POV Lisa. I close my computer with a sigh and lie down on my back, I can't work. I don't feel like it, my thoughts drift to everything but what I am doing. I bring my hand to my throat and tighten the necklace I have around my neck, the one Drake gave me. I haven't had time to give it back yet and I don't know if I will. Drake hasn't come to the office a single time this week, I don't know if it's because of me. And this situation makes me so uncomfortable. I want to see him, I want to know he's okay, even if he doesn't look at me, doesn't talk to me, I just want to see him. I hear the doorbell ring, who could that be? I really hope it's one of Maddie's acquaintances, because I really don't want to see anyone. I hear whispers outside my bedroom door, I roll my eyes, if they think they are being discreet they are mistaken, but what could they be talking about? It is undoubtedly about me, because if it had not been the case, they would not try to take all these precautions so that I do
POV Drake."You killed my daughter! " I gasp as I look at Sierra's mother, not knowing what to say back, everyone's eyes on me, I've got nothing to say. Even if I tried to give her an answer, I couldn't do it. I myself am still struggling to understand what happened. I'd come to see my wife, for God's sake! I certainly didn't expect the scene I witnessed. I can still see all that blood and there's even more on the floor, the cleaning lady hasn't finished cleaning it up yet. I blame myself so much! I feel so pathetic right now, I tell myself that if I'd been there, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have gone over the railing, I should have been looking after her. After all, marriage isn't a smooth ride, just look at my parents, my father who hates my mother but stays married to her, maybe for all the wrong reasons, but at least he stays married to her. A voice screams at me that it's my fault. The hardest thing for me was learning that my wife was cheating on me, she wa
POV Lisa."Get out of here! " I wake up with a start and stare at the ceiling, thinking back to what happened the night before. I'd be lying if I said I expected a different reaction from him, I may not have expected him to jump on the ceiling when he saw me, but I didn't expect him to reject me like that either. I expected, I'm not sure what I expected to be honest. I just wanted to see him, to be with him and know that he was all right, to see the color of his eyes when he came out of that coma. But nothing went as planned. Shouting that I was born in a sea of bad luck, everything I do or touch always ends badly. I pick up the teddy bear lying next to me and hug it. No, to be exact, it's not my fault, it's the fault of this man who wants to destroy my life because of his obsession with me. I hate him so much, I curse the day these people came into our lives and I curse them for the mess they've made of it. First in my father's, then more and more in mine, now in Drake's. Except I'm
POV Drake.Mason enters the room and closes the door behind him. I see him sigh and he turns to me, a smile on his face. I let out a sigh and look up at the ceiling. He's lying. Everything about him exudes stress, worry and, above all, he's a terrible liar. He's just pretending so as not to panic me. Except it's no use, I'm already panicking to death. The mere idea of not being able to walk is enough to send me into a tailspin. Not being able to walk would mean losing everything I've got. I've built my reputation on my strength and courage, and not being able to stand and watch all these people go about their lives as if nothing had happened, from a fucking wheelchair, is impossible for me, it would be far too hard. I watch him walk towards me, then he looks away again and turns to the window, to draw the curtains and let the light in. "It's a nice day, why don't you ask a nurse to draw the curtains for you? " "Do you think so? Personally, I can't say since I'm not allowed out, lock
POV Ryan.I walk to the elevator doors, Eleanor looks up at me, no doubt to catch my eye, but I look away. When is she going to understand that here in the office in front of all these people, we have to pretend we don't know each other? I'm getting tired of having to tell her the same thing over and over again. So I ignore her and press the elevator button, Drake's personal elevator. I can feel the eyes of all these idiots on me. They're probably wondering what I'm doing, but no one dares to speak to me openly. Good, I might be able to fire one or more people at will, after all, I'm the new boss, right? The doors open and I step inside, leaning against the wall and putting my bag on the floor. A private elevator, no less. I smile sarcastically, I've managed to get control of the company, for a while, while the unshakeable Drake Lancaster recovers from his paralysis due to an emotion he couldn't digest. What did the doctor call it again? A fucking trauma, no less! Paralyzed because of
POV Lisa.I watch Ryan leave, he didn't even have the delicacy to apologize. What's happening to him? What's happening to them all? First Drake and now him! And what was he doing here anyway? His office was on the other side of the building, he had no right to be here! Unless, of course, Drake or Mason had instructed him to do something in this office. What the hell do I care? After all, what happens to their family is none of my business, so I don't have to worry about it. I shake my head and walk into my office. All of them. I turn on my computer and pull out the file I came home with last night. My head is in the clouds so much that I'm neglecting my work, so I'm forced to bring it home. I insert my USB key into the computer and start entering the information I've added to the physical file. I stretch after fifteen minutes, already exhausted. Suddenly, I realize that I'm alone; Mason isn't there. He's been avoiding me for days, coming in and staying for just a few minutes. Of cour
POV Drake. I look at the empty chair in front of me, I still don't understand what I'm doing here. Everything that's happening right now is just unbelievable! What the hell am I doing here? What the hell is happening to me? Where's the strong, brave, courageous man I've always been? Paralyzed by an emotion I couldn't overcome? What kind of nonsense is this? I'm not like that! I'm not this weak man who needs to see a shrink to get better. There's nothing wrong with me! I'm just fine. I don't need to be here, I don't need to see this guy, I'm fine and that's what I'm going to tell him when he walks into this room. The door opens without me realizing it, and I'm startled when a hand comes to rest on my shoulder. I turn around and meet the gaze of an elderly man wearing glasses and smiling benevolently at me, the first thing that strikes me is that he looks an awful lot like someone I know. "Mr. Lancaster, sorry to have frightened you. " "You didn't frighten me. " He withdraws his han
POV Lisa. My head hurts like hell, almost as if I can hear a metal band playing in my head. I run my hand over my forehead with a groan of pain. A ray of light streams through the curtain and I turn to the other side and pull the blanket over my head. My phone starts ringing, waking me up again, so I fumble for it on the bed and see who could be calling me at this hour of the morning. It's actually my alarm, a reflex I've adopted because of my contract with Drake. Drake! I lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, at him, the man who haunts my thoughts day and night. Him, the man I love to death. Him, the man who pushed me away last night and asked me to get out of his life. I close my eyes and think back to the events of the night before, when I saw him lying there last night, I was completely heartbroken, I had to try hard not to cry in front of him. But today it's all coming to the surface and the tears are flowing. I need him so much right now, and even if he doesn't show it, he n
POV Drake.I watch Lisa sleep and stroke her belly, she's gorgeous. I bury my head in her hair and breathe in her scent. I do this ritual every morning, to be sure that what I am experiencing is real. This happiness that I live with her seems so sensitive to me that I myself would not believe it if someone had told me. I leave a last kiss and I go down to the kitchen without making a sound. I decided to cherish the beings I love the most, namely my wife and my daughter who is still in her womb. Sometimes I think back to what happened that evening and I tell myself that if things had turned out differently, I would never have found the woman I love. …After Mason told me that Ryan had committed suicide, I didn't know how to react. I was sad, I never wanted him dead. Ryan was my brother and even though he didn't believe him, I loved him. I loved my brother and I wanted him to be a better person. I had at this moment a succession of emotions which mi
POV Lisa.I pretended to pass out to buy some time. Time why exactly? I do not have the faintest idea. I am paralyzed with fear, but I will probably not give this man the pleasure of seeing me cry. He untied me to lie on a mattress on the floor and left to do I don't know what else. I rub my ankles and wrists which have turned purple from being tied up for so long. I then put my hand to my belly, as if it could save my little baby from feeling all the stress I was feeling right now. My God what am I going to do? How am I gonna get out of this shit? I'm only sure of one thing, I have to get out of here. I have to find a way to leave before he comes back. I get up and walk to the window, it's way too high for me to see anything. I look around for something to pull myself up to the window. I finally see a chair a little further. I go get it and climb on it. I look through the glass and see nothing but black, it is dark night and in the distance I can even see the mountains.Where did thi
POV Drake.A week after my conversation with Mason, I hosted a family reunion at my parents' house. I needed answers, I needed to hear why Ryan did everything he did. He almost ruined my company, I would have lost practically everything if Mason had not discovered in time everything that was going on. I take my head in my hands and breathe. Everyone is present, of course Ryan is not there yet. I isolate myself in the library and try to reach Lisa. When I turn on my phone, I see that she tried to reach me, I call her back. His phone is out of service. I sigh, I really need to hear his voice. Damn, I need her right now more than ever. But it's complicated to be able to talk to each other and even more to see each other lately. She has a lot to manage on her side and me too, so much that we absolutely have more time for each other.When I try to get out, the light in the library comes on and I see my father sitting in the back of the room, a glass of whiskey in his hands." Dad ? What ar
“Miss Simon? “I jump when a hand lands on my shoulder, I raise my head and meet my mother's gaze, who is looking at me with a worried air. "Are you alright sweetie? “I smile at her reassuringly and she gently presses my hand to infuse me with her strength. I take a sip of water and look at the lawyers in front of me. I feel Brian's gaze on me, but that's the last thing I can really worry about today. I can't believe his bitch of a mother called a fucking conciliation meeting, as if that could solve the problem between us. Right now, I'm so on edge that I'm able to get on that table and rip his head off.“I'm sure we can find an agreement. ” She said in her sour old voice. “I can't believe you can even think of this possibility! I said banging hard on the table. “You can't just show up and take everything that belongs to us! Brian's mother continues. “You mean the money your husband stole from mine? ” My mother said.“Things didn't happen…” “Shut up! I told him in a surprisingl
POV DrakeI watch the cars go by from my office window, it's crazy how much I miss these moments. My office, my employees, everything, absolutely everything. I decided to come to work today. I needed it after what happened this weekend, I needed to get out of the house and think about something else that wasn't related to our personal problems. First, there's the most important thing, which is this thing with Lisa and Moncrief. After receiving the briefcase, we went to the police station the next day to lodge a complaint. What was supposed to be handled discreetly ended up in the media spotlight, triggering a media frenzy. Moncrief managed to escape, but his son and wife are under investigation to find out whether they were also complicit in his actions. Personally, I think there's no way this man could have done what he did without telling his wife or even his idiot son. Their businesses have been suspended and they too are under investigation. I hope we can nail the bastard soon. Wi
POV LisaI receive a blow in the face, roll onto the bed and land on the floor, hitting my head. "Damn it! "I muttered. I get up with difficulty and rub the back of my head, looking at Drake lying on the bed and not stopping gesticulating in his sleep. I let out a sigh and walk over to him, lay down and place a kiss on the top of his head. Then he does something incredible, unconsciously lifting his leg. I'm so surprised that I stay in shock for long minutes before realizing what's happening. Drake has just lifted a leg, unconsciously yes, but he's done it. I know it's because of this horrible nightmare he's been having for a week now, sometimes I'd like to get inside his head to find out what's causing him so much torment. I take a handkerchief from the dresser and blot his forehead, then press myself a little tighter against him, so he can feel my presence. I want him to know that I'm here and that I would never let him down. The love I feel for this man is something indescribable
POV DrakeI hang up and put my phone in my jacket pocket. Zack has just confirmed that Lisa is now safely with him, which means I can get on with something else. When he told me that she'd just run out on him to go I don't know where, I had to ask the doctor to stop the therapy because I couldn't have gone on if I hadn't been reassured that he'd found her, especially as she was unreachable, and when he finally did find her, she was in this café with this guy and I asked Zack to wait for her to finish before taking her home. Home, I can't believe I'm finally ready to let another woman into my life after all these years. Me, who'd been through the ordeal because of a woman. The idea of opening the door of my home to Lisa seems so obvious that I wonder how I didn't think of it sooner. "Are you reassured, Mr Lancaster? " "Yes." I say, shaking my head.I roll my chair to the center of the room and look at the clock. "Is it over yet?" "We still have thirty minutes. "I remain silent fo
POV Lisa.I hang up with a sigh, beginning to wonder if what I'm doing is really a good idea. Brian is really driving me crazy! With his calls, his messages full of love. Not to mention the looks Drake gives me every time my phone rings. Just this morning, he called me while I was having breakfast with Drake and Drake almost put my phone in the coffee pot. If I hadn't held it back, I don't know what would have happened. I get up and grab my purse to head out the door, thank goodness Mason isn't here to hold me accountable. And with Ryan at the head of the company, it's become something else, he too comes to work when he feels like it, which creates an incredible mess. Drake really needs to come back and take this company back in hand. I have to admit that being away at the moment doesn't make me any different from anyone else, but I really have to get to this appointment. Knowing Brian as well as I do, he might well be able to barge in here and create a scandal. I head for the elevat
POV BrianI tap my foot on the floor, hang up for the fifth time since this morning and throw the phone on the bed. Why doesn't she answer me? Why is she avoiding my calls? I've been trying to reach her for two bloody days without any success. My thoughts begin to wander and I start to imagine everything and anything. Who could she be with? Is she with him? Is he putting his hands on her again? I don't want him anywhere near her! I think back to our conversation, to the moment when he clearly told me Lisa would never be mine. I tried to kill him, I threw myself at him with a butter knife, I wanted to stick it in his neck, if only that bodyguard hadn't interfered. I don't want anything to disturb this reconciliation between Lisa and me. Especially not now, after all these years, I've finally found her and I've no intention of losing her. I close my eyes and think back to that day when we were at university, I'd just had an argument with my father and I was at my lowest ebb. Once aga