Adrian POVThe guilt claws at me the second Sarah rushes upstairs after Alessandro, her steps quick, almost frantic, as she disappears from sight. The air is thick with tension, the weight of what just happened settling on my chest like a boulder. I sink back into the couch, rubbing my hands over my face, as if I can wipe away the memory of the moment that just unfolded between us. I never should've kissed her not like that, not when she was so clearly conflicted, torn between the past and the present. But now that it's done, I can't take it back.And the worst part? A small, insidious part of me doesn’t want to.I exhaled sharply, my fingers pressing into my temples. What kind of man does that make me? Selfish? Manipulative? Probably. But despite the flicker of guilt gnawing at my conscience, I can’t ignore the opportunity this moment presents. Maybe, just maybe—this is the crack I need to wedge myself back into Sarah’s life, to remind her that what we had isn't completely gone. That
Adrian POVI take a deep breath and move toward the stairs, my steps slow and deliberate. I know it's risky, but if I can catch them at the right moment, it could be enough to plant the seed of doubt in Alessandro’s mind. And that’s all I need just a seed, just a whisper of uncertainty that will linger, that will make him question whether Sarah is truly his or if a part of her still belongs to me.I pause at the bottom of the stairs, listening again. Their voices are softer now, but there’s an unmistakable urgency in Sarah’s tone."We can work through this. We've come so far, Alessandro. Please don't let one mistake ruin everything."A plea. A desperate attempt to salvage what she’s afraid of losing.My grip tightens on the railing. I could walk away right now. I could let them have this moment, let them figure things out on their own. But if I do, I risk losing Sarah forever. And I’ve already lost too much.So instead, I start climbing the stairs, careful to make as little noise as p
Adrian POVI winced at the desperation in her tone. Part of me feels like a complete scumbag for exploiting her vulnerability, for degrading Sarah when she was finally moving on, only to ruin her life again with a single impulsive moment. But another part of me remains focused, calculating. The damage is already done, the misunderstanding between them firmly planted, and that alone gives me a sliver of hope, hope that I can use this to my advantage, to pull Sarah back to me before she slips away completely.I linger just out of sight, my back pressed against the cool surface of the wall beside their bedroom door. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, but I force myself to stay still, to listen. Alessandro’s voice cuts through the tension like a blade sharp, measured, but quivering with restrained fury."Right now, I don't know if I can trust you not with everything that's at stake."Bingo.The words hit exactly where I expected them to, where I needed them to. This is the moment of weakness
Adrian POV"It was a huge mistake," she snaps, but there’s something else in her tone something fragile, something uncertain. Her arms are crossed tightly over her chest, her fingers gripping at the fabric of her sleeves like she’s trying to hold herself together. "Alessandro is... he’s hurt. He thinks this was more than just a moment of weakness."I press my lips together, letting the silence stretch just long enough to give the impression that I’m carefully considering my words. In reality, I already know what I want to say. I have to be subtle and careful, letting the words sink in without making it obvious that I’m trying to plant a seed. Finally, in a quiet, measured voice, I say, "Maybe he doesn’t trust you as much as you thought."The reaction is immediate. Her eyes snap up to meet mine, fire flashing through them. Her posture stiffened, a flicker of defiance crossing her face. "Don't do that, Adrian. Don’t twist this into something it’s not."I raise my hands in a placating ge
Alessandro POVThe silence in the room is suffocating, pressing down on me with an unbearable weight. Sarah’s voice still lingers in the air, her desperate plea etched into the space between us. But her words don’t reach me. Not yet. My mind is a storm, thrashing against the walls of my thoughts, replaying the scene I walked in on—Sarah and Adrian, caught in a moment that felt like betrayal, a moment that cuts deeper than any argument, any misunderstanding we’ve ever had before.My hands curl into fists as I stand by the window, trying to steady my breathing. The cold night air seeps through the narrow crack in the glass, chilling my skin and serving as a cruel reminder of how distant and alien this entire situation has become. The warmth, the certainty I once held about our future, seems to have drained from my life, leaving only this cold void inside me. Trust is a fragile thing, and once it’s broken, it’s nearly impossible to piece back together the same way.I close my eyes, willi
Alessandro POV“No, it’s not like that,” she says quickly, shaking her head. “You’re the one I want, Alessandro. You’re the one I care about.”“Then why?” The question leaves my lips before I can stop it. My voice is raw, exposed. “Why did you let him kiss you? Why did you let it get that far?”She looks away, her shoulders shaking. “I don’t know,” she admits, and I can hear the self-loathing in her tone. “It wasn’t right, and I regret it more than you can imagine.”I step back, putting more space between us as if that distance will somehow lessen the pain clawing at my insides. “Maybe I was wrong,” I murmur, almost to myself. “Maybe I was fooling myself into thinking we could build something real.”Sarah’s breath catches, and I see the fear in her eyes. “No,” she says firmly, taking another step forward, her voice breaking. “Don’t say that. We can work through this. We’ve come so far, Alessandro. Please don’t let one mistake ruin everything.”Her desperation tugs at something deep wi
Alessandro POVA bitter laugh escapes me, raw and sharp, cutting through the thick tension in the air. “A mistake?” I echo, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. “That’s convenient.”Adrian exhales sharply, rubbing a hand over his face. For the first time, he looks weary, as if the weight of everything is finally pressing down on him. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” he says, his voice low. “I’ve been trying to be there for Sarah and Gabriel, but I didn’t think… I didn’t realize how much damage this would cause.”I narrow my eyes, jaw tightening. “You knew exactly what you were doing.” My voice is steady, but the anger simmering beneath it is unmistakable.For a moment, he doesn’t respond. Then, instead of denying it, he nods, his expression heavy with something close to regret. “Maybe I did,” he admits. “And maybe I deserve your anger. But I just wanted you to know—I’m stepping back. I don’t want to be the reason you two fall apart.”His words hang between us, the weight
Sarah POVThe morning light filters through the curtains, casting a soft, pale glow over the bedroom and bathing everything in a golden hue. The silence in the room is deafening, save for the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the nightstand. I sit on the edge of the bed, my fingers clutching the crumpled edge of the sheets as if grounding myself to reality. My head throbs slightly, a dull reminder of the previous night's turmoil. The weight of my emotions sits heavily on my chest, making each breath feel like an effort. My eyes are swollen from the tears I cried myself to sleep with, my mind still tangled in the whirlwind of regret and determination that has kept me restless all night.I blink away the lingering traces of exhaustion, but the ache in my heart remains. Everything feels fragile, as if my relationship with Alessandro is hanging by a single thread, ready to snap at any moment. I can't let that happen. I won't. Not after everything we've been through, not after how much we'v
Sarah POVI gazed at my reflection in the mirror, wrapped in my robe, with Alessandro's text shining like a ray of hope in my hand."I understand we've had a rough patch. But if you can spare one night, I'd like to attempt to fix things.No expectations. Just you, me, and a little honesty. I’ll be waiting.”My heart ached. The sincerity in those words hit something raw inside me. I missed him, missed us. Missed the warmth of our mornings, the soft laughter that once filled our home. But pain changes things. Doubt makes strangers of the people you love most.Just then, there was a knock.“Come in,” I called, not looking up.I recognised the perfume before the door fully opened. Chanel No. 5. Chloe's signature. Of course.She stepped inside like a queen visiting a kingdom she meant to burn down.Silk robe fastened with precision, wine glass clutched like a villain in a sad drama. She always loved to put on a show."Going out tonight?" she inquired, her eyes sparkling as they darted to th
Alessandro’s POVIt had been ten days since we returned from the farmhouse. Ten days since everything unraveled.I sensed Sarah drifting further away from me, bit by bit, like sand slipping through an hourglass.She hadn’t raised her voice. She hadn’t lashed out. But her silence said more than any screaming match could. The way she avoided eye contact. The way her footsteps always trailed toward the guest room instead of ours. The way she smiled politely, but not warmly, when I handed her coffee in the mornings.I’d made a mistake. A big one.Not because of Mira, not entirely. That chapter of my life had been over years ago. And Mira’s accusations had never made sense to begin with. But I should’ve told Sarah everything the moment we got serious. I should’ve trusted her with my truth before someone like Adrian could twist it.God, Adrian.Even now, the thought of his smug face as he dropped that bomb still made my jaw clench. He’d timed it perfectly right when we were finding peace. W
Adrian’s POVThe city still felt cold, but the chill in my bones had shifted not from warmth, but from purpose. I finally had a plan.I sat at my desk, eyes fixed on Alessandro’s digital trail. His online presence lit up like a roadmap—threads of the past just waiting to be pulled. But I knew better now. Whispers and half-truths wouldn’t be enough. If I wanted to break them, I needed more than suspicion. I needed leverage. Misdirection.And I needed someone on the inside.That’s when it clicked.Chloe.Sarah’s perfect little world had always been cracked at the edges, and Chloe was one of those cracks. They were step-sisters in name, but anyone who spent five minutes with them knew there was no love lost. I remembered the subtle digs Chloe made at family dinners, the way Sarah would force a smile and pretend not to hear. But I heard them. I felt the tension.Chloe didn’t just dislike Sarah, she resented her.That kind of bitterness? It could be moulded. Turned into something useful.I
Sarah’s POV New York City’s noise had always been oddly comforting, the honking cabs, distant sirens, and hurried footsteps on pavement. But today, it felt too loud, too sharp, like it was echoing the storm still raging inside me. It had been a week since we’d returned from the farmhouse. Seven days of strained silences, clipped conversations, and the kind of emotional distance I never thought I’d feel between Alessandro and me. I still hadn’t fully processed everything. I had hardly gotten any sleep. Whenever I shut my eyes, I envisioned the expression on his face as I turned to leave.But how was I meant to simply act as if it never occurred? He had kept something huge from me. Not just about Mira, but about how little he must have trusted me—to think I couldn’t handle the truth, to let someone like Adrian be the one to reveal it. After everything we’d fought for, the secrets still found a way to wedge themselves between us. And it hurt. Today marked my return to the office aft
Alessandro’s POVI stood there, watching the woman I loved crumble in front of me, her eyes scanning that godforsaken document Adrian had handed her like it was a grenade. AAnd maybe it was due to my awareness of the explosion the moment her face shifted from confusion to disbelief to something that scared me more than any anger. Proximity. Although she was merely a few feet distant, it felt as if she stood across a canyon, unreachable. God, I wanted to fix it. But how do you fix something you didn’t even know was still broken?In the past, I thought I’d buried it. That nightmare with Mira... it had happened years ago, in a life that felt a million miles away from who I am now. I had been young, foolish, and too trusting. I never touched her. I never crossed any line. But when things ended, Mira spiralled. I tried to reason with her, but she twisted everything. She wanted revenge. And she got it in the worst way.I never expected it to follow me here, to this life. This future I’d bee
Sarah POVA few steps back, I noticed a captain whose face was completely devoid of colour. Words seemed to want to escape from his lips, but they were nowhere to be found.His still figure, rigid and motionless, also changed his hands into fists, which revealed the stress he was holding.This was simply too much to handle. My thoughts were fragmented, unable to reach a coherent conclusion. “Do tell me this isn’t the case,” I spoke in my flat voice. “Please tell me this is some unexpected blunder that someone made. That this… this woman is lying. Alessandro took a slow step toward me, but stopped when he saw me flinch not in fear, but in raw emotional recoil. That hurt in a way I couldn’t describe.The reflection of his features contorted with agony. "Sarah," a soft admission escaped as his throat felt like it was choked with raw feelings. “That's not the case.”We were close once, back in college. Yes, we dated for a few months, but when things didn’t work out, she didn’t take
Sarah’s POVThe paper trembled a little in my hands as if it knew what it held was too much for me to handle, and I stood motionless. My breath became trapped in my chest, in that agonising space where heartbreak and incredulity collide. I read it again, slower this time, praying I’d misunderstood. But every word sank deeper, each one a blow I hadn’t been ready for.Mira Solanki. Sexual harassment complaint. Alessandro’s name… tied to it.I looked up at him—the man I had let into every part of my life. My heart, my home, Gabriel’s world. The man who’d been my safe place after everything fell apart… was Alessandro. The person I trusted with my son, my recovery, and dreams I was hardly brave enough to share aloud.His gaze was directed towards the ground, pale, and his lips parted open like he was contemplating speech, but the words were not forthcoming. The tension was evident as he held up his arms and kept his fists in place, trying to conceal the strain. I couldn't take it in. Non
Sarah’s POV As I packed the last of Gabriel's small sweaters into his duffel bag, the late afternoon sun spilled gentle light into the room. I smiled as the fresh laundry's lavender scent clung to the fabric. He’d had such a beautiful time here. We all had. For the first time in weeks, things had felt… steady. Like the ground beneath my feet wasn’t constantly shifting. I glanced over my shoulder at Alessandro and Gabriel outside. Before we left the farmhouse, Alessandro had Gabriel sitting on his shoulders as they took a final stroll around the garden. The pure and contagious sound of Gabriel's laughter filled the air. A reminder that love wasn’t always about fireworks and chaos. Sometimes, it was about the way Alessandro always remembered how I took my coffee, or how he brushed Gabriel’s hair back before bed like it was second nature. It was safe. It was deep. Seeing them together made my heart feel full. It reminded me of the life I've always dreamed of—something genuine, cozy,
Adrian’s POVThe sun was slipping from the sky, casting a mellow light across the land; it felt like a reprieve. I stood in the hallway in my guest-sister’s room, peering through a silken curtain at them. Sarah, Alessandro and Gabriel had gone into the garden for a final evening together. To an outsider, it must have seemed like bliss – that scene of a perfect family.I couldn’t bear it.Alessandro was chasing Gabriel around the wildflower patch while he was laughing loudly and freely. He then effortlessly caught him again after swooping him into his arms and throwing him into the air. Gabriel's laughter reached me exactly where I was standing, resonating through the silence of the area. And then I saw it—the way Gabriel looked at Alessandro. Eyes wide with trust, with adoration. As if he were the safest place in the world.As if he were the father.Not me.A pain that was a mix of heartbreak, rage, and jealousy twisted sharply in my chest. I was descended from Gabriel. My son. Nevert