Lahat ng Kabanata ng STEP ASIDE EX-HUSBAND: THE RISE OF LIANA: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

LIANA'S POVI stayed in the kitchen, surveying the candles I had burned with care, the silverware laid out on the table and the roses, still pungent in their vase. Today is our anniversary night, it's been three long years. I'd been counting down the minutes, or rather not, but praying under my breath we'd finally make it together tonight. It hadn't been an easy year, but I'd stayed true.Dominic and I had known each other so many years ago in a world of stolen kisses and whispered promises, and then it had felt like magic. The sort of love you read about in books. And so when my marriage had lost its heat and its passion, I had hoped that perhaps we could turn it around. That this evening could be our new beginning.I smoothed my dress, a soft slip of satin that I was certain would catch his eye. It was demure, but I had never been the flashy sort, never hungry for attention. He had liked that about me once. He had adored it and sadly, I had assumed that never would change.Within m

LIANA'S POVThe sunlight filtered through the curtains, warm and golden, reaching the wooden wardrobe and the faded floral bedspread. It smelled of polish and stale fabric in here, I had missed my bedroom but until this morning, I hadn't realised that. .I stood still for a moment and let myself be wrapped in the silence. I did not wish to stir. My body was heavier than usual but not with sleep. With memory.I lay there, combing through what I still had left of Dominic and me. The good parts. The first apartment, furnished with dreams and too many mugs. His hand brushing against mine as we coded together in sync. Stolen kisses, whispered concepts, the way he would look at me as if I were a miracle.Before everything went wrong.Before the silence. Before promiscuity.I still remember the meetings when he wouldn't even glance at me. The lunches when he would "forget" I was right beside him. The public praises he got alone for a project we developed together, AIra.Our AI prototype. Th

DOMINIC'S POVTHREE YEARS LATERI adjusted my tie, the crispness of my shirt almost painful against my skin. The conference room was immaculate, lined with pristine glass tables and gleaming floors that reflected my nervous shape. Today wasn't business as usual, not like the others that blended together in the drudgery of my life. Today was different. The ZCorp shares had been a subject of discussion among the financial circles, and now I was completing the finishing touches on the last bits of the puzzle. I and my colleagues had negotiated for months, and today it was heating up.The ZCorp executives walked into the room, and I smiled well-rehearsed. Their suits were gleaming with prosperity, and I could tell that their arrogance was well-earned. ZCorp had been buying up smaller companies, getting their fingers into every lucrative pie they could. But this, this was a monster. The contract would put my firm in a good place, ensuring that our position in the market would be insurmou

Liana’s POVI barely noticed the music as we stepped out of the gala.His hand was still locked around mine, warm and tight, as if he feared I would vanish if he let go. But I wasn't there anymore. I was already thinking of home. I slipped into the passenger side of his car without a sound. He looked at me with uncertainty, as if waiting for the words, any words that would let him know that tonight had been an awesome night. He glanced at me a few times as he started the engine, waiting for me to smile, to laugh, to lean in against him like I probably should after all that had transpired tonight.I didn't.I kept my face pressed against the glass, watching the city lights blur by. My chest ached, like something too big was stuck inside, something too sharp to breathe around."You were tremendous tonight," he said to me finally, his voice low and guarded.I smiled at him. Barely. I wasn't strong enough to stroke his ego right now. Not when every nerve in my body ached, not when all I

I walked into my apartment, more dazed in my head with the excess of the night. The conference, the humiliation in public and all was a haze. The one thing that I could sense was the tightness in my chest, the suffocating weight of defeat bearing down on me. My kingdom is going to be in shambles if care isn't taken .I walked into the living area, I stood still in shock. Serena.She was sitting at the table, her eyes bright but guarded. Food already out on the table, a wispy cloud of steam hovering over the plates, and yet I couldn't help but wonder how I'd gotten it all wrong. How I'd pushed her away when all she ever did was love me, even in the chaos. I stood there for a moment, my throat constricted, too shocked to talk. She looked at me, as if waiting for me to come out of it.Finally, she spoke."Are you going to come and sit with me, or are you going to just stand there and stare at me like you've seen a ghost?"I didn't shift, just stood there stiff, stuck in between losing