Lilian POVI left the toilet with my stomach churning and my head spinning, trying desperately to compose myself. The bitter taste of the drink was still in my mouth, and each step I took felt heavier than the last. My eyes searched the bar for Finn, but he was nowhere to be found. The tumult of voices around me was deafening, and I felt completely out of control.Alcohol wasn't something I was used to, and that night I had drunk too much. Everything to forget Jensen, to erase the image of him with Kate Nash from my mind. But it was no use. The only thing I did was feel even more lost. The shame and sadness came like an avalanche.My God… I had kissed him back in the toilet. I was such an idiot!Suddenly, the weight of the world seemed to fall on my shoulders, and I no longer knew what to do or where to go. Tears began to silently stream down my face. I stumbled out the door of the club, the loud music and the laughter of the other patrons echoing behind me as I tried to get some air.
Lilian POVMy heart was racing as I tried, in vain, to pull Finn away from Jensen. Tension hung in the air like a storm about to explode, and everything around us seemed like distant noise. The only thing I could see was the fury in Finn's eyes, his jaw clenched, and the veins pulsing in his neck.“Finn, stop! You can’t do that!” I shouted, trying to reach for his arm, but he moved away, more focused on Jensen than me. Desperation began to seep into my chest as I saw the anger taking over him, and a voice inside me begged him to stay away.“He deserves it!” Finn shouted, fists clenched. His face was dark with anger, and frustration showed in his expression. “He will pay for what he did to you!”Things quickly got out of control. The sound of punches and screams echoed through the street, adrenaline coursing through both men's veins, and the tension was palpable. The impact of the punches resounded in the air like thunder, and my stomach turned at the sight. Jensen was getting beaten,
Lilian POV I woke up to the unbearable sound of the doorbell. The sun had barely risen outside, and I was still sleeping soundly because I was so tired due to the events of yesterday morning, but the sound of the doorbell was insistent. With my heart racing, I got out of bed, my eyes heavy with sleep, and went to the door. When I opened it, I found men from the city hall, all in blue uniforms, and their serious expressions made my stomach turn.“You need to leave immediately. We will demolish the building in five minutes,” announced one of them, and his words hit my heart like an ax. Demolish? What did this mean? I remembered Jensen's words from the night before. So was he really making good on his threat? I didn't even have time to think; reality was crumbling before me.“What are you talking about? You don’t have the right to do that, okay?” I told them with my heart racing, but the men barely moved. Sadie, the nanny, rushed into the room with disheveled hair and the expression of
Lilian POVThe adrenaline was still coursing through my veins when the kids, Sadie, and I got into Jensen's car. The situation was surreal, like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. As he drove, I looked out the windows, trying to process the destruction that had just happened. What had become of my home? The kids were restless in the backseat, trying to handle the situation their way, asking little questions that only added to the anguish in my heart. The sound of the car's engine filled the tense silence that hovered between us and Jensen, who was driving with an expression of satisfaction that left me even more incredulous. The demolition scene was still fresh in my mind, the dust, the screams of the machines, and my house collapsing in an instant. Jensen turned to me, a sarcastic smile on his lips. “Don’t worry about your boyfriend. His house was the first one I destroyed this morning,” he said, his voice permeating with an arrogance that made me furious. A chill ran down my spi
Lilian POVI couldn't believe what I saw. Jensen was literally threatening to take custody of the children. Every word that came out of his mouth sounded like a sharp blade, cutting through the hope that still remained in my heart. What once seemed like a nightmare was now becoming reality. I realized that Jensen's goal was never Rustburg or greed for the money he would earn from that city hall project. What he really wanted was to destroy my life. He would leave me homeless, jobless, friendless, unarmed, and use the children as weapons, cornering me and making me feel like I had no choice but to return with him to Richmond.Either I lost the children, or I had to go with him to Richmond to keep them. The irony was not lost on me: he was literally claiming me back. My heart raced with the pain of this reality.“You are wicked, Jensen Grimes,” I said, my voice shaking but steady. I felt the adrenaline pulsing through my veins, but also the weakness that was beginning to infiltrate.“Wh
Lilian POVIt all happened so fast that I barely had time to process it. Suddenly, I was back in that mansion in Richmond, next to Jensen and the kids. It felt like a dream—or maybe a nightmare, depending on how I looked at it. The plan to continue fighting in Rustburg, to try to stop the mayor, had been abruptly interrupted. I knew that, in some ways, I had no choice. Jensen was persuasive and insistent, as he always was. When he decided that the triplets and I should return with him, there was no room for argument.Not that I was the type to argue or create trouble. I never went. My way has always been more... passive. I wasn't one of those women who raised their voices or stamped their feet to get what they wanted. On the contrary, I have always tried to find peace and harmony in situations, even when life seemed to be falling apart around me. And now, here I was again, returning to a life I had left behind.The children, on the other hand, were delighted. On the plane, Rory, Ruby
Lilian POVThe mansion was huge and imposing, and every hour it seemed bigger to my eyes. Since we got back to Richmond, everything was more or less as I remembered it. The same silk curtains hanging across the windows, the elegant furniture scattered throughout the rooms, and the soft rugs beneath my feet. It was as if time had stopped while I was gone, as if Jensen had kept everything intact, waiting for me to return.He was visibly happy to have us back. I saw it in his every gesture. From the moment the plane landed, he couldn't hide the joy of having the children and me under the same roof again. It was even comical to see him like this after that horror show he put on in that small town where the children and I lived, he was the devil himself, and here, he seemed like just a father and an ex-husband worried about getting his family back. Jensen talked about it all the time, always reminding me how much the house had missed me and how much he himself had missed it."You have no
Lilian POVThe morning was cool and silent when I got out of bed. The house, as always, was monumentally peaceful. It was difficult to get used to so much space and so much silence after years of living in much smaller and noisier environments. The children were already awake and, as always, excited about the new life they were leading here. For them, Richmond was a paradise. For me, however, it was a gilded cage.I dressed quickly, determined to follow through with my plan. What I wanted was simple: a job—something that would allow me to rebuild my life from scratch, away from Jensen's shadow, and look for things that brought back memories of Rustburg. I couldn't, I didn't want to depend on him forever. And what's more, this was the only way to guarantee my independence and, eventually, that of my children.“Good morning, my little angels,” I said to the three as I entered the kitchen, going to kiss them on the cheeks. They were too busy with their games and conversations to notice m