More and more people keep showing up and it's starting to make my head hurt. I'm tired of hearing the condolences. I'm tired of the many heartfelt words that people are pouring down on me. I just want to be able to grieve the death of my parents in peace. Is that too much to ask? It's been a week since the car crash and my heart is still heavy with pain. I don't think this pain will ever go away. They were the only people I had in my life and I feel lost without them. Utterly lost. What do I do in this big house? How will I manage the estate and the company all by myself? Anthony, my father's best friend, promises that he'll help me and that he'll never leave my side and to be honest, I don't know what I would've done without him. He's been there for as long as I can remember and my father trusted him. I should trust him, too. The last guests leave and I show them the door. I force a smile on my face and allow myself to feel grateful because at least they were the only ones who
“Leo," Anthony says as he follows me around the room. His voice is dripping with disbelief. "You can't be serious. I refuse to believe that you're saying this to me." "Well, it's the truth," I answer as calmly as possible. He pauses and runs his hand down his face. His eyes are wide as he beholds me. "But you barely know the guy! You don't know anything about him. You're seriously serious about marrying him? After only a month of knowing him?" I check my reflection in the mirror one last time before stepping back. My hair is in a half-updo and the rest of it is hanging low, nearly down to my butt. My makeup up is simplistic but my lips are a dark red color that my makeup artist told me suits me well. The baby pink dress I'm wearing is simple and perfect for the event. I didn't want anything over the top. It's a very small engagement party. Anthony is still staring at me. I still haven't answered him. "Leonora." I turn my head slowly to look at him. "I don't know what yo
The day of our wedding arrives, and I couldn't be happier. I'm over the moon. It's finally happening. It felt like waiting endlessly for the best day of my life and now that it's here, I just want it to happen so I can experience all the things I've been dreaming of ever since he asked to marry me. Tonight will be a full moon, so the date is auspicious. Oddly enough, our wedding ceremony is even smaller than our engagement party. The only guests are Anthony, his uncle Charlie, and some of the staff from our house. Well, the ones who could come. Anthony will be the one to walk me down the aisle of the small chapel. I thought I'd go alone but he insisted last minute, claiming that he didn't want me to do this alone. I appreciate him for it even though I don't agree with how he treats Evan. We're standing at the door. I'm in my wedding dress, which is a mermaid-style dress that huge my slim body perfectly. The sleeves are made of lace and are long, and I have a long veil trailing beh
I sit up, holding the sheets up to my neck. I look around the room but don’t spot him. “Evan?” I say loudly. No answer. Could it be that he went downstairs for some reason? My concern gets me to my feet and I walk into the bathroom. I have to shower and then throw some clothes on. Perhaps by the time I’m done, he’ll come back. I spend only five minutes in the shower. Yesterday feels like a fever dream but I don’t dwell on it too much. I’m too distracted by the fact that Evan isn’t here. I know it’s ridiculous to feel this magnitude of concern but this is our first morning as a married couple. He should’ve been here when I woke up. That makes me a little upset. I open my briefcase and opt to wear a long, flowy dress. I meant to wear this to breakfast. I finish getting ready and Evan still isn’t back. I place my hand on my hip and then decide to call him. I’m sure he took his phone with him. I sit on the edge of the unmade bed and hold the phone against my ear. I frown when I he
My mouth is as dry as the desert.Anthony still hasn’t turned around to face me. His back is facing me but his whole body has gone rigid. I’m paralyzed with shock. No, he can’t be implying that Evan ran away with all my money. That can’t be it because I know the man I married and he isn’t like that. He’s kind and honest. He gave me a bag full of money when he could’ve taken it all for himself and I would never know anything about it. Anthony finally turns back around. The way he’s looking at me breaks my heart and makes me angry at the same time. He’s always assumed the worst of Evan. I say, “Stop it, Anthony. Just stop.”He strides toward me and then hands his card to the receptionist. He says, “I’ll take care of the bill. Don’t worry about it.”I stand aside, humiliated and angry at him. Angry that he would assume such a thing.He grabs my bags and helps me load them in the car. I’m mildly aware of my hands shaking. He closes the trunk and then turns to look at me again, that str
The damage is bigger than any of us could’ve guessed. Evan cleaned out all my bank accounts. Every cent that belonged to my parents is now in his hands. He sold the shares of the company about a week ago and someone bought me out of the company, which means I have nothing. The company that my parents built from the ground up now belongs to someone else. It was all done legally because he signed for me, and so I have no way of getting it all back. “Because his actions have led to financial harm, we can legally challenge him and get him to give you back a portion of the money, but for that, we have to locate him. Do you have any idea of where he might be?”That’s the question everyone keeps asking me. I don’t know where he is or where I might find him. The world is huge. He could be anywhere right now. Anywhere. The only thing the asshole didn’t sell was my family home. It’s still with me. Anthony says that I should sell it before he does, and overall, it’s the best decision becaus
Eight months later, I bring my baby boy home from the hospital.Everything went well and he's a healthy baby boy. From the first trimester, I settled on a name. Victor. His name is Victor Bardwell. It's a name I've always loved and I think it suits him well enough.It's been almost a year since I last saw Evan. However, I haven't stopped thinking about him and with every day that passes, I feel certain of what I want the outcome of this situation to be. That asshole. To take all my money and leave me pregnant with his child is...I don't even have words for how foul that is. I'm beyond the point of heartbreak. Every time I look at Victor's face, I'm filled with a newfound strength. I'll have to face all of this for him. I'll have to fight hard to give him a better life. If my prospects were bad before I found out o was pregnant then I don't want to know what they're looking like now.If it weren't for Anthony's support, I don't know what would've become of me. During the pregnancy, I
Ten Years Later...I open the door to Victor's bedroom and watch his face for a reaction. His jaw drops open as he looks around. "Mom," he says in awe, "this looks amazing!""Right?" I say. "I knew you'd like it. I did everything with you in mind. I'm glad you like it.""I don't just like it," he says before throwing himself on his bed. "I love it!"I laugh and get in bed with him. I stare at the ceiling and see the glow-in-the-dark stars that I pasted on the ceiling. The whole bedroom has a galaxy theme to it. From a very young age, Victor has been obsessed with the universe. He always talks about stars and the planets. So, to help him cope with us moving to another city which is miles away from the town he was raised in, I decided to give him this room. It cost quite a lot of money to put together and the wall directly across from the bed was painted by a professional, as I've never been good at painting and I wanted there to be plants painted on it, but I'm incredibly overjoyed b
The longer I stare at Anthony and he doesn't wake up, the more I panic. What if he's dead? What if I didn't just slam the vase in his head for him to pass out? I walk around him, trying to get a good look at his face. He doesn’t appear to be breathing, but maybe I’m just panicking way too much. So, I try not to panic and wait for him to stir, which he hasn’t done in the last ten minutes since I’ve been here standing over him. I decide that I’ve had enough. If he’s dead, then I’d rather know now than wait for longer. I kneel down, barely breathing as I reach out, and press two fingers against his neck, feeling for a pulse. My own heartbeat is so loud that it drowns out everything else. But then—a faint throb under my fingertips. He’s alive.I let out a sharp exhale of relief, though it’s short-lived. Slowly, his eyes flutter open, a groggy confusion clouding his gaze as he begins to stir and come to his senses. For a moment, he looks like he doesn’t recognize me, his gaze unfocused
Evan’s POV The road stretches out in front of me, winding and dark. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, but I can’t let myself loosen my grip—not until I have him back. The text from her still sits on the screen beside me, her message short and mocking. It’s an address, nothing more, like a command.I’m not entirely sure of what to expect from this. Is she mocking me? Did she believe me when I said that I wanted to be with her?I know her well enough, since we’ve been together for quite some time. She wants me to come crawling. To say I was wrong, that I never should’ve left her. She thinks she has that kind of power over me, and I’ll let her believe it. I’ll say whatever she needs to hear, promise her the world if that’s what it takes to get my son back. I don’t care what I have to do. I’ll do whatever is necessary. I’ll be selfless for once. My stomach twists at the thought, a bitterness that feels like swallowing nails, but there’s no other way.I turn off the main roa
Evan’s POVI call Phillippa, and she doesn’t answer the phone. It’s not off, so she’s probably staring at her phone and smiling to herself as she watches her screen light up with my name flashing across it. “Bitch,” I curse before groaning in frustration. Each passing second deepens the knots in my stomach. Victor’s gone, and every instinct in my body screams to find him, to bring him back where he belongs. I didn’t even think that I had it in me to feel so much paternal instinct. I barely know him, yet my despair would’ve been the same even if I’d raised him his whole life. I’ve lost count of the calls I’ve made by now, and I still have no answers. Even some of the men who once were on my side won’t answer the phone. Then again, they were Montgomery contacts, not mine. Every lead has crumbled, and I’m left staring at the emptiness of my own mistakes.I’m fucked, through and through. I should be leaving the city by now if I have any hopes of escaping the bullshit investigation tha
I shove Anthony off of me with all my strength, and even that doesn’t feel enough to completely shake his touch off. It seems this terrible night is determined not to end. It’s like a never-ending nightmare. A surge of disgust and anger rips through me. I can’t believe he’s done this. That he would try to kiss me. I’ve always seen him as a father figure, so this really messes with me more than words can say. He stumbles back, his eyes widening with shock, but his shocked expression quickly changes into a bitter scowl. "Milena," he says, his voice low and edged with that same twisted need he’s tried to rationalize as love only a few moments ago. “You don’t understand. Everything I’ve done... I did for you. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again until you understand. Until it sinks into your thick skull!”“For me?” I hiss, my voice shaking with disbelief and rage. “You murdered Thomas. You tortured Evan. And now you think you can stand here and—what? Kiss me? Confess some sick
Sitting alone in my apartment while Evan goes hunting for our son is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. The silence in the apartment is almost unbearable, pressing down on me with a weight I can't carry. I sit on the edge of the sofa, staring blankly at the door, waiting for it to open, and for Evan to walk into the apartment with Victor safe in his arms. The ache in my chest is relentless; a mixture of fear and guilt and helplessness that threatens to consume me.It’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. This despair is unlike any other. There’s no pain worse than having my son taken away from me by some lunatic with the worst of intentions. I’d been a fool to leave him by myself. I was irresponsible. If anything happens to Victor, I’ll blame myself forever. I’ll never get over it. Not ever. Phillippa took him—our son, my sweet Victor. It’s hard to even wrap my mind around the reality of it, that she would go so far, that she would hurt Evan and me by taking the one th
Evan’s POVThe taxi stops outside Leo’s apartment building, and she pays the nosy asshole before we step outside. Leo opens the door and exits the car quickly. She’s moving fast, her body almost vibrating with energy. She’s probably in shock, maybe in pain after everything that’s happened, but right now, she’s got one focus, and that’s Victor. I don’t mind it. At least one of us should get there fast and make sure that that fuck isn’t there, hurting him. I’ve promised her that I have a place where I can put her and Vic for a while, at least just until she can get to the bottom of this. I’d follow her up the stairs, but I know that I’m not going to be able to make it. I watch her disappear inside the building for a moment, feeling that pull again, that sense of her slipping through my fingers, just like she did once before. But I don’t have time to think about that now. But this is different. Now, we have a sort of understanding with each other. She’s not going to run away. Where wo
After a few minutes of messing with the chains, I finally figure out how to release him. Evan lands on the ground with a thud, and groans in pain as a result. I make my way to his side, wanting to touch him to help him stand up, but then stopping myself. These conflicting emotions will be the end of me. I stare at him as he tries to catch his breath, and for a moment, I feel sorry for him. His eyes meet mine, and within them, I see the same amount of sadness that I feel, but his is blended with disbelief. “You shouldn’t have come,” he says before coughing weakly. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m not...worth it.”His words catch me off guard. “What?”“I deserve what’s being done to me,” he then says before his eyes study my face. His body is shaking, and I’m not sure why. “I’m just glad to know that you’re alright.”I grit my teeth. “That’s not your decision to make, Evan. I’m the one who gets to decide what I do, not you.”He turns on his side, and then peels his shirt from his body, sh
“Why would I tell you anything regarding that?” Anthony says to him in the most cruel voice imaginable. I’ve never heard him use this voice on anyone before. I barely even recognize it. Why has he been keeping Evan here? So, he knew where he was this whole time?I have a terrible feeling in my gut. “I just want to know that she’s safe,” Evan rasps. This is followed by a dull sound, like someone punching a wall of meat, and Evan groans in pain. I cover my mouth with my hand. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Why would Anthony do this? Out of all the things he could do, why? Why keep Evan prisoner? He’s clearly hurting him. I came here thinking that I would find a clue concerning whether he killed Thomas or not, but instead, I find this. And there’s no satisfaction in this for me. This is something I never expected from Anthony. I know he hates Evan, but to go to this extent. I almost feel ashamed of my feelings. It’s not like I’m saying this because I care about Evan—he has ruine
“…right, Leo?”I turn my attention back to Anthony, and ask him, “Sorry, what?”Anthony is standing by the window of the living room, eyeing me strangely. He then says, “Are you okay, Leo? Is there something in your mind? You’ve been distracted all day.”“No, I’m fine,” I claim, even though it’s a blatant lie. “Don’t worry about it.”I have to admit that I haven’t been fine since I found that sweater. My spirit is restless, and I have to find out what the hell is going on here. Anthony is hiding things from me. It’s easier to notice this when I’m paying attention, and I can tell the huge difference between his normal state and now. I’m just horrified. The sun behind him is setting, and the fading light casting long shadows across my apartment. I’m sitting on the couch, trying to seem relaxed, but there’s a tightness in my chest that won’t go away. There are times when I think that my suspicions are nonsensical, and that I should just ask him what the sweater was about outright inste