TESSA'S POVI came into the office, clutching a file under my arm, and the air swirled thick with fresh brewings of coffee. The new day had passed the self-promised decree of not wallowing in what Aiden did, what the lies were, and definitely what Chloe's antics were all about. There was one thing that I knew I still could control-my work-so the goal was clear within my mind: excel.I could feel the weight of their gazes, the hushed murmurs that abruptly ended when I came into line of sight. It didn't matter. They could talk. I was going to prove I was more than Aiden Gray's girlfriend or last week's gossip girl."Morning, Tessa," Mia chimed, my colleague with an annoyingly cheerful morning greeting.Good morning, Mia," I returned with a smile. "What's the plan today?”Mia handed me a schedule, duly prepared, and I ran my eyes through it, meetings, project reviews, deadlines, all sounded like it would just make the days go better. For the first time in days, I started to feel like I h
TESSA'S POVEarly morning sunlight filtered in through my office window as I sat at my desk staring at the computer screen in front of me. What was actually getting at my nerves was this constant replay that kept playing inside my head-what had happened that night, all the insinuations regarding Aiden and this so-called "connection."The smirk of a smile, the words cut out with her cutting tongue, just kept playing in my head in unending loops. I tried hard, but the insinuations would just not allow me to focus at work.Come on, Tessa girl, she's just trying to get under your skin.I let out a sharp breath and then reached for my coffee cup, taking a long sip. Just as I set it back down, the knock to the door pulled me from my thoughts."Come in," I called out, actually relieved for the distraction.With that, the door opened, and to my surprise, Jack came in, one of the best of my mates within the Media Technology Department. Since I joined the company, Jack and I had remained close
DAMIEN'S POVThe inky night air hung heavy, like a cloud of suspense as I leaned back in my chair. The study lamp cast that long shadow across the room. In an instant, the stillness of the night was dismissed as my phone ran. A number that I didn't know flashed across the screen.I picked up, irritation crawling into my voice. "What is it?The voice at the other end was trembling and sounded fumbling. "Mr. Gray, I have something that you may want to hear. There's somebody from the media team snooping around. They found the transfers and had been snooping on what you've been doing."My hold turned tighter into the phone as I asked, "Who?I-I don't know all the details, sir, but they've been piecing things together, and I thought you should know before it's too late."The words set fire to that too-familiar anger burn in my chest, and I didn't waste another word on the call. Somebody had dared to dig into my business and threatened everything I worked for.I slammed my fist onto the des
TESSA'S POVThe house was too still-an uncomfortable stillness, unnatural even. I tossed and turned, trying to get my head around the chaos inside my head. Damien, Aiden, Chloe, they haunted me, ghosts from the past impossible to shake off. It had been weeks like this, but tonight it just felt hopeless.Then I heard it, a knock.At first, I really thought it had to be my imagination. Perhaps the sound had just been carried along by the wind, or it was only the creaks and groans of this old house. But straining my ears, I knew beyond doubt-a steady, insistent knock on my front door.I froze-my breath caught in my throat. Whoever in his right mind would turn up at that hour?My heart was pounding, and I threw back the covers, sliding out of bed to grab my robe. The coolness of night nipped at my skin, but it was nothing compared with the dread making an icy creep through me. I was cautious in my movements; my bare feet shuffled softly as I tiptoed toward the living room-the only sound,
AIDEN'S POVMy gaze had fallen on the vacant chair facing my office, but with each passing minute, my stomach was churning out growing anxiety. It wasn't like Tessa not to at least show up on time if not earlier, unless she did so without calling or texting me. I looked at the wall clock: 9:15 AM. Always at 9:00 AM, she was here, bright and ready into the day's work. And there she was missing.My fingers slightly quivered to reach for my phone and dial her number. It seemed the ringing in my ear was a bit loud compared to other times; each tone warning that I just could not turn a deaf ear to. "Come on, Tessa. Where are you?" I muttered under my breath.It went straight to voicemail. I dialed again. And again. And again. No answer. I stared at the glowing screen as my stomach somersaulted. So unlike her. Something was wrong.I told myself I was being paranoid. Maybe she was running late. Or perhaps some kind of emergency came up. It didn't matter, I tried reassuring myself. She would
AIDEN'S POVThe day that followed weighed like a heavy stone upon my chest. The vision of Tessa not being at her desk at work, the one-sided calls, and growing anxiety for which no source could be ascertained, just would not leave my mind. It was as if my phone became the weight of a time bomb wherein every single moment was getting heavier and ready to explode any moment-yet nothing came through.Nothing from her, at least, or anybody else. I wanted, needed, answers about what was happening to her. But before I could devote a microbe of attention to that, there was Chloe—and the paternity test."Let's go, Chloe," I said curtly, standing by the front door of her apartment. "We're going to go to the hospital now. No more delays."She stood in the doorway, her arms wrapped across her chest, her face a mask of reluctance and resistance. "Aiden, do you really think this is necessary?" The near pleading quality to her tone today didn't faze me."Yes, Chloe," I returned; the edge of frustra
Damien's POVRain pattered against the tinted glass of my office, filling the air as my gaze fell upon the sleek cityscape before me. Power was a fragile thing. It required constant vigilance, precision in control, and utter eradication of loose ends.And Chloe? She was a loose end-the hazardous kind.The phone on the desk buzzed, vibrating through tense silence. Chloe. I debated letting it go to voicemail, but that little something told me this couldn't wait.I answered, speaking gruffly. "What do you want?"She was shaking, her voice near frantic. "Damien, I need to see you. It's.it's important."I exhaled a sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Spit it out, Chloe. I don't have time for your theatrics.""No," she ordered, her voice dialed down to a whisper. "Not over the phone. Please, Damien. Meet me at the usual spot."I gritted my teeth as irritation nibbled at me. Chloe had this way of making it all sound like the coming of the end of the world, yet I agreed all the same. She
AIDEN'S POVThat was it, and I couldn't take it anymore. It had been two days since Tessa disappeared-no texts, no calls, no emails. She was that kind, most reliable, who would never disappear without so much as a word.All the time she had been away, it really nagged at me off and on. The moment I tried putting that thought aside, it roared back louder and heavier. Something was amiss.I slumped over in the car, grasping the steering wheel so tightly now my knuckles were white. Her house was just a couple of houses down the street, and from where I parked the car, I could tell the curtains were drawn tight-even the house seemed to want me shut out.I had called a dozen times, voicemail, messaged, messages unread. Besides frustration mixed, there was this growing panic that couldn't be willed away."I'm probably overreacting," I muttered, though even to myself, I knew it wasn't true.---The driveway was empty as I walked up the path to her door. I knocked twice, then again louder. "T
TESSA'S POVSunlight streamed through the huge window panes of our house onto the invitations laid across the dining table. I sat with a pen in hand, writing down final guest names, while Aiden leaned against the counter sipping his coffee."We could just elope, you know," he joked, the corner of one lip tugging upwards with a mischievous smirk.I turned a mock glare his way. "After all this planning? Not in your life, Aiden GRAY. We're doing this properly."He laughed, setting his mug down as he ambled over to me. "Properly, huh? That's why you've been vetoing half my suggestions?""You wanted a firework display during the vows!" I reminded him, laughing.“And what’s wrong with that? It would’ve been epic.” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my temple. “But fine, no fireworks. As long as you’re there, it’ll be perfect.”It was what he said that always made my heart flutter, and the words this time were not an exception. It was one of those weddings that put me into anticipation and j
AIDEN'S POVMonths melted away.Weirdly, life went on since it all came crashing down. It had been months since Damien's death, Chloe leaving the city, Tessa and me over his grave saying our goodbyes. Time didn't heal everything; that it never could. But the space it gave. to breathe, rebuild, and put pieces of our lives back into place-was something all of us had desperately needed.That, with me and Tessa, gradually slipped into rhythm, and whatever in our daily life had disappeared with time turned into the time worth living. The daily morning coffee on the balcony, the late evening lying on the couch curled up, making small talks about the future-this had become a routine thing with us. Indeed, chaos seemed to bypass us somehow, yet the shadows took one corner of my mind with the coming night.But as I watched Tessa, humming to herself and arranging flowers in the sitting room, it suddenly hit me-the ton of bricks they say are always used in such situations. I loved her; I had alw
AIDEN'S POVI did not want to come here. I had told myself that I wouldn't-that some things quite simply were not worth a second chance. But here we were. Tessa stood beside me, her hand in mine, as we walked through the cemetery toward Damien's grave. The wind was cold, a bite into my skin, but nothing compared to the chill now setting into my chest.There it lay, the newly turned soil, the headstone, and the blunt inscription stating his name: "Damien Gray." Seemed so … normal. No great sentences of poetically flowing verbiages, no flowery platitudes of an exaggerated regard. A plain, uneventful name to denote an end of the life so full of promise to me and torn by just so many things… in particular by myself.I had stopped in front of the grave, said nothing. All these emotions warred in my brain, jumbling anger, guilt, sorrow. And it wasn't just because of what happened to him. It was for everything, things that could have gone differently, which I should have done."Do you think
TESSA'S POVChloe sat up against the mountain of pillows that propped her back. Her skin was a dull white; those alert features dulled by exhaustion and pain. When her gaze locked with mine, something flickered over her face-shame, perhaps? Regret?"Tessa," she husked out, her voice husky, yet steady. "I didn't expect you to be here.”"I did," I said, stepping inside. The door clicked shut behind me, and the soft hum of machinery in the room served to fill the brief moment of silence.A minute swept by with neither of us speaking. I had absolutely no idea where to begin, while Chloe seemed to fish for the right words. Then she spoke.“I'm so sorry," Chloe said, her voice breaking. She looked down at her hands, which were twisting the hospital blanket over and over in a nervous fashion. "For everything. For what I did to you. For what I let Damien do.”Her words were like a wave, and all the anger and hurt I'd been trying to bury surfaced. I crossed my arms, my voice sharper than I mea
AIDEN'S POVIt all boiled down to me standing against cold brick outside of a hospital. The sharp night air almost nipped my skin but couldn't take away what had been brewing inside of me since the night Damien was finally gone.Dead.The word reverberated in my mind, hollow yet heavy. He had not reached the hospital. Just a few minutes later, when the ambulance had speedily gone away from the warehouse, the police confirmed that my brother was no longer alive. In the pit of my chest, a tussle between relief and guilt twisted itself into this sensation, which has made me so ill.I stared upwards, trying to make sense of the darkened sky. It was a path he'd chosen, wasn't it? He'd refused every olive branch, clung to his rage, and let it consume him. Still, a part of me couldn't help but ask: What if?The sound of footsteps pulled me from my reverie. Tessa came forward, her face ashen, eyes red-rimmed from crying. She wrapped her arms around her middle, as if holding herself to protect
AIDEN'S POVThe ropes chafing my wrists were heaved into the painfully darkened room by two of Damien's men. My rib cage was racing, pounding within me like a war drum, as my eyes coursed over every inch, scanning the space for her. The echoes of my footsteps rattled through this large, high-ceilinged area, joined by the smothering tension in the air.Then I see her.“Tessa!” screams my hoarse voice in desperation while seeing her tied around the chair, white faced, and tear streaks covering it, her arms bound behind her back, a gag over her mouth, muffling her cries while her big terrified eyes remained fixed on mine, imploring for help.It came finally with the breaking of the silence from Damien's cruel laughter. "Well, well, your Prince Charming is finally here.""Let her go, Damien," I said, shaking all over with anger mixed with fear.Damienne cocked his head to one side, his face a mockery. "And miss this little family reunion? I don't think so.”Damien started to circle me wit
TESSA'S POVThe stench of that dark room shredded through my senses. My wrists throbbed, sore where the coarse ropes had lacerated into the skin, and with each weak inhalation, it was like the final one that could break this tenuous will hanging by a thread.I was not going to back away from him, not from Damien after what he pulled on Aiden, on me, and our lives.Standing in the doorway was a mountain of a man, with a great scar running down his cheek, scraping his boots on the floor and yawning and weighing his weight on one side. He had been left to watch me; now or never was the time to try anything that came into my head.I pulled carefully, testing the looseness of the rope binding my hands, my heart racing in my chest. Hours of subtly working at this knot had finally paid off; it gave way just enough for me to slide my wrists free.I glanced over to the guard, who now had his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes shutting.Go, Tessa. Now.Summoning every last shred of cou
AIDEN'S POVThe house was creepily silent when I went in-the kind of silence that twisted my gut. Something was off because it was too still, too empty."Tessa?" I called out, dropping keys on the counter. Nobody answered.My eyes scanned around the living room, the kitchen-nothing. My chest had already tightened as I tried again, louder this time. "Tessa? Marcus? Garret?"No response.And then I saw it-her phone. It lay on the counter, cracked at the screen, looking like she had dropped it there in haste. Tessa would never leave her phone lying anywhere.Now dread set in as my heart began racing, strode toward the security room for some answers, though my gut already told me otherwise.I burst through the door into the room to find Marcus and two other guards huddled around the monitors."Where the hell is Tessa?" I growled low, an edge to my voice that could cut through glass.Marcus slowly turned to me, white as marble, and seemed to fish for his answer. "Sir… we were reviewing the
TESSA'S POVIt wasn't until we stopped before Aiden's building that the car came to rest; it was my safe refuge now turned into a sanctuary in which the fears inside my head seemed to nestle. Those were instances from two weeks ago, haunting in my mind like some unsavable storm-accusations which memory just didn't seem willing or able to rid itself of."You're home," Aiden whispered, and immediately his voice was an anchor of solace amidst my rioting thoughts.Turning back to him, I pushed a small smile. "Home," I echoed, though the word felt wrong. Was I ever again safe?Aiden climbed out first, coming around and pulling my door open. His firm hand reached inside toward me, steady and reassuringly strong. "Come on; got you.I hesitated, staring at his hand. For a moment, the hospital was safer. Out here, the world was too big, too dangerous. But I chased the fear away, telling myself Aiden would never let anything happen to me.I took his hand and he led me out of the car."Take it e