception and shadow of my broken past. I had hardly noticed the gentle purr of the car engine above the din in my head before the car's headlights flashed on and a fear that could not be dispelled surrounded me in an instant. I was shaken before I knew it, with a clasp of hardened hand on my car door.The consequence was instantaneous—a shove that shoved the car into the ditch. My heart jumped into my chest and I clasped with a grip at the wheel, but in the blink of an eye wild chaos had been loosed. The steering wheel tore with brute ferocity as I attempted to sever the brakes, and before I could even know what was occurring, the car veered wildly and crashed nose-first into the darkness. I woke up in fright. My head was pounding, and my eyes hurt wit
Jane's POV I awoke in a shuddering, antiseptic hospital bed from the black, desolate warehouse horror ripped from me. The even rhythm of the heart monitor and distant whine of the ceiling fluorescent light my only witnesses to my fleeting sanctuary. My body and psychic barriers were broken, and respiratory rate informed me too of something I'd just learned. I remained steadfast for what seemed like an eternity, gazing blankly at the white ceiling as pieces and crumbs of Mae's words gradually began filtering into my mind. Her speculations—that maybe my mother's untimely death when we were kids hadn't been an accident, that it had been something Damien's boozy, irresponsible driving had accidentally caused, worst of all, something my own dad Zack had been privy to some kind of conspiracy—had destroyed the gossamer strands of faith I did have. Betrayal grief seeped into bone marrow with pain from wounds. The door groaned and Nate pulled himself through it with a gentle insistence
Jane's POVHours since the hospital had fallen back after midnight into the quiet of the night. It was the same unearthly whine of equipment and muffled sounds of midnight nurses' solitary, ectoplasmic whispers on the horizon that held nothing to remind friendship was barren within the hospital anymore. I woke to dim lights, my mind spinning with Mae's latest revelations and the sinister undercurrents between us. The physical pain of injuries had receded to a dull throb, but internal pain—a searing of suspicion and betrayal…was still too fresh.I rolled onto my side, cradling my phone on the bedside table like a thin, tense lifeline. It vibrated softly, a jarring note in the stillness of the night. My heart dropped down my throat at the sight of the number on a stranger's phone I had never seen. I raised my trembling hand, to discover the purring sound of an answered recorded message. A low, soft voice cut through the darkness…a voice that I hated and loved with burning passion."Jane
Jane's POVThe monitor's heartbeat pulse and distant thrum of the hospital night surgery were thin solace as I lay in my hospital bed, my mind a thousand miles removed from the antiseptic white room that imprisoned me. The slow crawling of hours ticked by with Damien's visits and Mae's diagnostic fault-hunting, and my mind wandered on currents of memory I had so valiantly striven to keep still.It had started out as a flash…a quick, ugly glimpse at a small, cozy kitchen in which I sat on a tall stool and watched my mother. I could still feel the kindness of her smile as she moved the soup pot, her hands slow and effortless. The coziness of the memory was colliding with the bitter sting of the present. I clutched the frayed blanket to me, holding close to myself that moment of tenderness, knowing that every gentle memory within it now held the potential of sharing ugly secrets.It was in quiet that I recalled more of my threads of a child behind, spilling in: her night cradles, soft th
Chapter 9 Jane's POVI went back to that frayed, threadbare old apartment of the past—the bedroom where my mother had slept and was filled with old photographs, lacy shreds of ornament, and the scent of books and dried lavender. Years had passed since I had ever been there in that single solitary room, but the memory still remained vividly in my mind, as if painted yesterday for the first time. I had made up my mind this afternoon to sort through her things, to dig up concealed clues within the remains of what was hers. I wanted to understand more about the woman who had ruled my childhood and maybe see the glimmers of the secrets that had followed me from the day she passed away.I pushed open the splintered front door after stepping into the half-dark hallway. Light threads slanted crookedly through torn curtains, blending with dancing motes of dust. With every step, memory sprang into being: my mother's low hum of laughter, her voice reading softly as she put me to bed, and the co
Zack’s POVI sat in my office late in the evening. The lights were low, and my mind was busy planning our next move. Mae had just come in, and her eyes were sharp, full of determination. We both knew that Jane was rising up. Her legal challenges and public speeches had stirred up too much truth. I had to act quickly and decisively.Mae broke the silence, “Zack, we cannot let her ruin everything.” I nodded slowly and replied, “I know. Jane is gaining momentum. The public is starting to ask questions. We must discredit her before her evidence takes full effect.” Mae leaned forward, “I agree. We are launching our smear campaign now. We use every tool available. I have contacts in the media. They can twist her story and show her as unstable.” I frowned slightly and said, “I want to protect our reputation. Our business depends on it. We cannot allow Jane to claim the assets and tarnish our records.” Mae smiled slyly, “Then we did this together. I have a plan. We start with social m
Jane's POVI sat at my kitchen table, having the papers spread out in front of me. My hands were trembling while I went over the papers one last time. I had to fight through the inheritance of my mother's wealth by Damien. The injustice of it seethed through me. I picked up the phone and dialed my attorney, Carla.Hello, Carla. It is Jane," I said firmly, standing firm vocally."Hello, Jane. Standing up how?" Carla softly asked."I'm prepared to go further. I have proof my mum's money illegitimately transferred over to Damien," I informed her.There was a soft silence from Carla. "That is quite serious, Jane. Would you be willing to take a course in law now?I replied firmly, "Yes, Carla. I want justice. I cannot let Damien have what is mine."In the later part of the afternoon, I went to Carla's small law office. The office was simple with a very long table and a few chairs. Carla greeted me with a smile."Jane, it's wonderful to see you. Sit down," she said, sitting on the opposite
Jane's POV I was in our rear safehouse, and there was only one lamp that provided light. I was reviewing my reports and encounters when Nate appeared silently out of nowhere. He closed the door, and we just looked at each other for a moment or so. Being near him had this calming effect on me despite the tension from these weeks still surrounding me. "Jane," Nate walked over to me and spoke softly, "you've been working day and night. How are you?" I hissed air hard and rubbed fatigue from above my eyes. "I feel my heart being pulled a thousand ways. There's the struggle for the truth, and this weight of it all evidence-wise, and then. Sometimes I think. It's too much." Nate moved closer and clasped my fist in a tight, comforting grip. "I do know. I can see it in your eyes. I'm with you, all the way. You don't have to go through it alone." I attempted a feeble smile. "Thanks, Nate. Some days I don't know how I'll make it through it all. But when you're around, it's like maybe I wi
Jane's POV I went to a public fund-raising event held in a community center. It was noisy but cozy, full of representatives of our local community and supporters who had come to witness our cause celebration. I went there to share our campaign for justice and show the masses that the truth would no longer be hidden. I had practiced my speech dozens of times, and I was standing confidently at the podium. My heart, however, was pounding furiously inside my chest, and I knew that my inner struggle was going on behind my calm face. As I was about to begin speaking, my aide Maria came up to me quietly. "Jane, it's in place. The audience is all seated, and the cameras are focused," she said firmly but with a sense of urgency. I smiled and was able to manage a small smile. "Thank you, Maria. I appreciate that you've worked so hard at getting everything ready. Today means a lot to us." She replied, "I believe in you, Jane. We all do. Just tell the truth from your heart.". I approached
Jane's POV I walked into the vacant conference room in a business complex on the outskirts of town. I had arranged this meeting with three retired executives who worked for my dad. I knew I had to be cautious. My phone rang. It was Nate: "Be careful, Jane. These individuals are jumpy." I took a deep breath and sat at the long table. The room was simple, with some chairs and a table that was old but looked sturdy. Three executives were sitting there. Their faces were concerned. I sat at the end of the table. A gray-haired man spoke first. "Jane, thank you for coming. My name is Richard. We appreciate you meeting us in secret." I nodded. "Thanks, Richard. I realize that this won't be easy for any of us. I need your help. I have evidence that uncovers deep corruption at Lawson Enterprises. My dad, Zack, covered up illicit deals and even destroyed critical records. I am filing legal action, and I need assistants who will support my cause.". A quiet, sharp-eyed woman named Sandra t
Jane's POV I was in my office when my secure phone beeped with a text. It was short: "Meet me tonight. I have something for you. – Insider." My heart was pounding as I read it. I knew this was likely a huge tip. I called Nate on my phone. "Hi, Nate, I just got a message from an insider. They would like to meet tonight," I told him. Nate replied, "Are you sure it is safe? Who is it?" I replied, "I don't know the name. It just says 'Insider.' But I think we have to hear what they have to say. I'll be cautious." "Okay, Jane. Keep your phone on and call me in. I'll be waiting," Nate directed. I hung up and sat there, trying to quiet my nerves. I knew that leaked information would be dangerous, but also would be worth it. I packed up and went home. I drove slowly, trying to fit in. The meeting spot was a small, nondescript café near an old warehouse district. I arrived just after nightfall and sat in a hidden corner. Within a few minutes, a man wearing a black hat and jacket a
Jane's POV I sat at my small desk, the testimony spread out in front of me when it hit me suddenly that I had to begin constructing my network of support. I needed people who worked with my dad, Zack, in the past, individuals who were aware of how his company was run and who would be willing to give their testimonies. I drew a breath and picked up my phone. I dialed the first number on my list. The phone rang, and I heard a voice I recognized. "Hello, this is Michael." "Hi Michael, it's Jane. I worked with you at Lawson Enterprises." There was a silence that felt like minutes. "Jane? I—I didn't think I'd be hearing from you. How are you?" "I'm. not good, Michael. I need to talk to you about something important. It involves my father and the company." Michael's tone was argumentative. "What do you mean?" "Things don't add up. I have proof of corruption and cover-ups. I must know the truth regarding how Zack operated in business. I believe that you have to know the answer
Jane's POVI was crammed into a small meeting room with Detective Harris and Nate. The atmosphere was heavy, and my heart pounded. Detective Harris dropped a thick report on the table and gave me a stern look."Jane," he began in his soft, low voice, "I have reviewed all the evidence that night. I can now safely say:The accident was not an accident."I could see my hands shaking. "What do you mean, Detective? Explain."Detective Harris reached up and adjusted his glasses. "We learned a lot of things that didn't add up. The video from the dashcam was erased. The records show someone logged in remotely. We also learned the police report had been tampered with. It is clear that someone went out of their way to delete important evidence."Nate bent forward. "So someone erased the video? Who would erase it?"The detective groaned. "It wasn't a technical glitch. It was done on purpose. The machine was accessed remotely, and the files were erased by someone who had remote access. The way the
Jane's POVI had noticed Detective Harris in a tiny coffee shop on a deserted street. The coffee shop was almost empty when I came in. I spotted him immediately. He sat in the corner of the shop with a piping hot cup of coffee in front of him and a notepad on his table. His eyes looked pinched but interested."Have a seat, Jane," he told me when I stood in front of him.I sat beside him. "I appreciate the time, Detective Harris. I desperately need your assistance."He shook his head. "I see why you've come. I was waiting for you."I breathed in. "I want to know what really happened that night on the night of the crash. I believe there's evidence that's missing because it was deliberately destroyed. Do you know anything else you can tell me about it?Detective Harris nodded in the direction. "I was also working on the case then," he started. "I did all the sides of the case. But something strange occurred. Some crucial evidence just. vanished."I looked at him, sitting. "Vanished? What