Thank you for reading. Please do drop Athena a gem if you can.
ATHENA“How long have we been married?” I ask as Alex opens the door. “Three years.” He responds.His voice is distant but his touch is gentle and it makes me wonder what type of marriage we've had. It's been a week since I've been in the hospital and I got sick of it. I wanted to come home, but I didn't know where my home was when Ariana, who happens to be my mother-in-law, told me she's my family. If it was up to her, I would have moved into their house before moving back with Alex and it made me realize immediately that his family is warm and they seem to like me. Although, from how awkward it's been, I couldn't help but wonder if there is love between us. “Oh my God!” The gasp leaves my mouth as I drink in the view. I knew it was a beautiful house just from the view on our way here, but I wasn't so sure, but now I am.“You like it?” His deep voice reaches my ear and I jump about to turn when I lose my balance but he holds me before my ass can kiss the floor.“Careful.”ThumpT
ATHENAMy heart pounds too fast, too loud. The room feels smaller, the air thick. The sound of rushing fills my ears, deafening, drowning out every other noise. I squeeze my eyes shut, but the feeling doesn’t go away. I can’t move. I can’t think. I can’t…. Stand. “Breathe.” The deep voice cuts through the panic, anchoring me for a fleeting second. Then, warm hands grip my arms, steady but firm. I flinch, my entire body trembling. “Athena, please breathe.” The command is laced with a plea. I shake my head, gasping, clawing at my chest like I can force air back into my lungs. Tears prick my eyes as I try to focus my vision. “I..t….it's hard, Alex.” I croak out. His hands tighten around me, pulling me against him. “Look at me.” I can’t. The air is too thick, too heavy. The water is still there. Watching. Waiting. Wanting to swallow me whole once again. “Damn it, Athena.” His grip shifts, his palm pressing against the side of my face, forcing me to turn toward
ATHENA “I really don’t want to be here.” I protest. Alex doesn’t even glance at me as he adjusts his cufflinks, his green eyes scanning the racetrack. “It’s just for two hours. We’ll go home soon. I couldn’t reschedule this.” I cross my arms, shifting uncomfortably in the wooden seat. The air is thick with the scent of freshly cut grass, leather, and expensive cologne. The cheers of the crowd rise and fall as another race begins, hooves pounding against the dirt track like a drumbeat. I couldn’t care less. The only thing I want is to go home. Alex, however, sits perfectly composed beside me, looking every bit the powerful billionaire he is. I must say I did wonder how an orphan girl like me landed auch a man, but I've been too scared to ask. We have a dinner coming up where I'm supposed to meet his grandmother, and I'm a nerve wreck. It's been a week since that incident, and even though I've been wanting to get some sun, this wasn't how I envisioned it. “You could’ve l
ATHENA"I'll be on the other side as I wait for the final parade. It was a pleasure to meet you miss....." "Dawson." I respond. Unsure if it's a good idea from how Alex is staring daggers at Arnold who looks unbothered."Thank you for inviting me over, Alex." The woman speaks right after the creep walks away."You're welcome. " He responds in a tone ive never heard him use on me. My fingers curl into fists in my lap, nails pressing into my palms as the scent of vanilla wraps around me like an unwelcome embrace. She stops beside Alex, a soft, knowing smile playing on her lips, and I watch their silent exchange. “Athena.” She finally acknowledges with a smile so plastic, a Barbie doll has nothing on her. “Hello.” I respond, keeping my voice neutral in case I'm wrong about her. She knows my name while I don't, and it unsettles me. “I heard what happened to you,” she says, her voice full of concern, and I almost raise my brow. “I’m sorry about that.” I force a polite smile, even
ALEX The sound of Leah’s voice grates against my ears like nails on glass. She laughs at something I didn’t say — or maybe she just likes the sound of her own voice. Either way, I don’t bother to correct her. My eyes remain fixed on the racetrack, but my mind is elsewhere. My head is a spinning mess. I've had the toughest weeks of my life and it has fucked me up. Athena has started clawing her way inside my head and I hate it. I almost lost my mind when I saw her have that panic attack two weeks ago. Then I had to bathe her completely naked. Fuck. That woman is gorgeous. Those curves. That long black hair.I've never had to fight for control the way I've had to these past days. The urge to crash my lips on hers, touch her every chance I get, has been building day by day and it's annoying as hell. I agreed to come to the race because if I didn't get some air I was going to lose my shit. But then that fucker Arnold pissed me off with his stupid remarks, and I had to hold
ATHENA “This is crazy. But fun.” I giggle as the handsome stranger whose name I've learned is Zayan pulls on the reins, and the horse moves forward. The sun is warm against my skin as the horse moves, my heart slows down and starts to beat normally, although I'm still very excited. I feel... free. For the first time in weeks, I feel something other than fear and awareness. Alex sets my soul on fire, but I'm afraid of messing up around him. It feels like I constantly have to be perfect for him, and it's not who I am. I'm messy, and I love being free. Even with a missing memory, I can tell my marriage is not one that was based on love. “Not so bad, right?” Zayan whispers in my ear, pulling me back to reality. “If we didn't have so many eyes on us. It would have been perfect.” I taunt.“I'll organize a private ride with you on our next date then.” He teases, and I hold back a laugh knowing cameras are flashing. That next date will only happen in his dreams, but I don't tell him
ATHENAI follow him. Every step feels heavier than the last, like the air itself is thick with something unspoken. My boots click hard against the stone path matching the way my heart is beating hard against my chest, but all I can focus on is the man in front of me, shoulders tense, hands still shoved in his pockets like if he takes them out, he might just break something. Or someone. I glance back once. Zayan is still standing there, watching us disappear, a frown on his lips like he’s debating if he should step in. Don’t, I beg silently. You’ll only make it worse. Alex doesn’t say a word. He leads me past rows of horses and stables, out of sight from the others, until we reach a quiet corner surrounded by tall hedges. Hidden. Trapped. He finally stops, but he doesn’t turn around. This is the point when I feel like running away. But to where? I stay with the man. The same music from before can be heard again, and I wonder if it was Alex that stopped the parade
ATHENA Tears threaten to spill, but it’s not sadness I feel, it’s fear.I’m shaking, every muscle in my body on high alert. My mind races, trying to piece together what’s happening, but the thoughts come out disjointed, scrambling against each other.I watch as Alex speeds off. Where is he going?To Arnold?Or Zayan?“I didn't think I'd be baby sitting you today. What happened?” Luca asks me. I look at him with tears in my eyes. “I… don't know. Some Arnold guy-”Luca's expression changes. “Arnold Brown?”“I think so.”He steps closer, his expression turning serious making my heart beat even faster, should I tell him about Zayan too?“What did he do?” Luca asks.“He just made some remarks about me.” I mumble unsure if that's reason enough to explain why he looked ready to kill.Luca curses under his breath, “Listen, I need you to go inside the house. Don't leave or open for anyone, do you understand?” “Why… what's going on?” “I have to go after Alex, so he doesn’t do something r
ATHENA One week later….I'm going through the hardest time of my life. Nothing I do seems to close the hole in my chest. Giana and Ariana have been reaching out, but I haven't had the strength to face them. Not since that day when the guards threw me out at the orders of Alexander. I didn't call for them because I was ashamed and that was what Alex wanted. To humiliate me. The cruel bastard wouldn't even let me send my son off. I have no memory of what he looks like and now I don't know where he was buried. I've cried an ocean but none of it seems to be working well for me. I had received an offer to do internship In the outskirts of the city where there has been an outbreak of a virus. So here I am. Waiting for my flight when I hear angry steps walking towards me. I look up to find a face I've never seen before. She looks ready to bite my face off and before I can say anything, she tries to land a slap on my face but I block her. Not today. “You bitch! How dare you ruin m
ALEX “Take everything away from him. I want his father's company ruined, and his career shattered.” I instruct Ryan.It's been a week since I processed the divorce papers, and instead of feeling better, I feel even more angry. She easily signed the damned papers for someone who denied what was right in front of her. As if it wasn't enough, Zayan drove her home. What a disgusting sight. “Alex, maybe you need to slow down.” Noah's annoying voice reaches my ears, and I turn to glare at him.“I'd shut the fuck up if I were you.” I grind out as I grab my glass of whiskey. I'm not a heavy drinker but fuck, I can use a few right now. I want to ruin Zayan, starting with his father's stupid political career to his damned one as a doctor. “Text Ian, I want Zayan fired and if he's still at the hospital tomorrow, we are going to have a problem.” I grind out before taking another sip. Luca is quietly watching. Wise choice. I don’t need anyone questioning me right now. Especially not m
ATHENAThe weight of his words presses down on me like a crushing avalanche, suffocating me with each syllable. His words… his accusations… they pierce through my already fragile heart like daggers.The pain from labor suddenly feels numb as compared to how much he has injured me. “Not his face, and certainly not his grave.” The pain that erupts in me is unimaginable. I can’t breathe. It feels like the air is stolen from my lungs, the very oxygen I need to survive now out of reach.I look down at the divorce papers he’s just thrown at me, the words on the page blurring as my tears pool in my eyes. My vision goes foggy. Everything around me seems distant, unreal, like I’m watching this whole scene unfold from far away.Did he really just say that? Did he truly believe that I could kill our son? That I could willingly harm the child I carried for so long?I don't know how much time passes. It feels like a lifetime in this silence, this unbearable stillness.The tension between us, t
ATHENA No one can understand the pain of losing a child, and you can't even explain the pain. You can only feel it with no words to make those around you understand. As I cried in Alex's arms earlier, I didn't know what else to do. My heart is shattered, and my heart is broken. I carried my son to full term. Went through pain with hope that I will be able to hold him in my arms. Tears keep falling, and I can't stop them. Im watching the sun shine so fiercely when the door burts open, making me look up with a frown.I'm shocked to see it's Alex standing before me. He's angry.At me.But why?The air in the room shifts, thick with tension, suffocating me before he even speaks a word. My body tenses instinctively, a mixture of fear and exhaustion weighing me down as I brace myself for the storm about to hit.Rage incarnate.His green eyes, usually so calculated and cold, are burning with something more. The warmth he had when he told me he is going to call the doctor is nowhere in
ALEX “What did you say?” My eyes lift up to meet the nurse. “Do you know the patient, Sir?” She asks, her eyes filled with fear. Was this supposed to be a fucking secret?“I asked you a question.” I grind out. “The owner of that file drank something… something meant to terminate the pregnancy. We were told to find out what could have gone wrong and that was what the results showed.” The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. The paper crumples slightly in my hand, my vision narrowing in on the damning words printed before me.Athena tried to abort our child.A sharp, cold rage unfurls in my chest, warring with the grief that had already been drowning me.“What was it?” My words are clipped, controlled only by a thread of restraint.“I-I don’t know exactly, but whatever she took, it wasn’t enough to end the pregnancy immediately. It caused complications. The baby…” She pauses, eyes darting around as if afraid to say it out loud.“Say it.” My voice i
ALEX The room is too quiet. The kind of silence that feels like it’s pressing down on me, suffocating, heavy with things unsaid. The machines beep in slow, steady intervals, a cruel reminder that life moves forward even when it feels like it shouldn’t.Athena hasn’t woken up yet.I haven’t moved since mum had them take Rayen. I couldn't find the strength to bury my son with his mother still unconscious So I decided to wait until she wakes up so we can figure this out together. I should say something. Do something. But all I can do is stare at her, at the way her eyelashes rest against her cheeks, at how fragile she looks against the hospital bed. I don't want her here. I want her resting in my bed back at home while I rub her feet even though I know it will be a drop in the ocean. My grip tightens around her hand as if holding on will somehow keep her from slipping further away from me. As if it will undo what’s already been done.I never knew that childbirth was this risky. I ha
ALEXI don't know how long I've been pacing outside the hospital room. Minutes? Hours? Time doesn’t feel real when you’re forced to wait. My hands clench into fists, then relax, only to clench again. Every few seconds, I hear her. Athena. Her voice, raw with pain, broke through the walls that separate us. Each sound she makes feels like a blade against my skin, cutting deeper and deeper. And I can't do anything about it. I run a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. The sterile hospital air does nothing to settle the weight in my chest. I’ve faced a lot of things in my life, fights, failures, and loss, but nothing prepared me for this kind of helplessness. When I first stepped into that room, she told me to leave. And for the first time, I actually listened. Because I saw it in her eyes. The anger. The frustration. The pain. She didn't want me there. And maybe... maybe she was right. Maybe I don’t deserve to be in that room with her. But I can’t leave, either.
ATHENA I don't know how we get to the hospital or how I find myself in the VIP room. But all I know is I'm suddenly on the bed with an IV on my hand. Those G****e searches I did about how labor occurs didn't prepare me enough for this. I groan as the world spins while the contractions come in waves, slow at first, like an approaching storm. I grip the bedsheets, my breathing uneven as the dull ache in my lower back sharpens. The nurse moves around the room, checking the monitors, speaking in a calm voice, but her words blur into the background. "You're only three centimeters dilated," she says, offering me an encouraging smile. "We still have a long way to go." How encouraging. I grimace. Three. I exhale sharply, frustration mixing with the discomfort. Every second feels like an eternity. Alex stands by the bed, watching me, his arms crossed. The usual arrogance in his expression is gone, replaced by something unreadable. Concern? Guilt? I don't care. I don't want him her
ATHENAMy fingers tighten around the doorknob as I stare at Alex. His green eyes burn into me with an intensity that makes my chest feel tight. There’s no mistaking the anger simmering that look, but his voice remains dangerously calm when he speaks.“There she is. The mother of my unborn child.”The way he says it sends a chill down my spine. My heart hammers, but I refuse to let him see the effect he has on me. I push the door shut behind me and drop my bag onto the small table by the entrance. I grab my takeaway pack and sit on the couch, trying to seem unbothered even though my heart is in my throat.“I didn’t realize you still lived here,” I say, my tone laced with mockery.His lips twitch in something that is far from a smile, and he slowly rises to his feet. The air in the room shifts. Alex never raises his voice, but his presence alone is suffocating.When he speaks, you hear him, no matter how low his tone is.“I’ve been busy,” he replies, rolling up his sleeves even further